BLM selects 12 specialists to evaluate deferred Utah leases

The US Bureau of Land Management named a 12-member multi-disciplinary team from three federal agencies on July 17 to evaluate 77 deferred oil and gas lease parcels in southeastern Utah. The group does not include anyone involved in any previous decisions concerning the tracts, BLM said. It includes James Haerter, BLM’s program lead for oil, gas, and energy, and eight other employees of the US Department of the Interior agency, along with two specialists from the National Park Service and one from the US Forest Service. The team’s findings are expected by late September, according to BLM. Its Utah office originally auctioned the 77 parcels at a Dec. 19, 2008, lease sale. A federal district court enjoined their sale on Jan. 17 and US Interior Secretary Ken Salazar ordered that they not be issued on Feb. 6...PennEnergy