THE STATE OF UTAH TO ALL PERSONS INTERESTED IN THE FOLLOWING MATTER: Docket No. 2021-006 Cause No. 072-01: In the matter of the Request for Agency Action of URBAN OIL & GAS GROUP, LLC for an order pooling all interests, including the compulsory pooling of the interests of certain non-consenting owners, in the drilling unit established for the production of gas (including coalbed methane) from the Ferron Formation Comprised of the NE¼ of Section 22, Township 14 South, Range 10 East, S.L.M., Carbon County, Utah.
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Board of Oil, Gas and Mining (the “Board”), State of Utah, pursuant to Utah Administrative Code R641-113-100, has designated a hearing examiner to conduct a hearing on Wednesday, March 17, 2021, at 1:00 p.m., or as soon thereafter as possible. It is anticipated the hearing will be conducted electronically and without an anchor location, pursuant to Utah Code Ann. § 52-4-207(4) and that the Board Chairman will issue a written determination in advance of the aforesaid hearing concluding that holding an in-person meeting presents a substantial risk to the health and safety of the participants due to COVID-19. The written determination required under Utah Code Ann. § 52-4-207(4) will be based on the public health and safety conditions existing at the time of the March 17, 2021 hearing. In the event the Board Chairman’s determination is that an electronic hearing is unnecessary for the prescribed hearing date, the meeting will be held in the auditorium of the Department of Natural Resources, 1594 West North Temple, Salt Lake City, Utah. The hearing will be streamed live on the Department of Natural Resources YouTube channel at https://youtu.be/B0ivG-T2e48.
THE HEARING WILL BE CONDUCTED as a formal administrative adjudication in accordance with the rules of the Board as set forth in Utah Administrative Code R641 et seq. and as provided for in Utah Code Ann. § 40-6-1 et seq. and Utah Code Ann. § 63G-4-101 through -601.
THE PURPOSE OF THE HEARING will be for the hearing examiner to receive testimony and evidence regarding a Request for Agency Action (“RAA”) filed by Urban Oil & Gas Group, LLC (“UO&G”), and to recommend findings of fact, conclusions of law, and proposed order to the Board: 1. Pooling all interests in the drilling unit established by the Board in its Order entered on March 6, 2012 in Cause No. 241-09 for the production of gas (including coalbed methane) from the Ferron formation, defined as: the stratigraphic equivalent of the interval between 1,968 feet below the surface to 2,214 feet below the surface as shown in the density log for the Birch A-1 well located in the SW¼ of Section 5, Township 14 South, Range 10 East, SLM, comprised of the NE¼ of Section 22, Township 14 South, Range 10 East, S.L.M. (the “Drilling Unit”), including the compulsory pooling of the interests of the following parties: William Todd Gorishek, a/k/a William T. Gorishek, Glen Nielson a/k/a Glen Nielsen, Sarah C. Nielsen, Plaza 106, LLC, Glenn T. Etzel, Personal Representative of the Estate of Jessie Etzel, a/k/a Jessie Lee Etzel, (all five collectively hereinafter the “Non-Consenting FP Parties”); 2. Declaring the Non-Consenting FP Parties as “non-consenting owners,” as that term is defined in Utah Code Ann. § 40-6-2(12), and pursuant to Utah Admin. Code Rule R649-2-8a(1) as relating to the proposed Leautaud Federal 42-22 Well (the “Subject Well”); 3. Declaring UO&G, as Operator on behalf of itself, Urban Fund III, L.P. (“UFIII”), and Urban Oil and Gas Partners C-1, L.P. (“UPC-1”), as a “consenting owner,” as that term is defined in Utah Code Ann. § 40-6-2(4), as relating to the Subject Well; 4. Providing for the recovery by UO&G, as Operator, from the Non-Consenting FP Parties’ respective shares of production of the costs set forth in Utah Code Ann. § 40 6 6.5(4) as relating to the Subject Well, including a risk compensation award of 300% pursuant to Utah Code Ann. § 40-6-6.5(4)(d)(i)(D), and estimated plugging and abandonment costs of $65,000 for the Subject Well; 5. Providing for the payment of the weighted average fee landowner’s royalty 12 1/2 % proportionately reduced to each of the Non-Consenting FP Parties in the Drilling Unit during the cost recovery period as provided in Utah Code Ann. §§ 40-6-6.5(6) and (8); 6. Adopting the terms of the joint operating agreement (“JOA”) attached to the RAA as Exhibit “1” to govern operations upon the Drilling Unit to the extent not inconsistent with the foregoing, as between UO&G, as Operator, and the Non-Consenting FP Parties, as Non Operators, as provided in Utah Code Ann. § 40-6-6.5(2)(c); 7. Generally include in such order all such other terms and conditions as required under Utah Code Ann. § 40-6-6.5; 8. Making such findings and orders in connection with the RAA as it deems necessary; and 9. Providing for such other and further relief as may be just and equitable under the circumstances.
