title: Saudi Arabia–United States relations

text: The most damaging occurrence to ever affect the trade relationship between Saudi Arabia and the U.S. occurred on September 11, 2001, due to Saudi Arabia's believed involvement in the 9/11 attacks that occurred in multiple cities throughout the United States. Tensions also rose between the two nations throughout Barack Obama's presidency due to the United States agreement in Iran, when the U.S. removed oil sanctions on Iran and allowed them to sell their oil to the U.S. The relationship was also hindered by the oil market crash of 2014, propelled by increased shale oil production in the United States, which in turn caused Saudi Arabian oil exports to decrease by nearly half. Oil prices went from around $110 a barrel prior to the 2014 crash, to about $27 a barrel by the beginning of 2016. This relationship worsened after the U.S. legislation passed a bill that allowed victims of the 9/11 attacks to sue the Saudi Arabian government for their losses in 2016.


title: Saudi Arabia–United States relations

text: Saudi Arabia does not have an extradition treaty with the United States. The Saudi government has on numerous occasions been actively involved with helping Saudi citizens flee the United States after they have committed serious crimes. In 2019, U.S. federal law enforcement officials launched an investigation into cases involving the disappearance of Saudi Arabian students from Oregon and other parts of the country, while they faced charges in the U.S. Amidst the investigation, it has been speculated that the Saudi government helped the students in escaping from the U.S. In October 2019, the U.S. Senate passed a bill by Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, requiring the FBI to declassify any information regarding Saudi Arabia's possible role. Oregon officials demand extradition of these suspects by Saudi Arabia since they were involved in violent crimes causing bodily harm and death.


title: Saudi Arabia–United States relations

text: On September 25, 2020, the government of Saudi Arabia offered a bond worth $500,000 as cashier's check to the Tulsa County Sheriff Office from the Saudi Arabian consulate in Houston, Texas to bail out Omar Ba-Abbad, an Uber driver charged with the first-degree murder of a passenger in June 2020. Ba-Abbad was driving for a cab service provider, Uber, in June when he got into a fight with a passenger, Jeremy Shadrick. Ba-Abbad ran over Shadrick in the fight, killing him as a result. Ba-Abbad has claimed in his defense that his act was out of self-defense. However, the District Attorney contradicted his claim with video evidence proving otherwise.


title: Saudi Arabia–United States relations

text: After President George W. Bush's two visits to Saudi Arabia in 2008—which was the first time a U.S. president visited a foreign country twice in less than four months—and King Abdullah's three visits to the U.S.—2002, 2005 and 2008—the relations have surely reached their peak. The two nations have expanded their relationship beyond oil and counter terrorism efforts. For example, King Abdullah has allocated funds for young Saudis to study in the United States. One of the most important reasons that King Abdullah has given full scholarships to young Saudis is to give them western perspective and to impart a positive impression of Saudi Arabia on the American people. On the other hand, President Bush discussed the world economic crisis and what the U.S.–Saudi relationship can do about it. During meetings with the Saudis, the Bush Administration took the Saudi policies very seriously because of their prevalent economic and defensive presence in the region and its great media influence on the Islamic world. By and large, the two leaders have made many decisions that deal with security, economics, and business aspects of the relationship, making it in the top of its fame.


title: Saudi Arabia–United States relations

text: In early 2018, the Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman visited the United States where he met with many top politicians, business people and Hollywood stars, including President Donald Trump, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Henry Kissinger, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos and George W. Bush.


title: Saudi Arabia–United States relations

text: U.S. President Donald Trump authorized a nearly $110B arms deal with Saudi Arabia, worth $300B over a ten-year period, signed on the May 20, 2017, this includes training and close co-operation with the Saudi Arabian military. Signed documents included letters of interest and letters of intent and no actual contracts.


title: Saudi Arabia–United States relations

text: U.S. defense stocks reached all-time highs after Donald J. Trump announced a $110 billion arms deal to Saudi Arabia.


title: Saudi Arabia–United States relations

text: Saudi Arabia signed billions of dollars of deals with U.S. companies in the arms industry and petroleum industry, including Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman, General Electric, Exxon Mobil, Halliburton, Honeywell, McDermott International, Jacobs Engineering Group, National Oilwell Varco, Nabors Industries, Weatherford International, Schlumberger and Dow Chemical.


title: Saudi Arabia–United States relations

text: In August 2018, a laser-guided Mark 82 bomb sold by the U.S. and built by Lockheed Martin was used in the Saudi-led coalition airstrike on a school bus in Yemen, which killed 51 people, including 40 children.


title: Saudi Arabia–United States relations

text: On May 27, 2020, Bob Menendez, a Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee claimed during a CNN op-ed that the Trump administration had been covertly working on plans of initiating a new sale of weapons contract worth $1.8 billion to Saudi Arabia.


title: Saudi Arabia–United States relations

text: According to a draft version of the legislation reviewed by the CNN, the Democratic Senators Robert Menendez, Patrick Leahy and Tim Kaine were planning to introduce a legislation that put strict human rights constraints on the United States foreign arms sales, in the wake of the arms sold in the past by U.S. to countries with poor human rights records like, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. President Donald Trump has also received wide criticism for declaring emergency to bypass the opposition, to sell weapons worth billions of dollars to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, accused for conducting war crimes.


title: Formula of Love: O+T=＜3

text: Formula of Love: O+T=<3 is the third Korean studio album (sixth overall) by South Korean girl group Twice. It was released on November 12, 2021, by JYP Entertainment and Republic Records. It follows the release of the group's first English-language single, "The Feels".


title: Formula of Love: O+T=＜3

text: Selling over 700,000 units during its pre-order period, the album became Twice's best-selling album to date; surpassing a record previously held by "More & More" (2020). Primarily a disco-pop record, the album encapsulates a handful of genres such as Latin pop, hip hop, R&B, and synthpop. It also debuted at number three on the "Billboard" 200 with 66,000 album-equivalent units, becoming the group's fourth and highest entry on the chart.


title: Formula of Love: O+T=＜3

text: Following "Eyes Wide Open" (2020), "Formula of Love: O+T=<3" is Twice's third Korean-language studio album. It is the group's third release in 2021, following their tenth Korean extended play, "Taste of Love", and third Japanese album, "Perfect World".


title: Formula of Love: O+T=＜3

text: "Formula of Love: O+T=<3" was first teased by Twice member Chaeyoung on September 13, 2021, in the behind-the-scenes video for her photoshoot with "OhBoy!" magazine, although at the time, not much was known about it. At the end of the music video of Twice's first English single, "The Feels", a full-length album scheduled to be released in November 2021 was teased. The name of the album and its release date were revealed on October 8. A preview showing the four versions of the physical album was posted on October 12. Pre-orders began later that day. On October 29, the album's track listing was announced.


title: Formula of Love: O+T=＜3

text: "Formula of Love: O+T=<3" is a fifteen-track album that features genres such as city pop, dance-pop, deep house, disco, hip hop, Latin pop, nu-disco, reggaeton, and R&B. Twice members Nayeon, Jihyo, Dahyun, and Chaeyoung took part in writing some songs from the album. In an interview with the Associated Press, Jihyo revealed that the death of a houseplant was her inspiration for writing the song "Cactus" ().


title: Formula of Love: O+T=＜3

text: "Formula of Love: O+T=<3" opens with its title track, "Scientist", a "funky" dance-pop song, blending elements of synth-pop and deep house by featuring '80s-inspired synths with "groovy" bass lines in its production. Lyrically, it delves into the theme of love and studying the fundamentals of romance, and by using science-related word play, they declare there is no right answer to love. It is followed by two English songs, "Moonlight" and "Icon"; with the former channeling '80s nostalgia through its "tropical disco vibes" and "cute percussion, claps and marimba leads", and the latter asserting the "most swag Twice can offer". Following these two are songs written by Twice members, "Cruel" by Dahyun, "Real You" by Jihyo, and "F.I.L.A. (Fall in Love Again)" by Nayeon.


title: Formula of Love: O+T=＜3

text: The album's title, "Formula of Love: O+T=<3", has two meanings according to Twice. The letters "O" and "T" represent the initials of "Once"—the group's official fandom's name—and "Twice", respectively, while the heart symbol ("<3") represents love; thus, the "formula of love" can be verbalized as "Once plus Twice equals love". The letters "O" and "T" also represent the initials of numbers 1 ("one") and 2 ("two"), respectively, while the number "3" in the heart symbol ("<3") represents the position of "Formula of Love: O+T=<3" in Twice's Korean albums chronology.


title: Formula of Love: O+T=＜3

text: On October 20, 2021, during the group's sixth anniversary week, Twice held a livestreaming event titled "H6me Party with 6nce", where they sang "Candy", an English song from the album dedicated to their fans. On October 24, JYP Entertainment released a mockumentary-style trailer featuring Twice members dressed up as scientists at the "Twice Love Lab". Twice released several concept photos to promote the album and its title track, "Scientist". In addition to these, teasers for the music video of "Scientist" were released days ahead of its release. Hours before the official release of "Formula of Love: O+T=<3", the group went live on YouTube and V Live to discuss the making-of the album.


