Anadarko wins federal approval on natural gas drilling in Utah

Anadarko has won federal approval on a major natural gas drilling project in Utah that the Obama administration said on Tuesday will support more than 4,000 jobs during the next decade.

bizjournals.com

The Associated Press is reporting that U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said the Houston-based independent oil and gas company will be permitted to develop up to 3,675 new gas wells in the eastern part of Utah.

“It will help power the American economy,” Salazar said during an appearance outside Salt Lake City.

Anadarko, one of the top natural gas producers in the U.S., will work in a region about 170 miles southeast of Salt Lake City, near the Colorado border. The company has agreed to buy 640 acres of private land along the White River, a river on the Colorado Plateau, for conservation purposes; Anadarko won’t drill along the high cliffs of the area.