The Interior Department plans to relax regulations that prohibit developers with federal leases from using the same equipment to mix and produce oil and gas from different areas.
The changes from Interior’s Bureau of Land Management would allow companies to commingle output — or combine oil and gas pulled from multiple leases beneath the ground into the same surface facilities.
The updates are being proposed as the Trump administration seeks to bolster fossil fuels across the United States. And Interior said the updated commingling regulations could save industry players as much as $1.8 billion per year. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which President Donald Trump signed into law this month, directs Interior to approve commingling applications.
“This is about common sense and catching up with today’s technology,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a statement this week. “These updates will help us manage public resources more efficiently, support responsible energy production, and make sure taxpayers and tribes get every dollar they’re owed.”
