Data Dump: bits and pieces from here and there

Jonathan P. Thompson

Jul 18, 2023

Just a few numbers and charts for y’all on this ungodly hot day during this ungodly hot week …

The New Abnormal Watch

18 Number of consecutive days the temperature has reached 110 degrees Fahrenheit or hotter in Phoenix as of July 17. That ties the old record set in 1974, and the forecast is calling for 115 F or hotter for the rest of the week.

0 Number of customers left without power in Arizona due to heat, according to the state’s two largest utilities.

13,500 Number of customers left without power in the Tucson area July 17 after a thunderstorm signaling the arrival of the monsoon toppled utility lines, uprooted trees, and dumped nearly a half-inch of moisture in some areas. Yay!

119.6 degrees Fahrenheit: Temperature recorded at Death Valley National Park’s Badwater Basin at midnight on July 17.

744,367 Average number of July visitors to Death Valley National Park over the last five years, or about 24,000 per day.

5,477 Acres burned by the Flat Fire in southwestern Oregon as of 7/18.

750,000 Acres burned by wildfires between Jan. 1 and Jul. 18 of this year.

5,179,043 Acres burned by this date last year.

Mining Monitor

Mining companies are increasing their hold on public lands in almost every Western state as a new land rush commences for “green metals” and uranium. The acreage has certainly increased since the end of the last fiscal year, especially in Utah where there’s been a mining claim bonanza of late. This chart only shows active mining claims on which maintenance fees are up to date. There are millions more acres under claims that aren’t up to date. Source: BLM.

489,117 Number of active mining claims on Western public lands as of Oct. 1, 2022, about 55,000 more than a year earlier.

524 Number of mining operation plans the Bureau of Land Management reviewed in 2021 for proposed projects across the West.

184 Minimum number of active mining claims within Bears Ears National Monument. About a dozen of these were staked since 2016, either in the months leading up to the monument’s establishment or after Trump shrunk the monument. New mining claims are not allowed in the monument, but those existing at the time of designation remain valid.

Drilling Data Drilldown

The oil and gas drilling rig count gives a snapshot of the industry's health and activity at any given time. And it appears as if the count has plateaued across most of the West’s big oil and gas states, except in New Mexico, of course, where oil production records keep falling due to a drilling frenzy in the Permian Basin. Source: BLM.

If drilling activity is stagnating across the West, you can’t really blame it on Biden (although nine out of ten Republicans do). The chart below shows how many drilling permits the BLM issued during the Trump years, during Biden’s first two years, and the first nine months of this year. It also shows how many approved permits oil and gas companies had available to them at the end of April (halfway through the fiscal year).

As you can see, the only significant slowdown in permitting has occurred in California. And even there, the drillers are sitting on over 100 unused but available permits. Wyoming operators have nearly 2,000 permits at their disposal.

And that’s all for today, folks! Stay cool.