Oregon/Washington Oil and Gas

The Bureau of Land Management is exercising its discretion to not hold lease sales in the second quarter of Calendar Year 2021. More information: blm.gov/press-release/statement-second-quarter-oil-and-gas-lease-sales.

The U.S. Geological Survey has estimated as much as one trillion cubic feet of natural gas occurs in the Columbia Basin of south-central Washington and north-central Oregon. They have also estimated that there are numerous small gas fields throughout the Pacific Northwest, such as the Mist Gas Field in northwestern Oregon. Thick basalt flows overlay the potential reservoirs, making exploration and development costly.

As of FY2017, there are 110 active leases in Oregon that total 187,117 acres, all of which are in the Vale District. No exploration or production is currently occurring on these leases.  There have been no lease nominations in Oregon since FY2014. There are no active leases in Washington.

Oil and Gas Pipelines on Federal Lands in Oregon/Washington

The Ruby Pipeline is a 678-mile natural gas pipeline that runs from Opal, Wyoming, to Malin, Oregon, and crosses Idaho and Nevada along the way.  It went into service in 2011 and is the only named natural gas pipeline that crosses federal land in Oregon.  Another unnamed natural gas pipeline runs southwest to northeast through central Oregon near Bend.

The Jordan Cove LNG/Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline is a proposed natural gas pipeline that would run 236 miles from Malin, Oregon, to a planned liquid natural gas (LNG) processing and export terminal in Coos Bay, Oregon.  The proposed route crosses BLM, Forest Service, state, and private lands, as well as five major rivers.