title: Formula of Love: O+T=＜3

text: "Formula of Love: O+T=<3" received critical acclaim from music critics who complimented its cohesiveness, consistency, and diversity. On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, it received a mean score of 88 based on 5 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim"; it is one the highest-rated K-pop albums on the website.


title: Formula of Love: O+T=＜3

text: Writing for Sputnikmusic, Raul Stanciu gave "Formula of Love: O+T=<3" a 3.8 out of 5 rating, praising Twice and the album's producers for presenting a "cohesive record", but stressed that it "could have been trimmed to 10 strong cuts". Stanciu also addressed the album's "slight drop in quality" on its second half. Tanu I. Raj of "NME" gave the album a five-star rating, citing it as a "masterful win befitting [Twice's] global expansion". Raj added that the group's "absolute and unapologetic embracing of their concept has led them to the point where they can subvert it and still be considered credible". "South China Morning Post"s Tamar Herman noted that "throughout it all, [the album] is a groovy, bouncy addition that feels true to the group while still trying new things." For "Beats Per Minute", Chase McMullen rated the album 82 out of 100, applauding Twice's "ability to crank out pop bliss with nearly superhuman speed" and the album's "irresistible eclecticism on display, with each and every track serving as a unique adventure into some different corner." "PopMatters" critic Ana Clara Ribeiro wrote that the album is a proof for "anyone who ever thought of Twice as one-dimensional or that their 'cute' brand would limit them." AllMusic's David Crone concluded his review by saying the album is Twice's best release to date and that it "surpasses expectations, infusing the group's love-centric lyricism with newfound confidence and creative flair." "Rolling Stone Korea" called "Formula of Love: O+T=<3" "the pinnacle of Twice's career history" and considered it as one of K-pop's best album of 2021.


title: Formula of Love: O+T=＜3

text: On November 10, 2021, it was reported that the album had gained over 630,000 pre-order sales by November 8, becoming Twice's most pre-ordered and best-selling album of all-time before its release. By November 10, it had reached over 700,000 pre-order sales. In its first week, MRC Data reported that the album had sold 66,000 album-equivalent units in the United States. Of these, 58,000 were pure sales, 8,000 were streaming-equivalent units, and a negligible amount were track-equivalent units. On January 6, 2022, the Korea Music Content Association (KMCA) certified "Formula of Love: O+T=<3" 2× Platinum after it sold more than 500,000 units in South Korea.


title: Formula of Love: O+T=＜3

text: "Formula of Love: O+T=<3" debuted at number 1 on South Korea's Gaon Album Chart, making it Twice's tenth number-one album on the chart; following "More & More" (2020). In Japan, it peaked at number 17 on "Billboard Japan"s Hot Albums chart and at number 2 on Oricon's Albums Chart. The album became Twice's highest-charting album in the US and Canada to date, peaking at numbers 3 and 17 on the "Billboard" 200 and the Canadian Albums Chart, respectively. In addition to this feat, the album has spent 8 consecutive weeks on the "Billboard" 200. Moreover, on other "Billboard" charts, the album peaked at numbers 7, 2, and 1 on Tastemakers, Top Album Sales, and World Albums, respectively. In Europe, the album appeared on Belgium's Ultratop Flanders and Wallonia 200 Albums, Finland's Top 50 Albums, Lithuania's Top 100 Albums, the Netherlands' Album Top 100, and the United Kingdom's Album Downloads Chart.


title: South Bay Lakers

text: The South Bay Lakers are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Los Angeles. Founded in 2006 as the Los Angeles D-Fenders, the team is owned by the Los Angeles Lakers, who were the first National Basketball Association (NBA) franchise to own a D-League team. At the conclusion of the 2016–17 D-League season, the D-Fenders re-branded as the South Bay Lakers for the G League. They also moved their home games from the Toyota Sports Center into the UCLA Health Training Center, a new practice facility for the Los Angeles Lakers in El Segundo.


title: South Bay Lakers

text: All games are broadcast in streaming audio from the team's official website and on the NBA's Futurecast web channel. On December 21, 2012, the D-Fenders announced a telecast agreement with TWC SportsNet Channel (now Spectrum SportsNet).


title: South Bay Lakers

text: The team name was chosen in a "name the team" contest with a format similar to a March Madness NCAA tournament bracket, with 64 possible team names. From April 2006 to the first week of June 2006, the choices were whittled down to two: "D-Fenders" and "Breakers" remained. On June 5, 2006, balloting was closed with the "Breakers" as the winner. Three days later the team was expected to announce its name, but the Lakers organization had learned that a local coed dwarf basketball team already had the name. The Lakers then fell back to the "losing" name: the Los Angeles D-Fenders. The official announcement and logo unveiling came on July 26, 2006.


title: South Bay Lakers

text: In their debut season (2006–07) the D-Fenders competed in the Western Division and finished with a 23–27 record. Despite a sub-500 record the D-Fenders almost qualified for the playoffs. Dan Panaggio, formerly the assistant head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, served as head coach. Brian Chase received an All D-League Honorable Mention and was selected for the D-League All-Star Game. Stephane Lasme received the D-Fenders first ever "call up" to the NBA's Miami Heat.


title: South Bay Lakers

text: D-Fender games were played as "doubleheaders" with their parent club, the Los Angeles Lakers (either prior to or following Laker games). Admission tickets to Lakers games also admitted one to the D-Fender game. On April 1, 2007, Jordan Farmar became the first player in history to play in an NBA game and a D-League game in the same day.


title: South Bay Lakers

text: In the 2007–08 season, Panaggio returned as head coach, and the D-Fenders improved to 32–18, strong enough to qualify for the playoffs. In the first round, the D-Fenders earned their first playoff victory after defeating the Western Conference Champion Colorado 14ers. In the second round the D-Fenders lost to the Idaho Stampede, who went on to win the D-League Championship. Stephane Lasme shared the D-League Defensive Player of the Year Award and received an All D-League Honorable Mention. Lasme was also selected for the All-Star Game. Jelani McCoy was named All D-League Third Team and selected to the All-Star Game. McCoy also received a "call-up" to the NBA to play for the Denver Nuggets. Panaggio was named the All-Star game head coach. Coby Karl, son of NBA Coach George Karl, became the 2nd player in history to play in an NBA game and a D-League game in the same day.


title: South Bay Lakers

text: In 2008–09, Panaggio returned for his third and final year as head coach. The D-Fenders posted a disappointing 19–31 record. One highlight showcased Orien Greene making eight steals in one game against Utah (December 1, 2009). Joe Crawford received an All D-League Honorable Mention and was "called up" to the NBA to play for the New York Knicks. Rookie guard Sun Yue became the third Lakers player to play for the D-Fenders.


title: South Bay Lakers

text: For the first time the D-Fenders played several of their home games at the Citizens Business Bank Arena in nearby Ontario, California. This marked the first time that admission for D-Fenders' home games was charged solely for the D-Fenders as the main attraction. Attendance averaged approximately 1,500 paid sales per game. The D-Fenders continued to play occasional home games at Staples Center and eventually signed a long-term contract with Staples Center for the remainder of the third season and beyond.


title: South Bay Lakers

text: For the 2009–10 season, the D-Fenders brought in a "new" coach, Chucky Brown For Brown, this served a bit as a homecoming as Brown previously served as the Assistant Head Coach in the D-Fenders' inaugural season. Unfortunately, the experiment did not work out as the D-Fenders posted a record of 16–34. This season marked the first time the D-Fenders had no assignments or call-ups from the NBA. Joe Crawford and Diamon Simpson were selected for the All-Star Game. Crawford was also a participant in the All-Star Weekend H-O-R-S-E Contest. Dar Tucker was named All-Star Weekend Slam Dunk Champion.


title: South Bay Lakers

text: In May 2010, the D-Fenders announced that they would not field a team for the 2010–11 season. While the Lakers retained team ownership the D-Fenders took this time to perform some housecleaning. Coach Brown's contract was not renewed and Assistant General Manager Bonnie Jill Laflin was released. In the absence of the D-Fenders fielding a team, the Lakers affiliated with the Bakersfield Jam who also served as an affiliate to the Los Angeles Clippers.


title: South Bay Lakers

text: On June 9, 2011, the D-Fenders announced they would return for the 2011–2012 campaign and would play home games at a new location: the Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo. In addition to housing the headquarters for the Los Angeles Lakers and D-Fenders organizations, the TSC offers a unique setting to watch some of the brightest young stars in professional basketball as only 365 seats are available for public sale and no seat is further than six rows from the court. This good news was tempered by the looming NBA lockout and a desire by the Lakers organization to cut overhead. One early casualty was D-Fender General Manager Ronnie Lester. Lester, who had a 24-year association with the Lakers, could not come to terms with the Lakers, and his expiring contract was not renewed along with some other 20 Lakers staffers.


