CEAC-2020-10-October

News
Approvals for New Oil and Gas Wells Up
in California By Daisy Nguyen | Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Despite pushing back against the
Trump administration’s plan to expand oil extraction in
California, the state has issued 190 percent more oil and gas
drilling permits in the first six months of 2020 than were approved
under Gov. Gavin Newsom’s first six months in office,
two advocacy groups recently declared.
The agency that oversees oil and gas drilling in California issued
2,691 permits to drill new wells or rework existing ones
the first half of this year, according to an analysis of state
data by Consumer Watchdog and FracTracker Alliance.
It also found that several months after announcing a crackdown
on fracking projects, the state issued 48 new permits
for hydraulic fracturing.
The groups, which maintain a website to keep track of the
permits, said the trend conflicts with California’s environmental
mandate and Newsom’s campaign promise to reduce
reliance on fossil fuels. However, state officials counter the
groups misinterpreted the data and asserted that the number
of new drill permits were slightly up by 7 percent, from
1,475 in the first six months of 2019 to 1,579 in the same
period this year.
“Under state law, if a company applies for a permit, we
review and if it meets the criteria in our regulations, we issue
a permit,” said Uduak-Joe Ntuk, oil and gas supervisor at the
California Geologic Energy Management Division.
“We are a government agency, this is what we do. It’s not a
subjective political decision. We have to follow the law,” he
said.
He added that oil production in California was at its lowest
level than any time in the last four decades and that the
number of permits issued for sealing old wells outpaced
permits for new wells.
Ntuk was appointed the state’s top oil and gas regulator last
October after the governor fired his predecessor, Ken Harris,
over a report by the advocacy groups that said fracking
permits dramatically increased. Newsom also ordered an
investigation into reports that employees in the division own
stock in the companies they regulate — something Ntuk said
he couldn’t discuss because the probe is ongoing.
In November, the governor announced a moratorium on
fracking projects pending review by scientists at the Lawrence
Livermore National Laboratory to determine if they
meet regulatory standards.
Liza Tucker with Consumer Watchdog said she believes the
fracking permits were issued because the regulatory standards
are weak.
The permits expire in a year, and they don’t necessarily lead
to actual oil extraction, Tucker said, particularly as the coronavirus
pandemic drives down oil prices and demand.
Nonetheless, the total number of new wells drilled in the
first half of 2020 is still 9.2 percent higher than the first half
of 2019, when Newsom had little oversight of permitting
policies, the groups said.
Ntuk countered that the 30 new wells drilled in the first half
of 2020 is down 90 percent compared to the 302 wells completed
in the first half of 2019.
Tucker said she suspects oil companies are applying for new
permits to draw new investors in the middle of a financial
crisis.
She said the state was granting permits to companies with-
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| Chief Engineer