On August 14, 2023, the PBPA submitted a request for an extension of the public comment period before the final submission of our more extensive comments. In response, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released this press release on August 29, 2023.

"The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) is extending the public comment period seeking public input on a proposal to list the dunes sagebrush lizard as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. The public comment period will now be open for 90 days, closing October 2, 2023.

The Service is committed to having a robust public engagement process as it considers a proposal to list the dunes sagebrush lizard as endangered. The extension gives all interested parties additional time to provide comments. In addition to this extension, on July 31, 2023, the Service held a virtual Public Information Session and Public Hearing where it accepted verbal comments for the record.

The dunes sagebrush lizard is a rare species found only in the shinnery oak sand dune ecosystems in West Texas and southeastern New Mexico....

MRT.com/Midland Reporter-Telegram

by Mella McEwen

The following on oil and natural gas production inside the Permian Basin and severance taxes from the Permian Basin were taken from a recent Midland-Odessa Transportation Alliance (MOTRAN) newsletter.

• According to the Energy Information Administration, the Permian Basin produces 72% of Texas’ crude oil. That’s 40% of US oil.
• The Permian Basin reached a record high natural gas production of 21 billion cubic feet daily in 2022, 14% more than the 2021 average. That increase continues in 2023 with an increase of 60 million cubic feet per day in the first four months of the year compared to the same period of 2022. The Permian Basin is now the nation’s second-largest natural gas-producing basin, accounting for 24% of US gas production.
• In just the Texas Department of Transportation’s 12-county Odessa District, oil production rose more than 72.8 million...

Forbes.com

by David Blackmon

As part of a massive, pre-holiday weekend document dump by the Biden administration on June 30, the domestic oil and gas industry received an unwelcome gift from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS), one that shifts Mr. Biden’s continuing war on oil and gas to the Permian Basin. In a notice published in the Federal Register, USFWS said it has determined a need to list the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard, long a topic of concern and controversy, as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act.

Though a day past deadline, the notice of proposed listing will presumably satisfy a court order requiring the agency to issue a decision no later than June 29. It also upends the conduct of a longstanding conservation...

The day before Americans begin the weekend celebration of our independence, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that it would be proposing the listing of the dunes sagebrush lizard as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Not only does this continue what has become a tradition of this administration announcing major regulatory action on the eve of national holidays, but it is once again an attack by this administration against American independence and the most prolific energy producing region in the United States, the Permian Basin.

Energy production in the Permian Basin, which is a national leader not just in oil and natural gas production, but also in wind and solar energy production, provides energy independence to our nation. The listing of the dunes sagebrush lizard under the Endangered Species Act, when there has been such a tremendous state and private conservation initiative to protect the species and its habitat, is a slap in the face to not just state and private conservationists, but to all those around the world who rely on the energy...

Midland Reporter-Telegram

by Mella McEwen

“This industry is the most important tool we have in our national security arsenal,” said Rep. August Pfluger.

The San Angelo Republican, who represents District 11, which includes Midland and Odessa, addressed energy issues Tuesday with the Permian Basin Petroleum Association at the Petroleum Club.

He told the gathering he was elected to the House of Representatives to highlight the national security implications of the oil and natural gas industry. The Permian Basin, he said, is the epicenter of a shale revolution that has lifted a billion people out of poverty and changed the geopolitical equation, giving the...

Read More

by Julie Anderson

If the Regular Session of the 88th Texas Legislature were to be summarized in bullet points, here’s how it might read:

• Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar projects a $32.7 billion surplus, giving lawmakers a spending cushion prior to the 140-day session.
• On Jan. 10, Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson convenes the 88th Texas Legislative Session on the floor of the Texas House of Representatives.
• On Feb. 13, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick announces his top 30.......

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As seen in the Oil & Gas Journal

The Permian Basin Petroleum Association, five ranchers’ associations, and Texas have sued the Biden administration over the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) listing of the northern population of the lesser prairie-chicken as threatened and the southern population of the same species as endangered under the Endangered Species Act.

The species, a kind of grouse scattered across five states, is found in oil and gas drilling areas and cattle grazing areas in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Colorado. The FWS, a part of the Interior Department, published its determinations Nov. 25.

The final rule violated Interior’s own policies for application of the Endangered Species Act, and violated the Administrative Procedure Act with arbitrary and unsubstantiated conclusions arbitrary population segments, according to the lawsuit by the petroleum...

The Permian to Putin: The Oil Industry Reacts | A One Question/Basin PBS Live Town Hall. Hosted by Becky Ferguson. Hear from local experts in the field on the effects of the was on the Permian Basin oil. Underwritten by Diamondback Energy. Sponsored by The Permian Basin Area Foundation.

Kay Bailey Hutchison is a household name for multiple generations of Texans. Between her 20-year tenure as a U.S. senator from Texas and her time as U.S. ambassador to NATO, just about everyone knows of her.

And while Hutchison has seen a lot in her career, she’s keeping a close eye on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. What’s her take on the war there, the future of NATO, and the United States’ place in it all?

Hear her speak on all this and more when you join The Texas Tribune at 4 p.m. Central on Wednesday, April 6, for a timely conversation with former NATO ambassador Kay Bailey Hutchison.