BLM Nears Record for Drilling Permits [View All]

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BLM Nears Record for Drilling Permits


Jul 29, 12:17 AM (ET)

By SANDY SHORE

DENVER (AP) - As oil and natural gas prices climb, the Bureau of Land Management is on pace to issue a record number of well drilling permits on public land this year.

The agency had issued about 3,500 permits by June 25, a number that is expected to increase to a record 6,000 by the end of the federal fiscal year in September, BLM geologist Richard Watson said Wednesday. Last year, the agency issued about 4,000 permits.

"It's unprecedented in the history of the BLM," he said during an address to a natural gas outlook conference.

The activity comes as the Bush administration pushes to open more environmentally sensitive public lands for oil and gas development.

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Wilderness Society officials contend the Bush administration is trying to give industry more control over public land. "It appears to us they're trying to get as much land under lease now while they can," society spokesman Bill Beagle said.

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http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040729/D8447KQ80.html