THE HEARING EXAMINER’S RECOMMENDED FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW will be filed with the Board and presented at the March Board hearing which has been set for WEDNESDAY, March 24, 2021, at 10:00 AM. The hearing will be streamed live on the Department of Natural Resources YouTube channel at https://youtu.be/vjg04FaoqBQ. The Board Chairman will be issuing another written determination in advance of the March 24, 2021 Board Hearing based on the public health and welfare considerations existing at that time. OBJECTIONS to the RAA must be filed with the Secretary of the Board at the address listed below no later than the 10th day of March, 2021. A party must file a timely written objection or other response in order to participate as a party at the Board hearing. Failure to participate can result in a default judgment. Natural persons may appear and represent themselves before the Board. All other representation of parties before the Board will be by attorneys licensed to practice law in the State of Utah, or attorneys licensed to practice law in another jurisdiction which meet the rules of the Utah State Bar for practicing law before the Utah Courts. Persons interested in this matter may participate pursuant to the procedural rules of the Board. The RAA, and any subsequent pleadings, may be inspected at the office of the undersigned, and inspected online at the Board’s website at http://ogm.utah.gov/amr/boardtemp/redesign/books.html. Pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act, persons requiring auxiliary communicative aids and services to enable them to participate in this hearing should call Julie Ann Carter at (801) 538-5277, at least three working days prior to the hearing date. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the ability of the virus to spread from person-to-person rapidly, the Governor and the Utah Department of Health have implemented numerous Executive Orders directed at controlling the spread of the virus by minimizing face-to-face interactions and the Utah legislature has amended public meeting requirements under the Open and Public Meetings Act. At this time, public gatherings are strongly discouraged by the Center for Disease Control, State of Utah, and local health departments since they facilitate face-to-face contact and pose an elevated risk for virus transmission. The Board Chairman has determined, at the present time, that public gatherings at normally scheduled public meetings before the Board present substantial risks to the health and safety of those who attend. As such, as indicated above, it is anticipated the Board will conduct the March 17 public meeting using a fully electronic format. This meeting format is authorized by recent amendment to Utah Code Ann. § 52-4-207(4). The electronic format will be temporarily used in place of the in-person public meeting until the Board is otherwise directed it is safe to hold in-person public meetings. Anyone wishing to comment on the March 24 public meeting’s agenda topics should contact the Board Secretary prior to the hearing for accommodation. Anyone who may wish to observe the public meeting may do so by logging on to the YouTube channel specified above.
DATED this 26th day of February, 2021.
STATE OF UTAH
BOARD OF OIL, GAS AND MINING
Chris D. Hansen, Chairman
/s/ Julie Ann Carter
Board Secretary
1594 West North Temple, Suite 1210
Salt Lake City, Utah 84116
(801) 538-5277
Published in the ETV Newspaper March 3, 2021.