title: South Bay Lakers

text: Glenn Carraro, the remaining D-Fender assistant general manager, was promoted to general manager. Thereafter, on August 18, 2011, the D-Fenders announced Eric Musselman as their new head coach. Among Musselman's body of work was previous service as head coach for the NBA's Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors.


title: South Bay Lakers

text: The NBA lockout began and the Los Angeles Laker Girls, who had been practicing all summer for their upcoming Lakers game performances, now had no audience. The Lakers organization decided the Laker Girls would perform at the D-Fender home games for the duration of the season.


title: South Bay Lakers

text: With a new general manager, a new head coach, and the excitement of the Laker Girls, the D-Fenders had a breakout season, posting a regular season record of 38–12, which at the time was the best regular season record ever posted in the D-League. In a season of great individual success, two D-Fenders players placed in the top five for season scoring averages: Brandon Costner (20.3 ppg) and Elijah Millsap (19.4 ppg). Malcolm Thomas was named to the All NBA D-League First Team and the Rookie First Team after ranking second in the NBADL for blocks (2.3) and third in rebounds (9.1) and field goal percentage (.619). Both Courtney Fortson and Millsap were named to the All D-League Second Team. Costner was named All D-League Third Team, and Zach Andrews received an Honorable Mention honor. A team record four D-Fenders were selected for the All Star Game: Andrews, Costner, Millsap and Gerald Green. Green was also named the MVP of the All-Star Game. Concluding regular season play, the D-Fenders breezed through the first and second rounds of the playoffs undefeated, easily winning the Western Conference Title. In the finals, the D-fenders took game 1 but dropped the next two games to fall to the Austin Toros. To cap off this historic season, Musselman was named D-League Coach of the Year and the front office earned the first-ever NBA Development League Championship Award, an annual recognition award given to the team that best embodies the NBA D-League's goal of developing NBA basketball talent via call-ups and/or assignments.


title: South Bay Lakers

text: For the 2012–13 campaign, the D-Fenders had a new head coach, former NBA Sacramento Kings Head Coach Reggie Theus. The D-Fenders played a 50-game regular season of which 25 games were scheduled as home games. The Laker Girls decided to stay on and once again performed at all home games. In a year characterized by L.A.'s shuffling of players, the team would finish with a 21–29 record in Theus's only season at the helm. The one constant throughout the year for the D-Fenders was Fortson, who finished the year as the D-League's leader in assists (7.1) and was second in steals (2.0) while also tying a franchise record 15 assists in a single game. He would go on to be named to the NBA D-League All-Star squad, his first career selection to the event.


title: South Bay Lakers

text: In May 2013, the D-Fenders named former NBA player Mark Madsen as head coach, but he subsequently accepted a position as a player development coach for the Lakers on July 19, leaving the D-Fenders with a head coaching vacancy. As a result, Bob MacKinnon stepped in as the team's coach, eventually leading the D-Fenders franchise to a 31–21 record and its second West Division title in franchise history. In his first season with the team, in-season acquisition Manny Harris posted 49 points against the Idaho Stampede on January 10, 2014, to set a then Los Angeles D-Fenders franchise record. Harris would go on to become the first player ever called up to the Lakers from the D-Fenders franchise. Three weeks later, on January 31, 2014, Terrence Williams scored 50 points to set a new D-Fenders franchise record. On February 5, 2014, the D-Fenders set an NBA D-League record with 26 three-pointers made along with a franchise record 155 points scored. On February 8, 2014, Harris again set a new franchise scoring record, this time with 56 points. Overall, Williams earned All-NBA D-League third team honors and James Southerland earned All-NBA D-League Rookie second team honors as the D-Fenders suffered an early exit from the NBA D-League Playoffs.


title: South Bay Lakers

text: On August 28, 2014, the D-Fenders hired Phil Hubbard as head coach, the team's sixth coach in as many years. Offensive firepower was never an issue for the team, as Jabari Brown finished as the league's leading scorer with 24.4 points per outing. Brown joined Vander Blue and Roscoe Smith as members of the 2015 All-Star Game. Overall, Los Angeles scored the third-most points per game (116.8), while ranking second in points in the paint (57.4) and on fast-break scoring (21.3). The D-Fenders would finish with a record of 17–33 while missing the playoffs.


title: South Bay Lakers

text: Ahead of the 2015–16 season, the D-Fenders hired Conner Henry as head coach. However, he left to become an assistant coach for the Orlando Magic. On August 5, Casey Owens was named the head coach of the D-Fenders. Los Angeles eventually advanced to the NBA D-League finals for the second time in franchise history, even as the team finished with a 27–23 regular season record. Ultimately, the D-Fenders would fall one game short of a league championship as the Sioux Falls Skyforce capped off the best season in NBA D-League history. Blue led the league in points scored (1,262) and finished second in scoring average (26.3) en route to a First Team All-NBA D-League selection. Meanwhile, Jeff Ayres (first team) and Ryan Gomes (third team) were also awarded with All-NBA D-League honors. Gomes, an NBA veteran, provided a large boost to the D-Fenders lineup and was named as the NBA D-League's Impact Player of the Year after averaging 18.2 points, 8.1 rebounds and 3.1 assists. Point guard Josh Magette led the league in assists (9.2) and steals (2.4), while two D-Fenders earned GATORADE Call-Ups: Ayres (L.A. Clippers) and Justin Harper (Detroit Pistons).


title: South Bay Lakers

text: On September 12, 2016, the D-Fenders announced the addition of Coby Karl as the team's head coach prior to the 2016–17 season. Karl, the son of NBA coaching legend George Karl, was a former player for the Lakers and D-Fenders. The second person to ever play in an NBA and NBADL game in the same day, Karl entered his first head coaching position in Los Angeles.


title: South Bay Lakers

text: On April 9, 2017, the Los Angeles Lakers announced that the D-Fenders would be re-branded as the South Bay Lakers at the conclusion of the 2016–17 season and the playoffs. They also announced that they were leaving the Toyota Events Center and moving into the new UCLA Health Training Center in El Segundo, which would also serve at the Lakers new practice facility. After the D-Fenders were eliminated from the D-League playoffs on April 11, 2017, the team began the re-branding process. The newly re-branded club unveiled its primary and secondary marks on April 8, 2017.


title: South Bay Lakers

text: The 2018–19 South Bay Lakers placed fourth in the Pacific Division and had a record of 21–29, missing the playoffs. The 2019–20 season was curtailed due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic while the Lakers were outside of a playoff position, and then the team opted out of the single-site 2021 season. In July 2021, head coach Karl was announced as not returning to the organization and was replaced by Los Angeles Lakers' assistant coach Miles Simon.


title: Occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge

text: On January 2, 2016, an armed group of far-right extremists seized and occupied the headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Harney County, Oregon, and continued to occupy it until law enforcement made a final arrest on February 11, 2016. Their leader was Ammon Bundy, who participated in the 2014 Bundy standoff at his father's Nevada ranch. Other members of the group were loosely affiliated with non-governmental militias and the sovereign citizen movement.


text: The organizers were seeking an opportunity to advance their view that the federal government is constitutionally required to turn over most of the federal public land they manage to the individual states, in particular land managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), United States Forest Service (USFS), and other agencies. In 2015, the militants believed they could do this by protesting the treatment of two area ranchers convicted of federal land arson, who they believed were wrongly convicted. This is despite the fact that the men in question, father and son Dwight and Steven Dwight Hammond, did not want their help. The occupation began when Bundy led an armed party to the refuge headquarters following a peaceful public rally in the nearby city of Burns.


text: By February 11, all of the militants had surrendered or withdrawn from the occupation, with several leaders having been arrested after leaving the site; one of them, Robert LaVoy Finicum, was shot and killed during an attempt to arrest him after he reached toward a handgun concealed in his pocket after he tried to evade a roadblock; Ryan Bundy was wounded. More than two dozen of the militants were charged with federal offenses including conspiracy to obstruct federal officers, firearms violations, theft, and depredation of federal property.


text: By August 2017, a dozen had pleaded guilty, and six of those had been sentenced to 1–2 years' probation, some including house arrest. Seven others, including Ammon and Ryan Bundy, were tried and acquitted of all federal charges. Five more had been found guilty and were sentenced months later. Seven of the militants saw prison time for their roles in the occupation. Jake Ryan and Duane Ehmer each received 366 days in prison, with Ryan additionally getting three years of supervised probation. Darryl Thorn received 18 months of prison time on November 21, 2017. Jason Patrick received 21 months on February 15, 2018. Ryan Payne was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison along with three years of supervision on February 27, 2018. Jon Ritzheimer was sentenced to 366 days in federal prison and another 12 months in a residential re-entry program. Corey Lequieu was sentenced to 30 months in prison and three years of supervision. Two others, Joe O'Shaughnessy and Brian Cavalier, were detained for at least a year, but released on time served plus three years of supervision each, plus fines.


