Homeowners upset at state’s new oil and gas rule
An increased setback between drilling and homes doesn’t go far enough to satisfy homeowners and landowners living next to oil and gas operations.
split estate
Coal-bed Methane: Boom, bust and hard lessons
Wyoming’s coal-bed methane boom in the early 2000s stirred controversies over land rights, mineral rights, environmental stewardship, the disposal of water and—at every turn—politics.
Senate bill to increase oil and gas bond gains initial approval
The Wyoming Senate has given initial approval to a bill to increase the bond required for oil and gas operators to gain entry to private land.
Surface damage from Niobrara seismic work results in citations
Seismic crews working in the Niobrara shale oil play caused serious rutting and other surface damage earlier this year on 10 different ranch properties in southeast Wyoming, resulting in several state-issued citations for the operator and the seismic contractor.
WyoFile blogger reports death of split-estate measure
WyoFile editor-in-chief Dustin Bleizeffer writes in the Wyoming Energy Blog about a failed effort to increase the minimum bond-on requirement for oil and gas companies wishing to develop minerals on split-estate lands from a minimum $2,000 per well to $10,000.