ND federal judge temporarily blocks Biden administration’s natural gas flaring rule

BISMARCK, ND (AP) — A federal judge in North Dakota has temporarily blocked a new rule by the Biden administration aimed at reducing the venting and flaring of natural gas at oil wells.

“At this preliminary stage, plaintiffs have shown that they are likely to succeed on the merits of their claim that Rule 2024 is arbitrary and capricious,” District Judge Daniel Traynor ruled Friday, the Bismarck Tribune reported.

North Dakota, along with Montana, Texas, Wyoming and Utah, challenged the rule in federal court earlier this year, arguing it would impede oil and gas production and that the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management was overstepping its regulatory authority. in the non-federal field. minerals and air pollution.

The bureau says the rule is intended to reduce gas waste and that royalty owners would see more than $50 million in additional payments if it were implemented.

But Traynor wrote that the rules “add nothing more than a layer of federal regulation on top of existing federal regulations.”

When you pump for oil, natural gas often appears as a byproduct. Gas is not as profitable as oil, so it is vented or flared unless the right equipment is in place to capture it.

Methane, the main component of natural gas, is a climate “super pollutant” that is many times more potent in the short term than carbon dioxide.

Well operators have significantly reduced burn rates in North Dakota in recent years, but they still hover around 5 percent, the Tribune reported. The reductions require infrastructure to capture, transport and use that gas.

North Dakota politicians praised the decision.

“The Biden-Harris administration is continually seeking to over-regulate and ultimately weaken North Dakota’s energy generation capabilities,” Attorney General Drew Wrigley said in a statement.

The Bureau of Land Management declined to comment.

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