Interior Department Issues Impractical, Restrictive Rule Regulating Methane Venting and Flaring

BISMARCK - The Department of the Interior issued a final rule on Wednesday from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to add burdensome, redundant regulations on oil and gas producers operating on federal and Tribal lands. U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, issued the following statement:

"Thisrule is another step backwards for American energy. It will drive up the cost of energy even to the point of shutting some production down. Instead of issuing such a duplicative, punitive rule, the Biden administration should focus instead on streamlining permitting processes to encourage more domestic production, not less."

The rule establishes a new royalty on flared gas, monthly limits on allowable flaring, and new application requirements for operators regarding their ability to capture produced natural gas before they can obtain a permit to drill.

More than 30% of North Dakota's minerals are split estate lands and Bakken oil is produced along with rich gas streams. Due to the burdensome red tape involved with permitting takeaway infrastructure on federal and tribal lands, North Dakota faces significant takeaway capacity constraints and producers are often forced to flare the associated natural gas from oil production.