text: Harney County is a rural county in eastern Oregon. The county seat is the city of Burns. Though it is one of the largest counties by area in the United States, its population is only about 7,700, and cattle outnumber people 14-to-1. About 73 percent of the county's area is federal land, variously managed by the United States Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the United States Forest Service (USFS), and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).


text: The Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, located in Harney County, was established in 1908 by President Theodore Roosevelt, a conservationist. Located in the Pacific Flyway, and currently encompassing , it is "one of the premiere sites for birds and birding in the U.S.," according to the Audubon Society of Portland. Tourism, especially birding, injects million into the local economy annually.


text: The leader of the occupation was Ammon Bundy—a native of Bunkerville, Nevada, owner of a car fleet management company in Phoenix, Arizona, and a recent resident of Emmett, Idaho. Ammon Bundy was also the leader of a group which he formed shortly before the occupation, which he later named the Citizens for Constitutional Freedom.


text: Ammon's father, Cliven D. Bundy, had previously organized and led a somewhat similar incident roughly two years earlier in March 2014. Both Bundys are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and claimed that their armed opposition to the federal government was ordained for them via divine messages ordering them to do so.


text: Also in a leadership position amongst the militants was the group's occasional spokesman LaVoy Finicum, another Mormon, who owned a ranch at Cane Beds, in the Arizona Strip, near the community of Colorado City, Arizona. He had recently authored a self-published post-apocalyptic novel. Ammon's brother, Ryan Bundy, was also amongst the militants present, and was later arrested for his role in the occupation.


text: On December 1, 2019, an investigation commissioned by the Washington House of Representatives reported then-Washington state legislator, theocrat and white supremacist Matt Shea, had planned and participated in domestic terrorism on at least three occasions. This included his participation, organizing, planning, and promotion of the 2014 Bundy standoff in Nevada, the 2015 armed conflict in Priest River, Idaho, and the 2016 armed seizure of the Malheur Refuge. Shea led a delegation of right-wing legislators from Oregon, Washington and Idaho that met with law enforcement on January 9, 2016, in Burns, Oregon where they were apprised of confidential intended law enforcement strategies for dealing with the refuge occupiers. The state House district's Republican Representative Cliff Bentz, attended the meeting, despite being warned by Harney County Judge Steven Grasty to decline the invitation. Bentz did, however, warn western Oregon state Representative Dallas Heard, from Roseburg, that it would be "inappropriate," for Heard to attend, though Heard ignored the advice. Shea then disclosed those details to the Bundys, according to the report.


text: In 2012, Dwight Lincoln Hammond, Jr., 73, and Steven Dwight Hammond, 46, were both convicted of two counts of arson on federal land, in relation to two fires they set in 2001 and 2006. In a mid-trial settlement agreement, the Hammonds agreed not to appeal the arson convictions in order to have other charges dismissed by the government. The Hammonds were also told the prosecutor would seek the mandatory minimum sentence of five years. Ultimately, Dwight Hammond was sentenced to three months' imprisonment and his son Steven was sentenced to a year and a day's imprisonment, which both men served. In 2015, the sentences were, however, vacated by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which then remanded re-sentencing. In October 2015, a judge re-sentenced the Hammonds to five years in prison (with credit for time served), ordering that they return to prison on January 4, 2016. Stephen was scheduled to be released on June 29, 2019 and Dwight on February 13, 2020. They were pardoned by then-President Donald Trump on July 10, 2018.


text: In late 2015, the Hammonds' case attracted the attention of Ammon Bundy and Ryan Payne. In November 2015, Bundy and his associates began publicizing the Hammonds' case via social media. Over the ensuing weeks, Bundy and Payne attempted to set up plans for what they described as a peaceful protest with Harney County Sheriff, David M. Ward, as well as request that the sheriff's office protect the Hammonds from being taken into custody by federal authorities. A sympathetic Ward declined Bundy and Payne's request. He later said that he began receiving death threats by email.


text: Despite several early meetings with Bundy and Payne, the Hammonds eventually rejected their offers of assistance.


text: On November 5, 2015, Ammon Bundy called Harney County Sheriff David Ward and arranged a meeting later the same day. At the meeting, Ammon Bundy and Montana militiaman Ryan Payne insisted to Sheriff Ward that Ward must shield Dwight and Steven Hammond against re-imprisonment. Ward recalled that when he explained that he did not have authority to shield the Hammonds from a lawful sentence, Bundy's and Payne's demeanor became threatening. Payne told Ward that if he did not shield the Hammonds from imprisonment, "thousands" of armed militiamen would come to the county to "do Ward's job" for him—and Payne pointedly noted that he might not be able to control what else the militia might do. By late fall, local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies noticed that members of anti-government militias had started to relocate to Harney County, and the USFWS began circulating a photograph of Ammon Bundy with instructions for staff to "be on the lookout."


text: By early December 2015, Bundy and Payne had moved to Burns. The same month, they organized a meeting at the Harney County Fairgrounds to rally support for their efforts. At the meeting, a "committee of safety" was organized by Bundy and Payne to orchestrate direct action against the Hammond sentences. According to that group's website, the Harney County Committee of Safety considers itself "a governmental body established by the people in the absence of the ability of the existing government to provide for the needs and protection of civilized society" (during the American Revolution, committees of safety were shadow governments organized to usurp authority from colonial administrators).


text: From mid-November to late December 2015, local residents began to notice significant numbers of outsiders in the community, often dressed in military-style attire and openly carrying handguns and sometimes rifles. Some of these armed newcomers engaged in what local people considered threatening and harassing behavior, such as approaching shoppers in local stores and aggressively asking their opinions about the Hammond family. Many local people considered these actions to be deliberate intimidation, intended to sway the community into joining the outsider's unspecified plan to "protect" the Hammonds from re-arrest. Contrary to local custom, some residents began carrying guns in public locations. Many lived in fear that some kind of violent event was about to take place.


text: On December 30, 2015, USFWS staff members at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge were dismissed early from work. With tensions rising in nearby Burns, supervisors left staff with the final instruction not to return to the refuge unless explicitly instructed. Meanwhile, some Burns residents reported harassment and intimidation by militia members. According to the spouses and children of several federal employees and local police, they had been followed home or to school by vehicles with out-of-state license plates.


text: On January 1, 2016, a forum held at the Harney County Fairgrounds was attended by about 60 local residents and members of militias. A Burns-area resident who organized the event described it as an opportunity to defuse tensions that had been simmering between locals and out-of-town militia in the preceding days. The event alternated between expressions of sympathy for the Hammonds and suggestions that a peaceful rally could be beneficial.


text: On January 2, a rally of about 300 people gathered in a Safeway supermarket parking lot in Burns, organized by the Pacific Patriots Network (PPN), a militia umbrella organization that includes the 3 Percenters of Idaho. Members of the Pacific Patriots Network had been active in Harney County since November, drawn there by the Hammond arson case. Following speeches, the crowd marched to the home of Dwight and Steven Hammond, stopping briefly en route to protest outside the sheriff's office and the county courthouse. The crowd then returned to the Safeway parking lot and broke up. According to KOIN, the CBS-affiliated television station in Portland, Oregon, there was "no visible police presence at any point."


text: Before the protest crowd broke up, Ammon Bundy announced to the crowd his plan to occupy the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, and he encouraged people to join him. His announcement surprised a PPN rally organizer, who later stated he felt betrayed. Ammon and Ryan Bundy—along with armed associates—separated from the crowd and proceeded to the refuge headquarters, located south of Burns. The militants settled into the refuge and set up defensive positions. Right before the occupation began, the militants notified the Harney County Sheriff's Office and also contacted a utility company with the intention of taking over the refuge's electric and other services, according to a motion to dismiss and memorandum filed by Ammon Bundy's lawyers on May 9.


text: Law enforcement kept away from the refuge, but various security measures were taken in surrounding areas. By the evening of January 4, no overt police presence was visible in the area between the town and the refuge headquarters. Upon hearing of the occupation at the wildlife refuge, the two ranchers on whose behalf the militants were ostensibly acting disavowed the action.


text: On January 2, the militia leaders claimed to have 150 armed members at the site, though one journalist reported that no more than a dozen armed militants were on the site, and another reported a claim that there were "between six and 12." On January 3, "The Oregonian" said there were roughly 20 to 25 people present and that the militants had deployed into defensive positions. On January 3, Ammon Bundy claimed that they were being supplied by area residents.


text: Other protest groups took varying positions. On January 2, the 3 Percenters of Idaho militia disclaimed involvement, calling the occupation a small splinter action.


text: Ryan Bundy stated that the militant group wanted the Hammonds to be released and for the federal government to relinquish control of the Malheur National Forest. On January 3, Ammon Bundy said the ultimate goal of the militants was to "get the economics here in the county revived" for logging and outdoor recreation. On January 4, the militants announced a formal name for their group, Citizens for Constitutional Freedom.


