The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has made two significant changes in its final onshore orders that affect the measurement of natural gas and oil produced on federal and most Native American lands.
In response to concerns raised by Tulsa, Okla.-based GPA Midstream Association, BLM grandfathered in a significant amount of midstream equipment, the association said on Nov. 30.
“We are pleased BLM worked collaboratively with us, and through that collaboration, we were able to save GPA Midstream members valuable resources due to the significant amount of grandfathering, which greatly reduces our costs of implementation,” Matthew Hite, GPA Midstream’s vice president of government affairs, said in a statement. “This is a significant change since BLM’s initial position included no grandfathering of equipment and would have resulted in our members spending many millions of dollars to replace existing measurement equipment.”
BLM also eliminated the 11-digit facility measurement point (FMP) number that the agency initially was going to require on all midstream flow computers (which convert meter signals to volume of gas or oil measured) and reports. GPA Midstream strongly advocated for the change.
“GPA Midstream had significant concerns with this since our midstream systems are only able to handle up to 8 digits, and this would have required our members to upgrade or replace entire flow computer systems that would easily cost in the millions of dollars,” Hite said. “We are pleased BLM was able to recognize the current limitations of technology of flow computers and realize they can still get accurate measurement results without placing millions of dollars in compliance costs on our membership.”
Recommended Reading
Deep Well Services, CNX Launch JV AutoSep Technologies
2024-04-25 - AutoSep Technologies, a joint venture between Deep Well Services and CNX Resources, will provide automated conventional flowback operations to the oil and gas industry.
EQT Sees Clear Path to $5B in Potential Divestments
2024-04-24 - EQT Corp. executives said that an April deal with Equinor has been a catalyst for talks with potential buyers as the company looks to shed debt for its Equitrans Midstream acquisition.
Matador Hoards Dry Powder for Potential M&A, Adds Delaware Acreage
2024-04-24 - Delaware-focused E&P Matador Resources is growing oil production, expanding midstream capacity, keeping debt low and hunting for M&A opportunities.
TotalEnergies, Vanguard Renewables Form RNG JV in US
2024-04-24 - Total Energies and Vanguard Renewable’s equally owned joint venture initially aims to advance 10 RNG projects into construction during the next 12 months.
Sitio Royalties Dives Deeper in D-J with $150MM Acquisition
2024-02-29 - Sitio Royalties is deepening its roots in the D-J Basin with a $150 million acquisition—citing regulatory certainty over future development activity in Colorado.