The California Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM) has effectively stopped issuing permits for new oil wells. The regulator has approved only seven new active drilling well permits in the first half of 2023, down from more than 200 in the first half of 2022, according to Reuters. The oil industry is waiting for approval on more than 1,400 permit applications for new wells, and about half of these applications are more than a year old.
Reuters reported that CalGEM attributed the smaller number of approvals to a broader decline in California oil production and litigation that has paused permitting by Kern County. CalGEM said it is processing approvals to close wells permanently than it is for any other activity. “We expect this permitting trend to continue as California transitions away from fossil fuels,” the agency told Reuters.
State permits for new drilling have steadily declined since Governor Gavin Newsom took office in 2019 before the rapid decline in 2023. Newsom has stated that he wants to end oil drilling in California by 2045, but the state remains the seventh-largest oil producer in the United States.
Federal Permit Approvals
Federal drilling permits in California have declined to only three for the first half of fiscal year 2023, from October 1, 2022 through April 30, 2023. There are 106 applications pending. This is down from 166 for the same period in fiscal year 2022; there were 201 approved permits that year with 50 pending.
Reworking Permits
Permits to deepen or rework existing wells, however, are up by almost 50% in the first half of 2023 to 1,650, Consumer Watchdog and FracTracker Alliance reported. Most of these wells produce less than 15 barrels daily, and almost half of these wells are within the 3,200-foot buffer zone.