After buying oil giant Anadarko, Occidental Petroleum looks to shed assets
** Wyoming aims to buy 1 million acres from oil company
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Wednesday, February 26, 2020
Pronghorn and natural gas drilling rigs in Wyoming | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ([link removed])
The state of Wyoming is looking to purchase 1 million acres ([link removed]) of land and 4 million acres of mineral rights from Occidental Petroleum—possibly the largest land purchase by a U.S. government since Alaska. The land, which largely follows I-80, was originally granted to rail companies by the federal government in a checkerboard pattern to facilitate the construction of the transcontinental railroad more than 150 years ago.
Legislators in Wyoming are considering how to pay ([link removed]) for the land, the price of which could exceed $1 billion. While lawmakers are considering issuing bonds and raiding the state's rainy day fund, they hope that revenue from oil and gas leasing, grazing, and rights of way will eventually pay dividends.
Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon hopes the purchase can increase public access and protect wildlife, noting ([link removed]) , "I don’t know what the return on that is, but in terms of being able to talk about … migration corridors and wildlife herds and opportunities for outdoor recreation and places that can be open to renewables, all that sort of stuff … it’s a real opportunity to think big."
Quick hits
** Budget watchdog calls for modernizing 100-year old oil and gas royalty rates
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KUNR ([link removed])
** Public outcry saved Utah's Slickrock Trail from oil and gas leasing
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Outside Magazine ([link removed])
** Trump administration marches forward with changes to weaken bedrock environmental review law
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Washington Post ([link removed])
** Former Hill staffer with close ties to oil companies confirmed as Interior Department second-in-command
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The Hill ([link removed])
** New Mexico investigating possible oil spill in last remaining habitat for endangered mussel
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Carlsbad Current-Argus ([link removed])
** JP Morgan Chase takes step towards limiting loans for coal plants, Arctic drilling
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Washington Post ([link removed])
** Dry weather, low snowpack stifle Trump effort to divert water for California agriculture
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Sacramento Bee ([link removed])
** Wind turbine manufacturers look to make blades more repairable, recyclable
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Colorado Sun ([link removed])
Quote of the day
It’s tempting to say that the public spoke up, the agency listened, and the system worked, but that would not be an accurate telling. This illustrates…what ‘energy dominance’ run amok looks like.”
—Outdoor Alliance on BLM's decision to defer oil and gas leases under Utah's Slickrock Trail, Outside Magazine ([link removed])
Picture this
** @Interior ([link removed])
The glorious peaks @PinnaclesNPS ([link removed]) are eroded remains of ancient lava fields #California ([link removed]) #FindYourPark ([link removed])
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