TULSA, Okla. (AP) — A judge has halted a series of new federal rules concerning oil production in Osage County from taking effect after several groups argued they would have significantly harmed the area's oil industry.
U.S. Chief District Judge Gregory Frizzell granted the preliminary injunction Monday in federal court in Tulsa. He determined the U.S. government failed to provide a factual basis for its determination that the new regulations wouldn't adversely impact small businesses, the Tulsa World reported.
Groups representing the Osage Nation and oil producers in the county had sued the federal government last month over the new regulations. An attorney representing Osage County oil and gas producers said the injunction is a relief, and called the ruling the first step in a longer battle.
"It's going to allow those families that are producing in Osage to continue at least for the time being," said Osage Producers' Association attorney Jaime Sicking Jr. "We were seriously looking at a shutdown at 5 o'clock. Now we can live to fight another day."
The Osage Nation owns the mineral rights in most of the county, and the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs issues drilling permits for the area.
The regulations at issue were rewritten as part of a 2011 settlement between the Osage Nation and the U.S. government regarding alleged mismanagement of the tribe's oil and gas mineral estate.
The agreement had called for the Osage Minerals Council to negotiate new regulations with the Department of Interior. The final regulations had an effective date of July 10, but before they could take effect, the council and the Osage Producers Council sued the federal government seeking to block the rules.
