WyoFile Energy Report

Wyoming hires Mark Watson as oil and gas supervisor

— May 13, 2014

The governing body of the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (WOGCC) today unanimously approved hiring 32-year WOGCC veteran Mark Watson as its new supervisor.

Watson was a finalist in the state’s 2012-13 search for a supervisor. Watson served as interim supervisor since the April 1 departure of Grant Black who had served just barely a year on the job. Watson was lead petroleum engineer for the WOGCC. He has a degree in petroleum engineering from the University of Wyoming.

“I know him (Watson) to be a very qualified and capable person,” said WOGCC commissioner Mark Doelger.

Gov. Matt Mead’s office issued a press release just minutes after the commission approved the hire. “Mark is creating needed stability and continuity while staying on top of efforts to implement the model baseline water rule, tackling our aggressive plan for abandoned wells and moving ahead with a revision of the setback rule. I appreciate that he is willing to take on this important leadership role over the long-term,” Mead said in the prepared statement.

The commission today also announced that it will create a new position, deputy supervisor, to help take on the growing workload at the WOGCC. Past supervisors have warned that about half of the WOGCC staff is eligible for retirement. The state is still in the hunt for candidates for the deputy supervisor position. Doelger said the deputy supervisor position will in no way diminish the authority of the supervisor.

In his prepared press statement Gov. Mead, who serves on the WOGCC commission, said, “The agency is doing a lot right now and I believe a deputy can help with the workload and allow the OGCC to be more proactive with citizens.”

In an action related to that statement, the commission today formally denied a citizens’ petition brought forth nearly a year ago by the Powder River Basin Resource Council, asking the WOGCC to step up efforts to curb flaring of natural gas, increase minimum setback requirements from homes and other establishments, and to increase minimum fines for various violations of WOGCC rules and regulations.

WOGCC commissioner Bridget Hill brought the matter before the commission this morning, noting that no formal action had been taken regarding the citizens’ petition for almost an entire year.

“The denial doesn’t mean that we don’t believe the rules are important,” Hill said. “We’re going to start at the commission level and start on those (potential rule revisions) ourselves.”

Powder River Basin Resource Council organizer Jill Morrison said she wasn’t surprised with the decision today to deny the petition, and said she saw the petition filing as a successful effort to push the WOGCC into finally taking some formal action to review outdated rules. Morrison told WyoFile that several citizens are preparing to bring their complaints to the WOGCC to keep pressure on the agency to revise its rules.

— Dustin Bleizeffer is WyoFile editor-in-chief. He has covered energy and natural resource issues in Wyoming for 15 years. You can reach him at (307) 267-3327 or email dustin@wyofile.com. Follow Dustin on Twitter at @DBleizeffer

If you enjoyed this report and would like to see more quality Wyoming journalism, please consider supporting WyoFile: a non-partisan, non-profit news organization dedicated to in-depth reporting on Wyoming’s people, places and policy.

REPUBLISH THIS COLUMN: For details on how you can republish this column or other WyoFile content for free, click here.

Dustin Bleizeffer covers energy and climate at WyoFile. He has worked as a coal miner, an oilfield mechanic, and for more than 25 years as a statewide reporter and editor primarily covering the energy...

Join the Conversation

2 Comments

WyoFile's goal is to provide readers with information and ideas that foster constructive conversations about the issues and opportunities our communities face. One small piece of how we do that is by offering a space below each story for readers to share perspectives, experiences and insights. For this to work, we need your help.

What we're looking for: 

  • Your real name — first and last. 
  • Direct responses to the article. Tell us how your experience relates to the story.
  • The truth. Share factual information that adds context to the reporting.
  • Thoughtful answers to questions raised by the reporting or other commenters.
  • Tips that could advance our reporting on the topic.
  • No more than three comments per story, including replies. 

What we block from our comments section, when we see it:

  • Pseudonyms. WyoFile stands behind everything we publish, and we expect commenters to do the same by using their real name.
  • Comments that are not directly relevant to the article. 
  • Demonstrably false claims, what-about-isms, references to debunked lines of rhetoric, professional political talking points or links to sites trafficking in misinformation.
  • Personal attacks, profanity, discriminatory language or threats.
  • Arguments with other commenters.

Other important things to know: 

  • Appearing in WyoFile’s comments section is a privilege, not a right or entitlement. 
  • We’re a small team and our first priority is reporting. Depending on what’s going on, comments may be moderated 24 to 48 hours from when they’re submitted — or even later. If you comment in the evening or on the weekend, please be patient. We’ll get to it when we’re back in the office.
  • We’re not interested in managing squeaky wheels, and even if we wanted to, we don't have time to address every single commenter’s grievance. 
  • Try as we might, we will make mistakes. We’ll fail to catch aliases, mistakenly allow folks to exceed the comment limit and occasionally miss false statements. If that’s going to upset you, it’s probably best to just stick with our journalism and avoid the comments section.
  • We don’t mediate disputes between commenters. If you have concerns about another commenter, please don’t bring them to us.

The bottom line:

If you repeatedly push the boundaries, make unreasonable demands, get caught lying or generally cause trouble, we will stop approving your comments — maybe forever. Such moderation decisions are not negotiable or subject to explanation. If civil and constructive conversation is not your goal, then our comments section is not for you. 

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  1. I always get a chuckle when some Sagebrush Rebel or states rights advocate claims that local and state governments are more attentive to the needs of local citizens than the federal government. Fact is, local and state governments are far more attentive to the needs of the minerals/oil/gas industries. Since Wyoming is an energy colony, what else do you expect?

    Indeed, Wyoming is nothing more than a political oligarchy masquerading as a republic. People don’t count.

    RH

    Reply

  2. Surprise, surprise, the WOGCC denied the citizen’s petition for more stringent rules on flaring – after sitting on the request for almost a year.

    Governor Mead told the citizens to go pound sand last year and I guess this is his formal notice. At the rate change is being driven by State Officials, don’t expect anything anytime soon to come about from the WOGCC. See the Gov’s quote from last June below:

    “Asked for his reaction to the citizens’ petition, Gov. Matt Mead told reporters, “My view is changes in rules and regulations should be driven by the commission (Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission), or by this office.” Mead added that citizens have an opportunity to comment on any rule changes, but that the changes should be driven by state officials.”

    Reply