text: On January 4, Steven E. Grasty, the judge-executive of Harney County, emailed Ammon Bundy requesting that he leave the refuge. Harney County Sheriff David Ward then requested that the Bundys and others to leave. In response, Ryan Bundy said he wasn't convinced Ward spoke for all of the people in the county. Meanwhile, on January 4, Dwight and Steven Hammond voluntarily reported to begin serving the remainder of their respective prison sentences.


text: In a public meeting held on January 6 at the Harney County Fairgrounds, nearly every attending person, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting, raised their hands when Ward asked who thought the militants should leave. Ward then offered to escort the militants to the county line if they would depart voluntarily.


text: A fistfight erupted at the refuge on the evening of January 6 when three members of a group calling themselves Veterans on Patrol attempted to enter the headquarters and convince women, children and Ryan Payne to leave. Instead, they were repelled by militants, leaving one member of the Veterans on Patrol with a black eye. Family members of some of the militants were present at the refuge during the occupation, including a minor son of Ammon Bundy, as well as the children of some of the visitors sympathetic to the militia.


text: On January 7, Sheriff Ward and other local sheriffs met with Ammon Bundy and Ryan Payne from the site of the occupation. Sheriff Ward repeated his earlier offer to escort the militants out of the county. Bundy rejected the offer, saying the occupation would continue until management of federal land in the county had been turned over to local residents.


text: On January 8, members of other militias later met with the militants, asking them to establish a perimeter around the occupied area to avoid a "Waco-style situation." A number of other militia and anti-government groups, some armed, arrived and received a mixed reception. The 3 Percenters of Idaho announced it was sending some of its members to "secure a perimeter" around the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge compound and prevent a repeat of the Waco siege. Ammon Bundy initially welcomed the arrival of the additional militants, but hours after their arrival at the refuge on the morning of January 9, the convoy of new militants from the Pacific Patriots Network, led by Brandon Curtiss, president of the 3 Percenters of Idaho, were asked to leave by Utah attorney Todd MacFarlane, who acted as a mediator. The new militants left the refuge that afternoon.


text: By January 10, an influx of armed groups and individuals was rotating through Burns, with some declaring they were there to support the occupation, others to try to convince the militants to quit, and still others with undefined purposes. Some militants, meanwhile, left the occupation completely.


text: On January 11, the militants removed a stretch of fence between the refuge and an adjacent ranch, apparently to give the adjacent ranch access to land that had been blocked for years. but the ranch owners did not want the fence taken down and subsequently repaired it. The militants began searching through government documents stored for proof of government wrongdoing toward local ranchers.


text: On January 12, the militants told KOIN reporter Chris Holmstrom that the refuge facilities were messy and unorganized when they arrived, and Jason Patrick asserted that they encountered rat feces deep. KOIN recorded some of their cleaning efforts in a garage.


text: Bruce Doucette, the owner of a computer repair shop in Denver, Colorado, and a self-proclaimed judge, announced on January 12 that he would convene a "citizens grand jury" to charge government officials with various crimes. Doucette's claims to be a judge are consistent with legal frauds often practiced by the sovereign citizen movement and other anti-government movements.


text: On January 14, Ammon Bundy announced that the militants planned a longer stay and were reaching out to nearby county sheriffs for support. Michael Ray Emry, speaking for Bruce Doucette, threaten to hold "a trial with the redress of grievance" against county and other government officials.


text: Harney County Judge Steven Grasty, Sheriff Ward, and other county officials were served false legal documents by the militants.


text: On January 15, the Oregon State Police arrested a militant at the Safeway in Burns who had been driving a government vehicle stolen from the refuge headquarters.


text: Also on January 15, the Oath Keepers anti-government militia group warned of a prospective "conflagration so great, it cannot be stopped, leading to a bloody, brutal civil war" if the situation descended into violence.


text: Militant numbers continued to grow to "several dozen" according to one report or about 40 in another.


text: On January 16, LaVoy Finicum told "The Washington Post" that "[i]t needs to be very clear that these buildings will never, ever return to the federal government," reiterating the group's demands for the federal government to cede ownership of the wildlife refuge.


text: The militants began to vandalize the property, which local community leaders characterized as an attempt to provoke violent confrontation. A video released by the militants showed them inspecting a locked storage room for archaeological artifacts held in agreement with the Burns Paiute Tribe, an Indian nation in Harney County, leading the tribe to ask the federal authorities to block the passage of occupiers to the site.


text: On January 19, Ammon Bundy and several other militant occupiers appeared unannounced at a community meeting in Burns without addressing the crowd. Residents urged an end to the occupation as did rallies held by opponents in Eugene and Portland, Oregon, and in Idaho.


text: On January 21, Bundy met with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and discussed with them about relinquishing federal government control of the refuge as well as the releases of Dwight and Steven Hammond. He agreed to meet with the FBI again on the next day, but when the meeting occurred, Bundy left when the agent present declined to negotiate in front of the media.


text: On January 23, the militants hosted a news conference at the refuge, promising news reporters that an Oregon cattle rancher and one from New Mexico would be present to sign papers renouncing their federal grazing permits. Although the Oregen rancer did not show up, the one from New Mexico did. At the conference, Adrian C. Sewell, of Grant County, New Mexico, renounced his federal grazing permit. The Oregonian newspaper noted that "Sewell's all-American credentials are tarnished" by a conviction on eight counts of assuault with a deadly weapon in Oklahoma in 2002.


text: During the first weeks, law enforcement allowed the militants to come and go from the refuge at will. On January 26, the main leaders attempted to drive two vehicles to adjacent Grant County, Oregon, where Ryan Payne was invited by a Canyon City, Oregon, logger to speak at a public meeting at the John Day Senior Center in John Day, Oregon. It was the first time in which the main leaders were traveling together away from the refuge headquarters. State and federal authorities used the opportunity to intercept them with a traffic stop on a stretch of U.S. Route 395, situated away from populated areas.


text: The militants' convoy consisted of a white 2015 Dodge Ram driven by LaVoy Finicum, followed by a dark-colored Jeep. Vehicles driven by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Oregon State Police pulled in behind the Jeep. The driver of the Jeep pulled over and he and his passengers, Ammon Bundy and Brian Cavalier, surrendered peacefully and were taken into custody. Finicum kept driving, followed by the authorities, but eventually stopped with police cars behind his truck. The police launched a round of foam-nosed pepper spray at the vehicle. Ryan Payne exited Finicum's truck and surrendered peacefully, also surrendering a handgun holstered on his right hip. Shawna Cox, a passenger in Finicum's truck, recorded cell phone video of Finicum shouting to police that he intended to ignore their orders and drive away. Other cell phone video footage shot by Ryan Bundy, another passenger, also showed Finicum taunting officers and daring them to shoot and kill him.


text: About seven minutes after stopping his truck, Finicum resumed driving north at high speed. Cox, Ryan Bundy, and 18-year-old Victoria Sharp, were still in the rear seat of the truck at the time. They were subsequently pursued by officers and eventually encountered a roadblock about later. An Oregon State Police SWAT member, identified in the trial of FBI agent Astarita as "Officer 1," fired three shots with an AR-15, into Finicum's truck as it approached the roadblock. Finicum steered off the pavement to the left shoulder to evade the roadblock, embedding his truck in a roadside snowbank. Two OSP officers and four FBI agents were posted at the roadblock, with one of the FBI agents nearly being run over by Finicum's truck.


text: Finicum soon exited and began walking away from his truck, briefly raising and lowering his hands above his head. While Finicum was leaving his truck, a FBI Hostage Rescue Team member allegedly fired two shots one of which entered the truck and ricocheted, inflicting the minor shrapnel wound on Ryan Bundy. OSP officers and FBI agents armed with rifles positioned themselves to his left, while an OSP officer equipped with a non-lethal Taser X2 walked downhill from an embankment toward him. As the officer with the Taser attempted to move within to make the most effective use of the Taser, Finicum turned his body to the left, holding his jacket with his left hand and reaching for a pocket with his right hand. He was then shot twice in the back by an OSP SWA member from the roadblock identified as "Officer 1," and once by "Officer 2," from the pursuit vehicle.


text: Immediately after the shooting and arrests, officials stated that Finicum was reaching for a handgun in his pocket when he was shot by a state trooper. The FBI found a loaded 9mm Ruger SR9, a gift from his stepson, in Finicum's left jacket pocket.


text: Both of the Bundy brothers and three other militants were arrested. They faced "federal felony charges of conspiracy to impede federal officers from discharging their official duties through the use of force, intimidation or threats" (Title 18, United States Code, Section 372). The driver of the Jeep and Victoria Sharp, a passenger in Finicum's truck, were released without charges. Medical assistance was given to Finicum approximately 10 minutes after the shooting.


