FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 24, 2017
Contact:
Matt Potter-Smithe, Operations Director
Sunrise Mountain Oil and Gas
Matt@sunrisemountainoilgas.com
Rocky Mountain Energy Firm Targets Western Monuments, Parks for Drilling Opportunities
Sunrise Mountain Oil and Gas Emboldened by Administration’s Commitment to “Energy Dominance”
(Grand Junction, CO) — In response to Secretary Ryan Zinke’s commitment to an “energy dominant” America, Sunrise Mountain Oil and Gas, a new exploration and production (E&P) firm in the Rocky Mountain Region, announced plans to pursue oil and gas leasing within several national monuments that the Administration is planning to eliminate. The firm also indiciated that it plans to file oil and gas lease nominations on the doorstep of several national parks in Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Utah and Arizona.
“We’re eagerly awaiting Secretary Zinke’s roll-back of protections for national parks and monuments” said Chief Executive Officer, John P. Dottson. “There is a lot of money to be made in the acreage that Zinke eliminates from Bears Ears and Grand Staircase, as well as from lands near Yellowstone and Grand Canyon that prior administrations have been managing as if they were national parks.”
“These are some of the most beautiful areas in the natural world,” continued Mr. Dottson. “Our employees are lucky to work in such incredible landscapes. And by Secretary Zinke continuing to open ever more dramatic landscapes to exploration and development, that only increases our ability to be competitive to job-seekers who demand a high quality of life.”
As an independent E&P firm, Sunrise Mountain plans to lease thousands of acreas of formerly-protected National Parks and Monuments for the statutory minimum of $2/acre.
“Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments are at the top of our rapidly-growing list of drilling priorities,” said Matt Potter-Smithe, Director of Operations. “It’s almost as if Secretary Zinke is opening the flood gates of a cash reservoir and we’re standing at the bottom of the spillway.”
Within the coming days Sunrise Mountain Oil and Gas plans to file formal oil and gas lease nominations with the Department of the Interior for the following public lands, all of which are currently available for leasing or will become available when monument designations are rescinded:
Arizona
· Lands adjacent to Grand Canyon National Park’s northern boundary
Colorado
· Lands adjacent to Canyons of the Ancients National Monument
· Lands adjacent to Rocky Mountain National Park
Montana
· Land within Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument
· Lands near Yellowstone National Park’s northern boundary
Nevada
· Lands adjacent to Great Basin National Park
· Lands within Basin and Range National Monument
New Mexico
· Lands adjacent to Chaco Culture National Historical Park
· Lands within Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument
Utah
· Lands within Bears Ears National Monument
· Lands within Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
