Texas Oil Company Asks Idaho to Intervene On Natural Gas Fight

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A Texas oil company having trouble with mineral rights holders in western Idaho who have refused to sign leases is asking Idaho officials to step in so plans to drill for natural gas or oil can move forward.

Houston-based Alta Mesa Holdings filed applications this week to begin a process called integration. That's a recently revised process the Idaho Oil and Gas Conservation Commission can use when a minority of mineral rights holders decline to take part in developing a potentially profitable oil or gas field.

This is the first time the new process approved by Idaho lawmakers earlier this year is being used. The Oil and Gas Conservation Commission selected its chairman Wednesday to preside over procedural matters involving the applications.