text: Prior to the video of the action being released, some of the militants and supporters had claimed that Finicum was cooperating with the police when he was shot. This included a claim by Nevada Assemblywoman Michele Fiore (who was not present at the arrest) that "he was just murdered with his hands up." Cliven Bundy was quoted as saying that Finicum was "sacrificed for a good purpose." At a news conference, officials had initially declined to comment on the Finicum shooting because the encounter was still under investigation, but they later released surveillance video of the incident, which officials said shows Finicum reaching for a handgun after feigning surrender, but Finicum's family continued to dispute the nature of the shooting, claiming that he was shot in the back while his hands were in the air, and denied the FBI's assertion that Finicum was armed at the time of his death. Finicum's public autopsy was performed on January 28, but officials withheld the autopsy report from the press until March 8. The Finicum family commissioned a private autopsy, but declined to make the results public.


text: Three others were arrested in separate actions: Peter Santilli and Joseph O'Shaughnessy were arrested locally, while Jon Ritzheimer was placed under arrest by the FBI in Peoria, Arizona, after he had voluntarily surrendered.


text: Following the January 26 arrests, the occupation continued. In the early morning hours of January 27, militant Jason Patrick said that women and children had left the occupation, adding that five to six people met and then decided to continue the occupation. Many people reportedly left in a hurry. Hours later, federal and state police forces moved into the region, formed a perimeter around the refuge, and blocked access to it by setting up roadblocks. Only ranchers who owned land near the area were allowed to pass.


text: The remaining members debated on what to do next, with some angry about the recent events. Through his lawyer, Michael Arnold of Eugene, Oregon, Ammon Bundy on January 27 urged those remaining at the refuge to stand down and go home, statements that were echoed by his wife. Later, several vehicles were seen leaving the refuge before the police perimeter had been set up. Later that day, eight people left the refuge and were met by the FBI and the Oregon State Police at the perimeter. Three militants, including Patrick, surrendered and were arrested, while five other people were allowed to leave the refuge by authorities without incident. By the morning of January 28, four militants remained: David Fry, 27, of Blanchester, Ohio; husband and wife Sean, 48, and Sandra Lynn Anderson, 47, both of Riggins, Idaho; and Jeff Banta, 46, of Yerington, Nevada.


text: Fry reported that there was a warrant for the arrest of Sean Anderson; the Associated Press reported that Anderson was facing misdemeanor charges in Wisconsin for resisting arrest and drug possession. Fry also added that the others were free to go, but the four were reluctant to leave unless they were all allowed to go freely and Sean Anderson was not arrested. The FBI reportedly offered a deal where Sean Anderson would be arrested and the others would go free; this was acceptable to Fry and Banta, but not Sandra Anderson, at which point all four made a pact to remain together.


text: By January 29, the four said they had ended negotiations with the FBI and were planning to remain at the refuge until their supplies ran out. On January 30, the FBI said negotiations were continuing. The militants also claimed that the FBI was shutting down their ability to communicate with the outside world, including locking down their ability to make or receive cell phone calls. The FBI later confirmed this action. The militants were able to maintain contact with Oregon Public Broadcasting from January 31 to February 3, at which point their line of communication was cut. About a week later, David Fry was able to reestablish online communications. On February 3, the remaining four militants, along with twelve of the arrested militants, were indicted for conspiracy to impede U.S. officers, though Kirkland and Stetson were not.


text: Signs were added at some roadblocks stating that unauthorized protesters or visitors would be subject to arrest if they passed said blocks.


text: At about 4:30 p.m. on February 10, David Fry rode past the police barricades using an all-terrain vehicle before returning to the refuge at high speed. Federal authorities claimed that caused them to begin to surround the refuge at around 5:45 p.m.


text: Michael Arnold, Ammon Bundy's lawyer, learned of the escalation from a live feed where the remaining holdouts were talking of murder and asking to speak to Nevada Assemblywoman Michele Fiore. Fiore was informed of the request as her flight touched down at the Portland International Airport in Portland, Oregon. Meanwhile, Arnold sent text messages to an FBI negotiator saying, "Fiore is landing now. Can you get her on the phone with the people at the refuge? ... We can slow this down by offering Michele Fiore to talk to them." Fiore stated on a YouTube livestream with the militants that she would try to mediate the situation. While she talked to the four militants, Arnold worked on getting the FBI on the phone. At 7:38 p.m., an FBI agent told Arnold that Fiore was doing a good job and they should go to Burns.


text: Later that night, it was reported that the remaining militants would be turning themselves in to the FBI at 8:00 a.m. on the following morning. On the morning of February 11, Fiore and Arnold arrived in Burns. Fiore met with Reverend Franklin Graham at the Burns Municipal Airport, who had flown in there on his private airplane, and both were driven to the refuge in an FBI armored truck, with Arnold in a vehicle behind them. Fiore and Graham took turns addressing the militants over a loudspeaker on the truck, and Arnold provided the FBI Ammon Bundy's recorded message for Fry. By 11:00 a.m., Sean and Sandra Anderson, Jeff Banta, and Fry surrendered to the FBI without incident. The previous night, Cliven Bundy had been arrested by the FBI after deplaning at the Portland International Airport on charges related to events that were alleged to have occurred during the 2014 Bundy standoff. He had flown to Portland to support Fry, Banta, and the Andersons. In February 2016, the elder Bundy was transported back from Portland, Oregon, to Las Vegas, Nevada, to be tried in the United States District Court for the District of Nevada on charges related to the standoff at his Nevada ranch. In the first trial there, two defendants who were not charged in Oregon were convicted of some counts, with the jury deadlocked on other charges against them and four others. The two who received guilty verdicts were sentenced on July 26 and 27. Retrials of the first six and the trials of the remaining eleven defendants were scheduled for June 26 by Judge Gloria Navarro.


text: The final arrest of the 26 militants indicted for felony conspiracy was of Travis Cox, and took place on April 12 in Cedar City, Utah. At sentencing, on August 7, 2017, the 20-year-old Cox, the youngest of all those indicted, described his own behavior as "arrogant" and "ignorant." He had served 51 days in pre-trial custody before making bail. U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown said about him, "I think it's important to note, if my memory is correct, you're the first person who's acknowledged this was a mistake." She sentenced him to two months of house arrest. By August 7, eleven occupiers had pleaded guilty to felony conspiracy to impede federal workers.


text: In the months preceding the sentencing of Cox, Sean, Sandra and Dylan Anderson each received sentences of a year of probation for trespassing.


text: A 27th militant, Scott Alan Willingham, was arrested on March 16. Willingham pleaded guilty to one count of theft of government property on May 12. Michael Ray Emry, who had described himself as being an "embedded reporter" for the 3 Percenters of Idaho, was arrested by the FBI on May 6 in John Day, Oregon, on federal weapons charges relating to his possession of a stolen fully automatic .50-caliber M2 Browning heavy machine gun. Willingham told "The Oregonian" that Emry spent time at the refuge for media purposes and to share his expertise with weapons, and supplied another militant at the refuge with a semi-automatic AK-47 rifle.


text: A total of 27 people involved in the occupation were charged under federal law; of those, 26 have been indicted for a single federal felony count of conspiracy to impede officers of the U.S. from discharging their official duties through the use of force, intimidation, or threats. A number of those under indictment on the conspiracy charge are also charged with a variety of other counts, some of which incur sentences up to life imprisonment, including possession of firearms and dangerous weapons in federal facilities, use and carry of firearms in relation to a crime of violence, depredation of government property (relating to damaging the site "by means of excavation and the use of heavy equipment"), and theft of government property. In addition, several of those under indictment in Oregon have also been indicted separately for their roles in the 2014 Bundy standoff in Nevada.


text: In January 2016, a court denied bail to Ammon and Ryan Bundy saying that they were "a flight risk and a danger to the community." The court also denied bail to Ryan Payne, Dylan Anderson, and Jason Patrick. In 2017, prosecutors said they would be asking for a 41-month prison sentence for Payne.


text: By August 2016, twelve militants pleaded guilty to charges against them, including four of nine militants who were part of Bundy's "inner circle". Of those four, two were reported to be negotiating a resolution to a federal indictment in regards to the Bundy standoff in Nevada. The trials for seven militants, including Ammon Bundy, were scheduled to start on September 7, 2016; while a further seven militants were set for trial beginning February 14, 2017. Charges against the remaining indicted militant, Peter Santilli, were dropped (but he still faces charges in Nevada related to the 2014 Bundy standoff). On August 3, 2016, about 1,500 potential jurors were summoned and asked to complete questionnaires that would be reviewed by the attorneys and parties involved in the September 7, 2016, trials. Judge Anna Brown previously said the case would require an unusually large jury pool.


