During today’s Energy and Natural Resources hearing on natural gas, American Petroleum Institute Chairman Jack Gerard dredged up the same misleading talking points around drilling and fracking on public lands.
The truth of the matter is that the frequency and location of fracking for natural gas is governed by technology, geology, and price. But Mr. Gerard appears to be working hard to prevent the public from realizing this.
A couple of facts about fracking for natural gas:
- The Bureau of Land Management under the Obama Administration has been very aggressive, too aggressive in some key cases, in leasing public lands for drilling and fracking. Over 6.3 million acres have been made available to oil and gas companies over the last four years, while only 2.6 million acres have been permanently protected. The BLM has also proposed a number of controversial lease sales, near popular tourist destinations and agricultural areas, leading to community protests and some recent backtracking by the BLM in Colorado. That’s why, last week, former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt called for President Obama to adopt a more balanced approach to land use going forward.
- Natural gas prices have dropped in recent years, due to the glut in supply. That’s why companies aren’t requesting or initiating even more new drilling leases on federal lands. In fact, in shale oil plays like the Bakken Field, drillers are burning, or flaring, natural gas they turn up because it’s more economical than capturing, processing and selling it. When natural gas becomes more profitable, industry has plenty of acres of public land waiting to be drilled and fracked.