News Release

For Release : November 10, 2005
Contact: Ron Huntsinger, (661) 391-6000 or Jan Bedrosian (916) 978-4616
CCal-06-12

BLM Receives Notice of Lessee's Intent to Drill in Carrizo Plain National Monument

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has received a formal notice of staking (NOS) from an oil and gas operator with a valid existing oil and gas lease on 153 acres of public lands on the southern end of the Carrizo Plain National Monument in San Luis Obispo County.

BLM Bakersfield Field Manager Ron Huntsinger said under BLM regulations, the NOS is the first step in the process to notify the government and public the operator has plans to start activity on the lease. The NOS initiates an official 30-day processing and review period and copies are available from BLM.

In compliance with requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act and other federal laws, BLM will be required to prepare an environmental assessment (EA) analyzing the environmental impacts of the drilling application.

The lessee, Richard D. Sawyer of Malibu, California, has legally held the lease since 1988 and under federal regulations has until March 15, 2006 to commence actual drilling operations or the lease will expire. Sawyer has designated Longbow LLC of Bakersfield as the on-the-ground operator for the lease.

When the Carrizo Plain became a national monument in January 2001 by presidential proclamation under the 1906 Antiquities Act, it was withdrawn from new oil and gas leasing, but the proclamation specifically allowed for exercise of valid existing rights, including drilling under existing oil and gas leases, Huntsinger said. The land involved is located in Wells Canyon, on the very southern end of the monument in the Caliente Range, just north of State Highway 166 near Cuyama.

Huntsinger stated the EA on the drilling application will be made available to the public as soon as it is completed and a 30-day public comment period is planned. Public comments in response to the NOS and application for permit to drill should be sent to the BLM's Bakersfield Office, 3801 Pegasus Dr., Bakersfield, Calif. , 93308. Those wishing to receive a copy of the EA when it becomes available can also provide their mailing or email address to BLM.

-BLM-

 Bakersfield Field Office , 3801 Pegasus Drive, Bakersfield, CA 93308