text: On October 27, 2016, Ammon Bundy and six other defendants were found not guilty of conspiracy to impede federal officers and possession of firearms in a federal facility by a jury. One defendant was found not guilty of theft of a government-owned truck, and the jury was hung on charges of theft of surveillance cameras by another defendant. The judge released five of the defendants, but returned Ammon and Ryan Bundy to federal custody because they also face trial related to the 2014 Bundy standoff in Nevada. At the end of the trial, Marcus Mumford, Ammon Bundy's lawyer, argued with the judge that Bundy should be released immediately on the grounds that the court did not have a detainer, and the United States Marshals Service had no document authorizing Bundy's detention. Both of the Bundy brothers had been ordered to be held without bail in January when they were charged. After the judge admonished him for yelling at the bench, six U.S. Marshals surrounded the defense table and then tackled Mumford and tased him when he resisted. A spokesman for the Marshals Service said Mumford was arrested because he "was resisting and preventing Marshals from taking Ammon Bundy out of the courtroom and back into custody." Other lawyers described the Marshals' actions as a sharp break from customary courtroom decorum. On March 13, 2017, federal prosecutors dropped the unusual charges brought against Mumford for his outburst at his client's verdict.


text: In the trial of the second group of defendants held in February 2017, four remaining defendants were being prosecuted for conspiring to impede federal employees from working at the refuge through intimidation, threats, or fear. Greg Bretzing, the recently retired FBI special agent in charge testified that several agency informants had been sent into the refuge occupation to assess the situation. One, Mark McConnell, was Ammon Bundy's driver in the convoy to the city of John Day. Drones, fixed cameras, and aerial reconnaissance were used in the surveillance. Bretzing said no military had been involved. He said his top three goals were a peaceable end to the takeover, a return of the refuge to USFWS control, and holding accountable the occupiers who were involved. He said there were "maybe a couple of hundred" FBI agents in Harney County plus dozens of state and local law enforcement officers during the refuge takeover. Prosecutors indicated that nine informants had been engaged at the refuge occupation, for periods of two hours to 23 days, and that none were involved at the initial occupation. Some had carried weapons.


text: A California blogger, Gary Hunt, said he received a thumb drive and documents that contained the names of the nine informants who had been at the Refuge, and six others in the case who had not been there, and he subsequently posted them online to aid the defense. Judge Brown ordered him to take down such information as to their identities that he had posted, holding him in contempt, and he did so just before her deadline when she said she would levy what she termed "more coercive" sanctions.


text: A neighbor testified that he had heard "hundreds" of shots fired at the refuge's boat launch, and that an occupying tower sentry had aimed a rifle at him and another looked at him through a rifle scope. A video of an occupier meeting found on defendant Jason Patrick's seized camera that was played in the courtroom showed chaos reigned amongst the occupiers after Finicum's death. "We already have our martyr," one said, and another suggested targeting federal officials, saying "execute them, their families, and everyone." Defendant Blaine Cooper proposed leaving the refuge in a USFWS firetruck with others trailing behind it. "If they try to (expletive) with us, lay lead down." Both Cooper's father, Stanley Blaine Hicks, and stepmother, Lindalee Hicks, testified that he was not a truthful person. Refuge employees were set to testify that they had received death threats and feared for their lives, but the judge would not allow it, finding it was prejudicial.


text: In closing arguments, attorneys for Duane Ehmer, Jason Patrick, Darryl Thorn, and Jake Ryan maintained that no conspiracy existed. "It was never there," Michele Kohler, representing Ehmer, told the jury. "The thought was never given to the employees. [The occupiers] went there on a holiday weekend." The second jury brought split verdicts. All four defendants in it were found guilty of at least one charge, and Darrl Thorn of two. Jason Patrick and Thorn, who were on security details, were found guilty of conspiring to prevent federal workers from doing their refuge jobs. Duane Ehmer and Jake Ryan were found not guilty on that count. Ehmer and Ryan were found guilty of willfully damaging the refuge when they used a refuge excavator to dig two deep trenches on January 27, 2016. Jurors also found Thorn guilty of possessing a firearm in a federal facility, while acquitting Patrick and Ryan of that same charge. While the jury was in deliberations on the felony cases, Judge Brown held a bench trial for the remaining misdemeanor charges on the last four defendants. The defense contended they didn't know nor were they given proper notice that they were trespassing. Ehmer's misdemeanor charges were for tampering with vehicles and equipment, removal of property, and trespassing.


text: Noting that the defendant's guilty plea and low level of involvement in the occupation had mitigated the consequences of his actions, Judge Brown sentenced Geoffrey Stanek on June 26, 2017, to two years' probation and six months' house arrest. For similar reasons, on July 6, 2017, Brown sentenced 23-year-old Tulalip, Washington, tribal employee Eric Lee Flores, to twenty-four months' probation including five months' house arrest. As with Stanek and Flores, probation had been expected for "low-level defendants" Wesley Kjar and Jason Blomgren.


text: As of August 11, 2017, it had been anticipated that Jason Patrick, Joseph O'Shaughnessy, Duane Ehmer, Darryl Thorn, Jake Ryan, Ryan Payne, Jon Ritzheimer and Blaine Cooper, would be sentenced later in 2017, for their convictions of felonies and misdemeanors involved in the Malheur occupation. Thirteen convicted occupiers have agreed to pay a total of $78,000 in restitution. Ritzheimer and Payne, after pleading guilty to a federal conspiracy charge, and Patrick, convicted at trial of conspiracy plus several misdemeanor offenses, each agreed to pay $10,000. O'Shaughnessy, Cooper, Brian Cavalier and Corey Lequieu, after their guilty pleas to conspiracy, agreed to pay $7,000 each. Thorn, tried and convicted of felonious conspiracy to impede federal workers from doing their jobs at the refuge, plus possession of a firearm in a federal facility and misdemeanors including trespass, agreed to pay $5,000. The most minor of the offenders, Blomgren, Flores, Stanek, Kjar, and Travis Cox all agreed to pay $3,000 each. As of the end of August, the final two defendants, Duane Ehmer and Jake Ryan, still awaited sentencing. They both had dug trenches at the refuge and received guilty verdicts for depredation of government property.


text: On November 16, 2017, Duane Ehmer was sentenced to 12 months and 1 day, with three years of supervised release. On November 21, 2017, Darryl Thorn was sentenced to 18 months in prison. On November 22, 2017, Wesley Kjar was sentenced to two years of probation with 250 hours of community service. On November 30, 2017, Jon Ritzheimer was sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison and must spend another 12 months in a residential re-entry program. On January 24, 2018, Jake Ryan was sentenced to 12 months and a day in federal prison for depredation of government property, trespass and tampering with government vehicles and equipment. Ryan was also placed on 3 years' supervised release. On February 15, 2018, Jason Patrick was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release. On February 27, 2018, Ryan Payne was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison along with three years of supervision. On March 15, 2018, Joseph O'Shaughnessy was sentenced to time served and two years of supervised release. On June 12, 2018, Blaine Cooper was sentenced to time served and three years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $7,000 in restitution.


text: Following the surrender of the last militants, the FBI labeled the entire refuge a crime scene and canvassed the buildings in search of explosives and any previously existing hazardous materials. A collection of firearms and explosives were found inside the refuge. Safes were found to have been broken into, with money, cameras, and computers stolen by the militants. They were also found to have badly damaged tribal artifacts. The FBI's Art Crime Team conducted an archaeological field assessment to determine if the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act or the Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979 were violated; additional charges may result if so.


text: During the occupation, the militants illegally dug a new road using a government-owned excavator, expanded a parking lot, dug trenches, destroyed part of a USFWS-owned fence, and removed security cameras. Some of the refuge's pipes broke, after which the militants, officials said, defecated "everywhere." Investigators found "significant amounts of human feces" at "two large trenches and an improvised road on or adjacent to grounds containing sensitive artifacts" of the Burns Paiute Tribe. A USFWS spokesperson said that the damage risked "the destruction and desecration of culturally significant Native American sites" and called it "disgusting, ghoulish behavior." The Burns Paiute Tribe condemned the damage; tribal council member Jarvis Kennedy described it as if "someone went to Arlington National Cemetery and went to the bathroom on the graves and rode a bulldozer over them." Two of the militants, Sean Larry Anderson and Jake Edward Ryan, were subsequently indicted for "depredation of government property," an offense that carries a potential ten-year jail sentence. A group of 600 volunteers signed up to restore the refuge, after the Oregon Natural Desert Association sought assistance. The FBI also found evidence that the militants used a boat launch area, about northeast of the refuge, for firearms training. At the boat launch area, investigators recovered about 1,685 spent shell casings.


text: The refuge remained closed after the FBI left the site in late February, with the entrance road blocked off from public access by armed officers from the USFWS. The refuge's manager described it as "one big mess" at the end of February. Although he and fifteen other employees at the refuge were able to return to their jobs at the end of February, they found that while there had not been much structural damage to the buildings, there had been a great deal of disruption to files, heavy equipment, and fittings, in addition to the problems caused by a lengthy break in the maintenance of the refuge's infrastructure. Efforts to reduce the population of invasive carp in Malheur Lake are thought to have been set back by three years. While the buildings remain closed for repairs, which are expected to take until the summer, the refuge's lands were reopened to the public in mid-March.


