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Department of Lands reports monthly cash balances, well inspections and two inactive-well extensions
Summary
Idaho Department of Lands staff presented monthly cash balances, a summary of well activity in the Harmon Field area, and administrative extensions for an inactive well and an injection permit extension tied to 12/19/2026. Commissioners received the reports; no commission action was taken on these items.
Shannon Chillette, division administrator for the Idaho Department of Lands, presented the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission with the department’s monthly financial and well-status reports on Feb. 18.
Chillette reviewed multiple monthly cash-balance figures and regulatory program expenditures printed in the department packet. The packet lists several month-end balances and program expenditure summaries; examples read into the record included an ending balance of $816,675.35 for Sept. 30, 2024, $804,317.11 for Nov. 30, 2024, and $802,264 for Dec. 30, 2024. The transcript contains an inconsistent large figure read for a “beginning cash balance on February” that differs from the printed packet; the department report in the meeting packet should be consulted for the official ledger figures.
On well activity, Chillette summarized the December 31, 2024 well-status report for Payette County’s Harmon Field unit. According to operator monthly reports, five wells in Harmon Field were producing as of Dec. 31, 2024; the packet shows average production for the last six months through February 2024. Chillette said the number of shut-in days was not known for some wells and that the department’s average daily figures may therefore be understated.
Chillette also described additions to a well-status chart that show months when inspections or mechanical integrity tests (MITs) occurred. She noted two items on the Willowfield unit map posted on the agency website: an extension of a Class II injection permit for DJS properties (Snake River) that EPA Region 10 granted until Dec. 19, 2026, and an inactive-status extension for a well owned by ML Investments (ML Investments III) that the department granted in January 2025 with additional monthly pressure-reporting requirements. The new inactive-status expiration date for that well is Dec. 19, 2026; Chillette said the operator must plug and abandon the well by that date unless it requests another extension from the department.
Chillette reported that Snake River Oil and Gas had applied for a 320-acre spacing unit on April 29, 2024; an evidentiary hearing was held June 13, 2024, and a final order granting the request was issued July 17, 2024. Snake River later applied for an integration order; the administrator withdrew the docket from the Office of Administrative Hearings and, in February, issued an integration order for docket CC2024-OGR-01-002 under the statute cited when applications are uncontested.
Commissioners did not take formal votes on the department’s monthly financial or well-status reports; the items were presented for the commission’s information and record.
Evidence cited: statements and figures read by Shannon Chillette during the Feb. 18 meeting and maps/reports referenced as posted on the Oil and Gas Conservation Commission/Department of Lands materials.
