Who Owns The West? Oil & Gas Leases in America's West

"The proposed action plans the construction of about 15 [miles] of access roads and 50 well pads in the White River inventory unit. These areas would lose their wilderness characteristics."

— Bureau of Land Management, Resource Development Group Uinta Basin Natural Gas Project, Draft Environmental Impact Study, July 2003

Quick Facts: Federal Land in Book Cliffs Area

Acres leased: 323,509
Acres leased (01/2003-05/2004): 5,722
Oil in greater Book Cliffs area could supply U.S. for: 11 days (EIA Petroleum Products 2002, Energy Inventory Factsheet 2003)
Gas in greater Book Cliffs area could supply U.S. for: 257 days (USDOE Natural Gas 2004, Energy Inventory Factsheet 2003)

Drilling in Utah's Wilderness

For less than 257 days of natural gas, the BLM is considering a gas industry plan that could place up to 423 natural gas wells on 80,000 acres of one of Utah's most spectacular wild areas.

The Book Cliffs, the site of the proposed development, is part of the Uinta Basin, an area of about 6,969,500 acres in East-Central Utah. The Book Cliffs area is a remote land, named for its 250-mile-long, 2,000-foot-high row of cliffs, the longest continuous such formation in the world. The Book Cliffs is also home to abundant wildlife including black bear, mountain lions, bald eagles, and peregrine falcons — a species that was just recently removed from the Endangered Species list. The BLM has described Gray Canyon in the Book Cliffs area as "a place where a visitor can experience true solitude — where the forces of nature continue to shape the colorful, rugged landscape." (BLM Description of Book Cliffs 1998, UDEQ 2004, BLM Photo Archive 2001, Britannica Book Cliffs 2004.)

Book Cliffs Interactive Map

Map Note: The Book Cliffs Recreation Area depicted in red is land in eastern Utah that is home to wilderness, abundant wildlife, and the Book Cliffs, a 250-mile-long, 2,000-foot-high row of cliffs, the longest continuous such formation in the world. BLM is considering a plan by three energy companies to drill as many as 423 natural gas wells in the area outlined in red as RDEG Proposal (National Atlas 2003, Energy Inventory 2003, Public Lands Center 2004, BLM Vernal Office 2004).

An Environmental Working Group analysis of government leasing and drilling records shows that the oil and gas industry already pressures local wildlife — a summary of current leasing activity in the Cliffs is shown below.

Oil and Gas Lease Holders of Uinta Basin land

In Uinta Basin, 294 companies and individuals hold 399 active leases on 323,509 acres of land. The table below shows who holds active leases, and provides links to comprehensive information on leases held across the west by individual companies, and political contributions made by companies over the past three election cycles.

Rank	Name	City/State
1	Retamco Operating Inc	Roberts, MT 59070	37	51,738
2	Rosewood Res Inc	Dallas, TX 75204	65	50,176
3	Carbon Energy Corp USA	Denver, CO 80202	30	38,690
4	T-K Production Co	Billings, MT 59103	64	36,722
5	Morgan Marathon LLC	Denver, CO 80202	52	30,882
6	Best Exploration Inc	Grand Junction, CO 81506	49	28,938
7	DJ Investment Co Ltd	Salt Lake City, UT 84111	46	28,518
8	T H Mcelvain O & G Ltd Ptnrshp	Denver, CO 80265	19	26,697
9	Harold B Holden	Billings, MT 59103	46	24,855
10	CDX Rockies LLC	Dallas, TX 75240	8	16,782
See all lease holders in Uinta Basin

Source: EWG analysis of leasing and drilling records in 12 western states, contained in the Bureau of Land Management's Land and Mineral Records 2000 database, acquired by EWG May 15 2004.

Hundreds of New Wells on the Horizon

But piece by piece, the BLM has been auctioning off oil and gas leases in the Book Cliffs and now, the Bureau is considering a plan proposed by gas companies that could allow as many as 423 new natural gas wells on an 80,000 acre portion of the area (Israelsen 2003, BLM Book Cliffs EIS 2003).

In a draft Environmental Impact Statement issued in July 2003, the BLM noted that the proposal from Rosewood Resources, Inc., White River Resources Management, Inc., Kidd Family Partnership, and Phoenix Energy Inc. (known collectively as the Resource Development Energy Group) would require 14 to 40 wells per year serviced by 127 miles of new roads. The project would disturb a total of 1,222 acres, the BLM reports. The BLM also noted that the area is already the site of 64 wells and 139 miles of roads (BLM Book Cliffs EIS 2003).

