A Summary of Revisions to Idaho’s Oil and Gas Conservation Act and Rules: Responding as Production in Idaho Nears Reality
Idaho has no historic production of oil and gas resources. This does not mean hydrocarbons are not present in Idaho, or even well known. For many years some oil and gas potential has been recognized in the state. Between 1903 and 1988, about 145 wells were drilled in the state.1 Exploration has been concentrated in two primary areas—the southeast thrust belt, which is the source of oil production in Wyoming and Utah, and the western Snake River Plain.2
These historic wildcat efforts produced varying results—complete busts, dry holes, and some exciting “discoveries,” such as a blowout of the Oregon Oil and Gas No. 1 near Payette in 1907, which was reported to have thrown water, oil, and “boulders nearly as large as a man’s head” up to 200 feet in the air,3 and the 1927 Teton Valley Land and Leasing No. 1 well, which hit a natural gas pocket and burned itself to the ground in the process.4 The western Snake River Plain had sev- eral showings of natural gas during exploration, but nothing in commercial quanti- ties through 1980.5 Farmers, ranchers, and others living in the western Snake River Plain recalled water wells “popping” their well heads from time to time because of natural gas.