> “So rather than wait for that to happen, we thought, ‘Well, let’s step in now and let’s put in place a bill that acts as a deterrent to doing that,” Petroleum Association of Wyoming President Pete Obermueller told WyoFile.
First, I know it is common practice for the language of bills to be written by industry groups, but I still think it's alarming, and annoying, that they're so open about having a direct channel to lawmakers that got this bill into law so quickly. I hardly think someone making an oil and gas company pay slightly more for a lease is the kind of work we want our legislators to prioritize.
Second, it just sounds like the kind of blatant protectionism that's often derided around here. If a lease has value to me remaining undeveloped, and it has value to them being developed, then shouldn't we be able to compete to see how much the market values those priorities? I think it's funny that they're afraid of a conservationist billionaire bidding on petroleum leases when there are probably way more petroleum billionaires who could bid if there was any sort of bidding war.
Heck, the lease was sold for $19/acre, something like $13,000, and the winner complained about the "inflated" price. I can't say that I know much about the startup costs for a drilling operation, but is $13,000 really a significant consideration?