During the previous decade, the federal government regularly issued new drilling permits on public lands at a faster rate that industry drilled.
- For years, the number of wells drilled on federal lands has lagged behind the number of new drilling permits issued by the BLM.[i]/[ii]
- In FY 2011, the BLM approved 1,660 permits to drill on federal lands in Wyoming, but oil and gas companies began drilling only 1,049 new wells. Similarly, in New Mexico 883 permits were issued by the BLM, while industry began drilling only 709 new wells.
- The trend repeats itself in states throughout the Rocky Mountain West.
