A Wyoming County Predicts ‘Total Economic Devastation’ From Biden Leasing Ban

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A sign in the Jonah Field advertises cheap rates at a deserted motel built for oil and gas workers.

Kirk Siegler/NPR

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Biden Hits ‘Pause’ On Oil And Gas Leasing On Public Lands And Waters

The Jonah was once one of the country’s most prolific public lands gas fields. Locals boast proudly that this is where modern day fracking was born. A few years ago this local truck stop would have been humming.

Today, a lone semi is gassing up. The cafe is deserted. A frozen sign in the snow advertises a move-in special at the vacant motel. Even before the pandemic, there was a glut in natural gas on the market so companies were scaling back.

After Wednesday’s announcement that the Biden administration is putting an indefinite pause on new leases on federal ground like this, Magana is worried that companies won’t need contractors like him.

«I hope they continue producing gas, you know, because we need gas for heating,» he says. «And people need work, especially here in Wyoming.»

In a typical year oil and gas pumped off of federal land sends hundreds of millions of dollars to state and local governments in the rural West, where the federal government often owns most of the land. And while largely expected here, Wednesday’s news is stirring plenty of anxiety over the future.

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Sublette County, Wyo., Commissioner Joel Bousman says the economic fallout from a ban on new oil and gas leases on federal land will be devastating to local services.

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«It’s uneconomical to drill right now,» Baker says. «Oil and gas will cry bloody murder but right now they’re not drilling, because they can’t afford to.»

Conservationists are also quick to point out that most of the Jonah Field is already leased anyway. Some companies in western states are also holding on to existing leases and not even developing them. There were 21 drilling rigs statewide in Wyoming a year ago, now there’s only six.

Even before the abrupt change in federal policy, local trucker Jake Dennis says he started trying to move his business away from the oil patch.

«There ain’t nothin’ to do, I mean, we could go over the road, but all you’re doing is paying for fuel and a driver,» Dennis says. «You can’t even keep enough to keep the trucks going.»

Down to only three truckers, from a high of 10 a year ago, Dennis Trucking is switching gears to logging. He says there’s still some hauling work due to thinning and wildfire prevention going on on local U.S. Forest Service and private lands around Sublette County.

• biden administration
• gas
• federal land
• Wyoming
• oil
• natural gas