Montana Petroleum Association stands behind Solonex case

The Montana Petroleum Association is standing behind one of its members in a long-simmering feud over energy exploration in the Badger-Two Medicine region.

Shortly after Devon Energy announced last week that it would relinquish its leases held on about 22,900 acres in the Badger-Two Medicine, the MPA announced it would continue to fight for Solonex’s right to drill in Hall Creek on the Badger-Two Medicine’s eastern edge.

Solonex has had a longstanding fight with the Department of Interior over its rights to do exploratory drilling on about 6,000 acres of land.

The fight came to a head this year in federal court, when federal Judge Richard Leon forced the DOI into making a decision on Solonex’s lease after a 30-year delay.

The DOI canceled the company’s lease in March. Solonex, in turn, is asking Leon to overturn that decision.

The Petroleum Association has filed friends of the court briefs in favor of the Solonex, which is a member.

The MPA maintains the Solenex lease was not included within the original boundaries of the Badger Two Medicine Traditional Cultural District, which was significantly expanded in 2010 from 90,000 to 165,588 acres, following a fourth ethnographic assessment of the area.

Even today, the lease area represents an impact area of less than one percent of the total traditional cultural district. The district defines the boundaries of the land held sacred by the Blackfeet Tribe.

Jessica Sena, a spokeswoman for the Petroleum Association, said Monday the organization’s opinion has been “based from the start on the rule of law.”

She said Solonex wants to drill for natural gas, of which their could be significant reserves in the area. The gas could then be easily transferred to a high pressure line that already runs through the north end of Badger-Two Medicine.

“We believe exploration of the area can take place without impacting ... the traditional cultural area,” she said.

She said it was a matter of principle for Sidney Longwell, the owner of Solonex, to see the lease through.

Could President-elect Donald Trump help his cause?

Probably not, said Sena. The Solonex matter isn’t a huge national priority, though Trump has said he wants to roll back federal regulations.

The Solonex case is largely up to the federal court at this point and a ruling isn’t expected anytime soon.

Montana Sen. Jon Tester helped broker the deal with Devon Energy. He said last week that the Devon deal was not a result of Trump’s impending presidency.

But since then, President Obama has tightened down regulations on other places, particularly in the Arctic, where the sale of new oil and gas leases was recently banned in some areas.