Long-delayed federal oil auction moves online
The first auction of federal oil and gas leases in Kern County since 2012 will also be the first locally to be conducted online.
This month the federal Bureau of Land Management’s Bakersfield Field Office announced the series of seven individual lease sales will take place at www.energynet.com starting at 8 a.m. on Dec. 10.
The parcels add up to almost 4,134 acres, with each lease located on or next to the Midway-Sunset Oil Field near Taft or the Kern Front Oil Field north of Bakersfield, according to the BLM.
Several years ago the agency moved oil and gas auctions online after a pilot auction resulted in greater industry participation and higher revenues. The BLM says online auctions also
streamline sales and increase transparency.
Environmental activists opposed to the leases for various reasons have criticized the switch to online proceedings, saying they stifle public participation and fast-track petroleum development.
“The BLM shouldn’t be selling off these public lands for drilling and fracking, online or offline,” Kassie Siegel, director of the Arizona-based Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute, said by email Wednesday about the local auctions. “More oil development will further pollute the air we breathe during a pandemic and cause more climate pollution even as our state burns and swelters in climate change-fueled fires and heatwaves.”
The agency has defended the auctions as contributing to the Trump administration’s push for U.S. energy independence through an “all-of-the-above strategy” including petroleum. It also notes revenue from federal petroleum lease auctions are divided equally between the U.S. Treasury and state budgets, which in California ranges between $65 million and $90 million per year.
Meanwhile, in response to recent public comments, the agency has stated online it is revising a draft environmental assessment of the lease plan and its finding of no significant impact. It is also accepting public protests online through Nov. 9 at https:// go.usa.gov/xGxKz. The same web address contains information for auction participants and a link to detailed descriptions of the land set for lease.
The resumption of oil and gas leasing in Kern follows a yearslong legal dispute that ultimately forced the federal government to conduct a review that concluded fracking, the well-completion practice that uses high-pressure water and chemicals to open access to petroleum deposits, presents minimal risk to the environment.
The BLM’s local office said no more than 10 new wells are likely to be developed across all seven parcels set for auction in December. It added the office will conduct additional environmental review and may issue site-specific conditions when considering whether to allow drilling on the property.