CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — The staff of the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission will spend another month drafting rule changes that would expand the minimum distances that must separate oil and gas wells from homes, businesses and other structures.
Commission staff have proposed increasing the minimum distance for a vertically drilled well from 350 to 500 feet. The minimum setback for wells drilled into the ground and then horizontally would increase from 350 to 750 feet.
The commission is the state agency which regulates oil and gas drilling in Wyoming. The five-member panel which oversees the agency decided Tuesday to push back the process of changing the rules until October, giving commission staff more time to work on the draft.
Gov. Matt Mead, who as governor is chairman of the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, said he hopes increasing the setback distances will prevent opposition to oil and gas drilling.
“Somebody will wake up and all of sudden they have an oil rig. What we want make sure we avoid is an overreaction,” he said.
Commissioners suggested several changes including who could apply for exceptions to the rules, the Casper Star-Tribune reports (https://bit.ly/1twJhkI ).
They included a new definition of “water resource,” rule language that would grandfather-in existing vertical wells that are later drilled as horizontal wells, and specifying who may apply for exceptions to the rules.
The oil and gas supervisor has the discretion to allow exceptions to the 350-foot setback provided the landowner or petroleum company offers adequate justification. The proposed rule would keep that provision in place.
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Information from: Casper (Wyo.) Star-Tribune, https://www.trib.com
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