BLM proposes changes to federal oil and gas leasing and bonding

Sufficient bonds required to ensure future of the Fort Berthold Reservation

On the afternoon of Aug. 29, Walter Sr. and I had the amazing opportunity to go to Denver with our colleagues at the Western Organization of Resource Councils to attend a meeting hosted by the Bureau of Land Management, BLM. The meeting surrounded the proposed changes to federal oil and gas leasing and bonding policies.

Leasing and bonding are very important topics for the Fort Berthold Reservation because our oil and gas development is leased and bonded through the federal process.

Federal leasing is important in the tribal context because the leasing policy determines how fast oil wells are leased, where the oil wells are leased, and what environmental considerations need to be addressed prior to leasing on federal and tribal lands.

Bonding is important because it is the financial assurance that a company or the government will have funds available to clean up the oil and gas wells.

During the meeting, I asked officials from the BLM about how these new rules would impact our reservation. I also talked about how it is important for the BLM to require sufficient bonds, in the form of cash, that will help ensure oil companies or the government will be able to reclaim oil wells in the future.

This is especially important for the Fort Berthold Reservation because we will likely be in the process of reclaiming several hundred oil and gas wells 20 years from today.

Prior to the BLM Leasing and Bonding update presentation, I was interviewed by local media. We were also given t-shirts that stated, “Oil and Gas Reform,” which we wore throughout the BLM presentation.

Representative Lisa Finley-DeVille