The situation illustrates the importance of requiring adequate bonding to cover clean-up costs.

Look West: Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities


** Colorado oil and gas regulators crack down on repeat offender
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Friday, February 3, 2023
An orphaned well, Bureau of Land Management ([link removed])

The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) has ordered oil and gas operator K.P. Kauffman to suspend production immediately, pay $1.9 million in fines within 30 days, and clean up 78 sites within six months, or lose its license to operate in the state. The company has been the subject of a variety of enforcement actions ([link removed]) since 2019, and in 2021 was ordered to pay over $2 million in fines. That figure was reduced to $795,000, the maximum K.P. Kauffman claimed it was able to pay, as part of an agreement between the company and the COGCC that included a commitment by the company to clean up 58 sites.

Since the 2021 agreement, despite being granted a six-month extension in June 2022, the company has made essentially no progress, completing clean-up at only three of the 58 sites, leading the COGCC to crack down following three days of hearings that ended earlier this week.

In response to this week's decision, K.P. Kauffman stated that it is considering appealing the decision to the Denver District Court. The company also claims that if it is not allowed to sell oil and gas, it will be unable to afford to complete the remaining clean-up work, suggesting that it may declare bankruptcy. If this happens, its 1,200 wells would likely end up in Colorado's orphan well program. An analysis conducted by High Country News ([link removed]) estimates that plugging and cleaning up K.P. Kauffman's wells in Colorardo would cost around $110 million, to be covered by taxpayers.

The situation illustrates the importance of requiring adequate bonding ([link removed]) to cover clean-up costs. While Colorado recently improved its state-level bonding requirements, federal bonding requirements have not been updated since 1960. A provision to update bonding requirements to align with today's actual clean-up costs was removed from the Inflation Reduction Act by the Senate parliamentarian before the act passed in August 2022. The Interior Department has the authority to update bonding requirements through an agency rulemaking but is rapidly running out of time ([link removed]) to lock in durable reforms using this process.


** Another day, another multi-billion dollar profit announcement
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On Thursday Shell announced an annual profit of over $42 billion ([link removed]) , a record for the company and more than double its profits from the previous year. The announcement follows similar ones ([link removed]) over the past week from ExxonMobil and Chevron ([link removed]) , both of which also posted record annual profits. Meanwhile, Shell faces a complaint ([link removed]) filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission which accuses the company of "greenwashing" by claiming its investments in natural gas fall under the category of "Renewables and Energy Solutions" in
its own SEC reports.
Quick hits


** Under fire, gas industry is hiring former politicians to help
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Washington Post ([link removed])


** National parks threatened by oil and gas development
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KUNM ([link removed])


** Report reveals how much oil and gas money is in New Mexico state politics
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The Paper ([link removed])


** Western Republicans advocate for federal land transfer
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Wyoming Public Radio ([link removed])


** Opinion: The state of the land: Biden's mixed conservation record
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High Country News ([link removed])


** Anti-Indigenous policy proposals aren't going away in Montana
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High Country News ([link removed])


** Indigenous women learn how to protect their ancestral lands with fire
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Arizona Republic ([link removed])


** When solar and art collide
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Los Angeles Times ([link removed])
Quote of the day
” It's important to remember that people choose to live in the West because of our abundant public lands, and Westerners want to see these lands protected for future generations to enjoy.”
—Kate Groetzinger, Center for Western Priorities Communications Manager, Wyoming Public Radio ([link removed])
Picture this


** @NatlParkService ([link removed])
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Did you know if you hold an ermine up to your ear, you can hear what it’s like to be attacked by an ermine?

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