Energy and Western Wildlands: A GIS Analysis of Economically Recoverable Oil and Gas

September 15, 2002

This report presents the findings from two analyses conducted by The Wilderness Society in relation to gas and oil resources on public lands in the American West.

Potentially Economically Recoverable Oil and Gas

The first analysis focused on potential economically recoverable gas and oil resources on national forest roadless areas in six Rocky Mountain states and 15 national monuments managed by the Bureau of Land Management in the western states.

Our work clearly documents that the amount of natural gas and oil under the roadless areas and monuments is extremely small relative to U.S. demand.

Among Our Key Findings

• Economically recoverable gas in national forest roadless areas of our study area would meet total U.S. gas consumption for about 9 to 11 weeks.
• Economically recoverable oil in those roadless areas would meet total U.S. oil consumption for less than 24 days.
• The 15 national monuments contain less than six days of gas use and 15 days of oil use for the United States.

Analysis of Three Recent Reports

Our second analysis focused on three recent reports that indicate substantial amounts of potential gas and oil resources are off limits to development, primarily because of environmental stipulations in government leases. We found that the reports failed to take into consideration a number of important criteria, including a full accounting of the costs of bringing the resources to market. A careful examination of their flawed assumptions and methods indicates that environmental stipulations do not pose a major roadblock to exploration and development of potential energy resources on public lands.

Common weaknesses among the reports include inappropriate use of technically recoverable gas rather than economically recoverable gas in reaching conclusions, a failure to consider improved access to gas from directional drilling and drill bit technology, and a failure to examine access to existing gas reserves.

We believe that the information documented through our analyses will lead to a more informed public debate as national energy policy emerges. The following recommendations are meant to improve assessments of the energy potential on public wildlands, including Bureau of Land Management studies mandated by the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1999. The goal is to improve the quality of information that will be included in the public debate.

• Begin the assessments with USGS mean estimates of economically recoverable resources.
• Include a full accounting of environmental costs in economic analyses.
• Include proven gas and oil reserves.
• Include both private and public lands.
• Take into account access that is available through directional drilling.
• Take into account the positive effect of emerging technology on access.
• Include an analysis of drilling opportunities.
• Collect baseline data and fund long-term monitoring.
• Increase assurance bonding requirements in government leases.