Threats to Water, Wilderness, Wildlife

According to the BLM, the proposed plan would destroy wilderness characteristics in one area identified by the BLM as wilderness quality. The proposal would also destroy wilderness characteristics in two other areas identified as wilderness quality by a citizens group, the Utah Wilderness Coalition (UWC). The BLM subsequently analyzed the UWC's findings and determined that portions of both areas are likely to have wilderness characteristics (BLM EIS 2003, S-18).

Groundwater could be contaminated by drilling waste and hydraulic fluids, the BLM said, and the operation could disrupt or eliminate habitat for elk, mule deer, antelope and other wildlife (BLM Book Cliffs EIS, S12-S13).

Small Amounts of Energy

How much gas would the RDEG proposal produce from the Book Cliffs area? Not much. In 2003 three government agencies estimated the amount of oil and gas that is technically recoverable (though not economically recoverable) in the Uinta/Piceance Basin — an area that covers millions of acres in northeastern Utah and northwestern Colorado, including the Book Cliffs. The study found that federal lands open to leasing in the area contain 205 million barrels of technically recoverable oil and 15.3 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of technically recoverable natural gas. The agencies found that federal land not open to leasing — 20 percent of federal land in the basins — contains 14 million barrels of technically recoverable oil and 0.9 trillion cubic feet of technically recoverable natural gas (Energy Inventory Factsheet 2003). Thus, on all federal land in the basins, there is an estimated total of 219 million barrels of technically recoverable oil and 16.2 trillion cubic feet of technically recoverable natural gas (USGS Uinta/Piceance Map 2002, Energy Inventory Factsheet 2003).

To put these figures in perspective, U.S. oil consumption in 2000 was 19.7 million barrels per day, meaning that the federal lands in the Uinta/Piceance Basin — lands both open and closed to leasing — would provide the nation at most with about 11 days of oil. The U.S. used about 23 TCF of natural gas in 2001 — a figure that is expected to rise to 35 TCF per year by 2025. Thus, at 2001 levels of consumption, the federal lands in the Uinta/Piceance Basin — lands both open and closed to leasing — would provide the nation at most with about 257 days of natural gas. The Book Cliffs is only a small portion of the Basin, so the amount of natural gas produced by the RDEG proposal in the Book Cliffs is likely to be even less than 257 days (USDOE Natural Gas 2004; USDOE Oil Consumption 2004).

References:

Bureau of Land Management (Description of Book Cliffs). 2004. Area Description of the Book Cliffs. Accessed June 11, 2004 at http://www.blm.gov/utah/vernal/rec/bcrec.html.
Bureau of Land Management (Photo Archive). 2001. Photo Archive. Accessed June 11, 2004 at http://www.ut.blm.gov/SpotPhotos/spotph32.html.
Bureau of Land Management (Book Cliffs EIS). 2003. Draft Environmental Impact Statement, Resource Development Group, Uinta Basin Natural Gas Project.
Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Vernal Field Office, General Location Map of the RDG EIS, July 13, 2004 (BLM Vernal). Obtained via email from Tanya_Bullock@ut.blm.gov.
Israelsen, Brent (Israelsen). 2003. Energy Firms Seek Book Cliffs Wells. August 10, 2003.
Encyclopedia Britannica (Britannica Book Cliffs). 2004. Book Cliffs. Accessed online June 16, 2004 at http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?eu=410464&tocid=0
&query=book%20cliffs&ct=.
Energy Information Administration (EIA Petroleum Products). 2002. Annual Energy Review, 2002. Petroleum Products Supplied by Type, 1949-2002. Accessed online July 14, 2004 at http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/aer/petro.html.
National Atlas of the United States, Federal Lands and Indian Reservations, October 2003 (National Atlas). 2003. Accessed online at http://nationalatlas.gov
Public Lands Information Center, Book Cliffs Recreation Center Interative Map (Public Lands Center). 2004. Available online at http://www.publiclands.org/explore/quadrant_map.php ?id=1147&site_name=Book%20Cliffs
%20Recreation%20Area&quad=UT_Q21
U.S. Departments of Interior, Agriculture, Energy (Energy Inventory Factsheet 2003). 2003. Scientific Inventory of Onshore Federal Lands' Oil and Gas Resources and Reserves and the Extent and Nature of Restrictions or Impediments to Their Development. Accessed online June 16, 2004 at http://www.doi.gov/news/factsheet.htm.
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS Uinta/Piceance Map). 2002. Executive Summary—Assessment of Undiscovered Oil and Gas Resources of the Uinta-Piceance Province of Utah and Colorado, 2002. Accessed online June 16, 2004, at geology.cr.usgs.gov/energy/
noga/dds-69b/REPORTS/Chapter_1.pdf.
Utah Department of Environmental Quality (UDEQ). 2004. Watershed Description: Uinta Basin. Accessed online June 11, 2004 at http://waterquality.utah.gov/watersheds
/uinta/watershed_description.htm.