Lankford Announces Marginal Well Protection Act – Tulsa World

From Staff Reports

U.S. Sens. James Lankford, R-Okla., and Roger Marshall, R-Kan., on Monday announced the introduction of the Marginal Well Protection Act to prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from levying “excessive methane emission fees” for wells that produce less than 15 barrels of oil and less than 90 Mcf (90,000 cubic feet) of natural gas per day.

Marginal wells are small, often family-owned wells with around 15 employees or fewer, Lankford said in a news release.

Marginal wells produce almost 7.5 percent of the entire US oil production supply. Joining Lankford and Marshall in introducing the bill were U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Jerry Moran, R-Kan., Steve Daines, R-Mont., and Jim Inhofe, R-Okla.

“(President) Biden has made it clear he wants to get rid of good-paying energy jobs to force his radical climate-change agenda,” Lankford said in a news release.

“Many Oklahomans participate in the small-scale oil and gas production that Democrats in Congress are proposing to punish with a job-destroying methane fine.

“My colleagues and I want to make sure we protect our American energy independence, especially the smaller oil and gas operations, from crushing methane fees.

“If the Biden Administration is successful at killing small oil and gas producers, our nation will have to purchase more oil and gas from overseas to meet our national energy needs.

“An American President should prefer American jobs. Unfortunately this President prefers that we beg for more oil from OPEC and Russia rather than unleash American energy production,” Lankford said.

“Marginal wells account for an overwhelming majority of Oklahoma’s oil and natural gas wells,” Inhofe said.

“These producers are vital to our economy and the continued well-being and financial security of so many families and businesses. Marginal well owners are often small, family-owned businesses that should not be hit with unprecedented, hefty “fees” that are really new taxes on oil and gas.

“However, that’s exactly what the Biden administration and Democrats plan to do —inflict heavy methane emissions fees that would be detrimental to countless American businesses.

“That’s why I introduced the Marginal Well Protection Act alongside Sen. Marshall, which would block this large tax increase from going into effect on the vast majority of oil and gas producers,” Inhofe said.