A new plan from the Trump administration would open national forests in Texas to more oil and gas drilling.
Sergio Chapa is a reporter for the Houston Chronicle, covering the oil and gas industry. He says the lands that will be subject to drilling include four national forests in East Texas and two national grasslands in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
“This is mostly a natural gas play,” Chapa says.
Drillers would use horizontal fracturing, or fracking to obtain much of the gas buried under the forest lands. And it remains to be seen whether the new gas would find a ready market, given falling prices. On the other hand, Chapa says, the forest areas in East Texas are near existing pipelines that would make it easy to transport Texas-drilled gas across the country.
Environmental organizations have filed comments with the federal government, opposing the drilling proposal.
Written by Shelly Brisbin.
