COVID-19 forces government delays on well, production and land data

The Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has impacted many government and regulatory agency's ability to report well, production and land data. Our team has compiled the latest delays as reported by the agencies. We'll continue to update this page as the situation evolves.

United States regulatory agencies reporting status:

Alaska:
Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (AOGCC) is implementing electronic reporting for agency requirements, phasing in March 25 (Sundries) to April 1 (All Reports). Some annual reports have an extended grace period.

California:
California Geologic Energy Management (CalGEM) is continuing BAU with the notice: The Department of Conservation continues essential business while modifying some practices including limiting staffing in some offices to help protect against the spread of COVID-19.

Colorado:
State offices have moved everyone to work from home until the end of April.

GOM:
All employees are working remotely.

Illinois:
Illinois Geological Survey Records Section is closed to the public. IGS is located on the campus of the University of Illinois and fell under the category of non-essential services so all employees were prohibited from working onsite until further notice. Since no one is at the facility to process paperwork related to oil and gas drilling there is a stoppage of obtaining any available non-scanned paperwork.

Kansas:
State employees all working from home.

Kentucky:
State employees all working from home.

Louisiana:
"Stay home" order effective through April 13th. State offices closed to the public.

Michigan:
Due to the COVID-19 situation, the office has been closed to employees and they are currently teleworking. They do not have access to their network system to be able to process the incoming production report data. As soon as they are able to start working in the office again, they will keep us updated as they are able to process and provide data.

Refinery capacity is full and companies are shutting in production or throttling back.

Michigan Department of Natural Resources:
In accordance with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services' recommendations designed to help prevent the spread of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), they are canceling the May 4, 2020, Oil and Gas Lease Auction. The acreage from this spring auction will be offered at the proposed Oct. 26, 2020, auction.

Montana:

State offices closed to the public.

Nebraska:
State offices are closed to public, open to employees only.

New Mexico:

New Mexico Lea County:
Data is mailed to the office via thumb drive, will be loaded once the office is open again.

New Mexico, San Juan County:
Data is mailed to the office via CD, we will load once the office is open again.

North Dakota:
State and city offices are closed to public, open to employees only.

May Minerals Auction has been suspended as a result of the COVID-19 virus. The Department of Trust Lands' next oil and gas lease nomination deadline is scheduled for June 19, 2020 for their August 4, 2020 Minerals Auction.

The Department of Trust Lands' next oil and gas lease nomination deadline is scheduled for June 19, 2020 for their August 4, 2020 Minerals Auction.

Oklahoma:
Closed to public access. Employees are working at home where they can.

Oklahoma Geological Survey Library:
Closed to the public for IHS Markit to source logs for customer requests.

Oklahoma, Canadian County:
Data is mailed to the office via CD, we will load once the office is opened again.

Oklahoma, Garfield County:
From Courthouse Direct on April 1st: Oklahoma courthouses are closed to the public and they will not be able to provide Garfield until the courthouses reopen. Please note they will deliver multiple months at one time once they are able to gain access. Read more.

Pennsylvania:
Pennsylvania DCNR employees are working at home until at least May 11th.

Pennsylvania DEP staff that are able are teleworking, and still fulfilling the mission of the department. This includes reviewing permits, responding to complaints and environmental emergencies, and other work.

Texas:

COVID-19 Agency News:
With the Governor's disaster declaration related to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and his direction to state agencies to provide flexible work and telework policies to employees, the RRC will maintain limited skeleton crews at the William B. Travis building (WBT) and district/regional offices, with other employees telecommuting. This is in effect Tuesday, March 17 until further notice.

Important Note for In-person Filings:
In an effort to ensure the safety of the public and Railroad Commission staff during the COVID-19 concerns, the RRC is not accepting in-person filings at this time. You may submit filings via U.S. Postal Service, FedEx or United Parcel Service.

Notice of State of Disaster in Texas: Waiver Requests - See the announcement.

RAILROAD COMMISSION OF TEXAS- Oil and Gas Division- Notice to Oil and Gas Operators 4/3/2020:

Extension of Certain Expirations and Filing Requirements Administered by the Administrative Compliance and Technical Permitting Sections On March 13, 2020, the Governor of Texas declared a state of disaster for the State of Texas due to the COVID-19 epidemic. During this disaster declaration period, the Railroad Commission of Texas ("Commission") is extending deadlines for certain expirations and filing requirements effective immediately through September 30, 2020, as follows: 1. All current permits, licenses, registrations, and rule exceptions (except Form P-5, see subsection 2.i. for the applicable extension for Form P-5) issued by the Commission's Oil & Gas Division with termination or expiration dates between March 1, 2020, and September 30, 2020, are hereby extended so that the new termination or expiration date will for all purposes be September 30, 2020. This relief does not apply to matters granted and/or required by a Commission Final Order

Texas, Newton County:
Data is mailed to the office via CD, data will be loaded once the office is open again.

Utah:
State employees working from home where they can.

Wyoming:
State offices are open for now.

Wyoming, Weston County:
Data Vendor Black Hills Title informed me that the Clerks Office has been closed to the public so they can not access the Fee Reports and Documents. Last updated January 2020.

Canada Well Sources

British Columbia:
BC Land Posting for May 20, 2020
They have suspended all crown sale processes; please see their information letter.

The British Columbia Oil and Gas Commission (BCOGC) is closed to the public and will not be scanning any physical historical well files at this time. All other data deliveries are thought to be unimpeded at this time.

3/20/2020:
Among the expanded circumstances for continuation is the ability for the minister to grant one or more continuations of a drilling licence or a lease if drilling of a well has been delayed pending the completion of: the correction of unsafe conditions at the well site; or the provision of safe access to the well site.

March 2020: The disposition of parcels offered for the March 18, 2020 British Columbia Crown sales of P&NG rights is postponed to the following month's scheduled disposition date of April 22, 2020 due to travel restrictions affecting bid delivery. Considering this, postponement of the April 22, 2020 disposition date and future sale dates is being evaluated, including alternative approaches to bid delivery methods.

Alberta:
The AER is closed to the public, but is still functioning as normal for the time being.

Lease Sales:
Alberta Energy is deferring all public offerings (i.e., land sales) and direct purchases of petroleum and natural gas (PNG) and oil sands mineral rights for a minimum of 90 days.

In addition, the land sales scheduled and published for April 15, April 29, May 13, and May 27 are deferred and all future public offerings are suspended. This deferral only applies to Crown rights.

Parcels published in the four Public Offering Notices identified above, and parcels requested prior to April 9 for inclusion in a public offering, will retain their present position in the land sale or posting request queue. Upon resuming public offerings, the four Public Offering Notices that were deferred will proceed individually at two-week intervals per the schedule published in IL 2020-01.

Saskatchewan:
Saskatchewan has fixed it's connectivity issues and they are sending all the missing information out.

Manitoba:
The office is currently open. There are only three employees in the Virden office, so it's likely to remain open unless there is an mandated closure.

International Well Sources:

Middle East:
Middle Eastern governments do not generally have formal data release schedules so are not impacted by COVID-19 delays.

Commonwealth Of Independent States:
No delays in the CIS region so far.

Africa:
No delays in the Africa region for the moment.

Europe:
No delays in Europe.

Updated on 27 April 2020.

This article was published by S&P Global Commodity Insights and not by S&P Global Ratings, which is a separately managed division of S&P Global.