Page 6 - NorthAmOil Week 08 2022

NorthAmOil PIPELINES & TRANSPORT NorthAmOil

US Supreme Court rejects

Dakota Access appeal

US MIDWEST THE US Supreme Court has refused to consider urged the Supreme Court to reject the Dakota
an appeal against a previous ruling from a fed- Access appeal.
eral appeals court on Energy Transfer’s Dakota The Dakota Access company’s appeal cen-
Access pipeline. tred on the claim that the federal appeals court
That ruling said the US Army Corps of Engi- had improperly substituted its judgement for
neers should have prepared an environmental that of the Corps. The appeal refences the 1969
impact statement (EIS) on the pipeline before National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA),
allowing it to pass under Lake Oahe. Concerns which requires a detailed EIS if a project is likely
over the impact of a possible oil leak into the to have a significant effect.
lake sparked major protests against the project, “Congress tasked agencies – not the courts –
including by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, with deciding which environmental impacts are
which uses it as a source of drinking water, from ‘significant,’ requiring an EIS,” Dakota Access
2016. had argued.
The Supreme Court made no comment on The Corps said most recently that its environ-
why it was refusing to hear the appeal. Its refusal mental review would be completed in Novem-
leaves the pipeline’s fate uncertain as the Corps ber, but the timeline has already been extended
carries out a new environmental review. The several times.
administration of US President Joe Biden said The Standing Rock Sioux have called for the
that it would not seek to shut down the pipeline pipeline to be shut down until the environmental
in the near term, but Dakota Access finds itself review is complete. It seems likely that efforts to
more vulnerable in the event that the Corps stop the pipeline, which has the capacity to carry
does not reissue the required permit. The Biden up to 750,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil, from
administration was also among those that had operating will continue.™

INVESTMENT

Ovintiv reportedly considering

options for Uinta Basin properties

UTAH SHALE producer Ovintiv is reportedly explor- production in the Uinta was around 15,000 bar-
ing options for its acreage in Utah’s Uinta Basin rels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) in 2021.
and is seeking to hire an investment bank to help Ovintiv’s president and CEO, Brendan
with the process. McCracken, said that while the company does
Citing three sources familiar with the mat- not comment on speculative deals, there was a
ter, Reuters reported that a full or partial sale lot of undeveloped potential in the basin.
of the assets would be among the options and “It’s a smaller asset … compared to our three
could fetch up to $1bn. However, the sources core assets. But we really like what we’ve seen in
cautioned that no final decision had been made the play,” he said. “We drilled six new wells into
yet and said Ovintiv could still choose to retain what was our second cube there last year, and the
the assets. performance has been very impressive.”
Ovintiv is one of the leading producers in McCracken went on to say that while the
the Uinta Basin but considers its assets there to Uinta would not be receiving a material amount
be non-core. It has scaled back spending on its of capital in 2021, it remained a key part of Ovin-
Uinta assets in recent years, focusing more on the tiv’s portfolio.
Permian and Anadarko basins instead. If the company does decide to sell its Uinta
According to the company’s 2020 annual assets, it would be the second major player to
report, it had around 207,000 net acres (838 exit the region after EP Energy, which had to
square km) in Utah. And in its fourth-quar- offload its properties there amid anti-trust con-
ter earnings call, which took place days after cerns related to a takeover of its assets by EnCap
the Reuters report was published, Ovintiv said Investments.™

P6 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 08 24•February•2022