Interior Secretary Sally Jewell outlined the Department of the Interior’s energy priorities for the next two years Tuesday. Some of them could impact oil and gas producers in the Southwest.
Among the priorities discussed Tuesday was an effort to update regulations governing oil and gas extraction on federal public lands. Jewell said many of the current regulations haven’t been updated in about 30 years.
One of the biggest changes would impact hydraulic fracturing or fracking operations. Jewell said a final version of a rule that was first proposed in 2012 will be revealed in the coming days.
"The rule will include measures to protect our nation’s ground water," she said. "Requiring operators to construct sound wells, to disclose the chemicals they use and to safely recover and handle the fluids used in the process."
The Department of the Interior reported about 25 percent of what’s known as “unconventional oil and gas” is found on federally controlled land.
Jewell added that proposed standards to cut methane emissions will also be released in the next few months.
