The Osage Minerals Council also voted 5-3 Wednesday to immediately terminate its contracted legal representation, citing concerns about the firm’s oil and gas experience and the fact that it is not an Oklahoma-based practice.

 

PAWHUSKA, Okla. – The Osage Negotiated Rulemaking Committee’s days may not be numbered just yet.

During its regular March meeting Wednesday, the Osage Minerals Council voted 5-3 to request the Department of Interior indefinitely extend the negotiated rulemaking process to modify the federal regulations governing oil and gas drilling in Osage County.

“There are a lot of things and people that are involved,” OMC member and committee representative Curtis Bear said. “There are a lot of players. I think we need to discuss it a bit longer.”

During the Negotiated Rulemaking Committee’s public meetings March 13-14 in Tulsa, Okla., several groups, including the Osage Producers Association and the Osage County Cattlemen’s Association asked that the committee take additional time to review and discuss proposed changes, including possibly implementing regulations used by the Bureau of Land Management at other drilling sites across Indian Country.

“I don’t believe the Osage Minerals Council is leading the negotiations,” Osage Minerals Council member Cynthia Boone said. “I believe we are being pushed to finish this process by next month.”

The DOI is not required to honor the Minerals Council’s recommendation. If it does not, the committee’s April 2 meeting at the Wah-Zha-Zhi Cultural Center will be its last before voting on the proposed amendments.

When the committee does reconvene, the Osage Minerals Council will do so with new legal representation. The council voted 5-3 Wednesday to immediately terminate its contract with Washington-based Akin Gump, citing concerns about the firm’s oil and gas experience and the fact that it is not an Oklahoma-based practice.

“I’ll be voting no on this,” Osage Minerals Council member Sonny Abbott said. “We have a cap with Akin Gump at $5,000 per month. I don’t know if there are any of you out there who realize what attorneys could charge us for this.

“We’re going to have to have an attorney and I don’t know if we can find another one for $5,000 per month.”

The councilors who voted against the resolution – Abbott, Crum and Andrew Yates – are three of the tribe’s five representatives on the Negotiated Rulemaking Committee. The three also voted against requesting additional time for the rulemaking process.