text: An FBI agent, W. Joseph Astarita, was alleged to have fired two shots at Finicum's pickup, one penetrating the roof and exiting through a window. Shrapnel from the shot lodged in the shoulder of Ryan Bundy. It was believed that FBI agents may have recovered ejected empty cartridges at the scene. A five-count indictment for alleged lying about the circumstances at the scene of Finicum's death, and for alleged obstruction of justice, was obtained in Portland against Astarita by the Department of Justice. He was represented by a public defender and retained counsel. He stated that his personal costs of defense had drained his finances. He entered a not-guilty plea. On July 16, 2018, U.S. District Judge Robert E. Jones struck one count of making a false statement and one count of obstruction of justice.


text: Astarita's trial began in late July 2018 and the prosecution presented its case. Investigators accounted for six of eight shots taken at Finicum or his truck. Three bullets hit the front of the truck as it sped north at the highway roadblock. Two more shots from that roadblock SWAT member (identified as "Officer 1") in the Astarita trial, struck Finicum in the back as he walked uphill away from his vehicle, toward a third officer who was holding a Taser. Those latter shots were discharged as LaVoy was reaching inside his jacket shouting, "Shoot me, shoot me." Detectives said they found Finicum's loaded automatic pistol with a round chambered, in his jacket. A total of six bullets had been fired by two Oregon State Police (OSP) SWAT officers, the first three at the oncoming vehicle. According to investigators, the fatal volley included one round that hit Finicum's back which was fired by "Officer 2," who had arrived in the chase vehicle. Non-lethal rounds had also been fired at the vehicle, and Ryan Payne was hit in the hand by a rubber bullet. The investigators and prosecutors believed someone else fired two additional shots. One of those two bullets hit the roof of Finicum's truck as he was exiting his vehicle with both hands raised, after he had swerved his truck into a deep snowbank alongside the southbound edge of the roadblock. A second shot missed. Both those interim shots, taken before the fatal volley, were attributed by prosecutors to Astarita, but he had denied firing at all. Extensive forensic evidence and analysis was presented in expert testimony. Deschutes County, Oregon sheriff's Detective Ron Brown, who was the lead case agent in the Finicum shooting investigation, said he contacted Ryan Bundy, by email, phone and in person, attempting to convince him to have the "metal fragment or whatever it may be" removed from his shoulder, as a bullet fragment could possibly have been, "... traced back (to) help determine where it came from." However, Bundy either refused to have the fragment extracted, or alternatively, made "completely unreasonable demands," including desiring certain individuals to be criminally charged in the case.


text: The name of one of the officers who fired on Finicum was inadvertently revealed during the trial and circulated via social media by occupier supporters. The public release of that officer's name was objected to by Finicum's widow. On August 10, 2018, a federal jury which had deliberated for six hours, returned not guilty verdicts on all charges against Astarita.


text: According to an initial analysis by "The Oregonian", the occupation "cost taxpayers at least $3.3 million to cover the massive police response, a week of shuttered schools and a long list of supplies ranging from food to flashlight batteries." Most of the cost was for around-the-clock police work: the Oregon State Police spent million on wages, overtime, lodging, and fuel; while an additional was paid for help from other police and government agencies from outside Harney County. The municipalities of Burns and Hines, Oregon, along with Harney County, its schools, spent . The million figure also includes wages paid to employees who could not work because of the occupation, such as for about 120 BLM employees whose offices were closed. The figure of the costs does not include additional costs, such as lost time in the field, delayed or canceled BLM projects, or added demand for food and services at local nonprofits, such as the Harney County Senior Center. A subsequent estimate stated the cost as at least million, including million spent relocating employees who had been threatened by the militants, million on federal law enforcement, million to replace damaged or stolen property and over million spent by Oregon government agencies.


text: In September 2016, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said the headquarters area would remain closed while they installed security upgrades, which they anticipated could take until spring 2017. Roads and wetlands remained open to the public for birding. By May 8, 2017, the entire Visitor Center, including Center Patrol Road, had been reopened to visitors.


text: Throughout the occupation, statements were issued by anti-government activists and sympathetic residents, who criticized the militants' tactics. Other statements of condemnation were issued by legal scholars; and federal, state, local, and tribal governments. In the first days, the takeover sparked a debate in the United States on the meaning of the word "terrorist" and on how the news media and law enforcement treat situations involving people of different ethnicities or religions.


text: Oregon government officeholders, such as Governor Kate Brown and Congressmen Peter DeFazio, Earl Blumenauer, and other top officials in Oregon who had hoped for a more rapid and rigorous federal response, urged criminal proceedings for the militants and expressed praise that the occupation ended without further bloodshed.


text: Congressman Greg Walden, whose district office is in Bend and incorporates the refuge, said, "We can all be grateful that today has ended peacefully, and that this situation is finally over. Now, life in Harney County can begin to return to normal and the community can begin the long process of healing." Walden complained about allegedly poor federal forest and land management policies during the occupation, and said he would like to see changes to those policies: "We need to foster a more cooperative spirit between the federal agencies and the people who call areas like Harney County home." On June 27, 2018, Walden pleaded for a pardon for the Hammonds on the floor of the House of Representatives, and in a statement issued July 1, Walden quoted Judge Michael Robert Hogan's opinion that sentencing the Hammonds even to the minimum mandatory sentence would "shock the conscious" and revealed that then-President Donald Trump was considering a pardon for the arsonists.


text: Harney County held a primary election in May 2016 at which voters turned out in large numbers. All of the winning candidates had opposed the occupation.


text: A civil rights case filed by passengers of Finicums truck was dismissed. On January 31, 2018, passengers in Finicum's truck, Ryan Bundy, Shawna Cox and Victoria Sharp along with Ryan Payne filed their own civil rights lawsuit in United States district court in Portland, Oregon against Astarita, Bretzing, and other officials. The plaintiffs allege they were the victims of an "armed ambush, excessive-force seizure, conspiracy, battery and assault and seeks a common law jury to award damages of up to $1 million per count. On July 19, 2018, U.S. Magistrate Judge Patricia Sullivan granted a motion to dismiss Ryan Bundy and Shawna Cox as plaintiffs. On September 6, 2019, Chief United States District Judge Michael W. Mosman dismissed all counts in the lawsuit.


text: As of July 24, 2020, a wrongful death case brought by LaVoy Finicum's family remains pending. The case was filed on January 26, 2018, in United States district court in Pendleton, Oregon. Named as defendants were the United States, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Oregon State Police, the Bureau of Land Management, Oregon governor Kate Brown, Greg Bretzing, former FBI special agent in charge in Portland, indicted FBI agent W. Joseph Astarita, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, former U.S. Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, Harney County Sheriff Dave Ward, Harney County commissioner Steven Grasty, the Center for Biological Diversity and multiple unnamed officers. The lawsuit seeks more than $5 million in damages for Finicum's wife, Jeanette, and each of their 12 children and his estate. Kieran Suckling, executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity, called the suit a "bizarre, incoherent, yet nonetheless dangerous, attack on free speech." Disposition of the case and parties was reviewed by U.S. Magistrate Judge Patricia Sullivan, who on July 24, 2020 made recommendations to the district court regarding each of the defendants. The judge recommended that all defendants be dismissed except the Oregon State Police. The family will have an opportunity to respond to the dismissal recommendations before a district judge makes a final decision on which, if any, of the defendants will remain parties to the lawsuit. On August 5, 2021, U.S. District Judge Michael Mosman dismissed most of the civil claims brought in the suit.


title: Shale gas

text: Shale gas is an unconventional natural gas that is found trapped within shale formations. Since the 1990s a combination of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing has made large volumes of shale gas more economical to produce, and some analysts expect that shale gas will greatly expand worldwide energy supply.


title: Shale gas

text: Shale gas has become an increasingly important source of natural gas in the United States since the start of this century, and interest has spread to potential gas shales in the rest of the world. China is estimated to have the world's largest shale gas reserves.


title: Shale gas

text: A 2013 review by the United Kingdom Department of Energy and Climate Change noted that most studies of the subject have estimated that life-cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from shale gas are similar to those of conventional natural gas, and are much less than those from coal, usually about half the greenhouse gas emissions of coal; the noted exception was a 2011 study by Howarth and others of Cornell University, which concluded that shale GHG emissions were as high as those of coal. More recent studies have also concluded that life-cycle shale gas GHG emissions are much less than those of coal, among them, studies by Natural Resources Canada (2012), and a consortium formed by the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory with a number of universities (2012).


title: Shale gas

text: Some 2011 studies pointed to high rates of decline of some shale gas wells as an indication that shale gas production may ultimately be much lower than is currently projected. But shale-gas discoveries are also opening up substantial new resources of tight oil, also known as "shale oil".


title: Shale gas

text: Shale gas was first extracted as a resource in Fredonia, New York, in 1821, in shallow, low-pressure fractures. Horizontal drilling began in the 1930s, and in 1947 a well was first fracked in the U.S.


title: Shale gas

text: Federal price controls on natural gas led to shortages in the 1970s. Faced with declining natural gas production, the federal government invested in many supply alternatives, including the Eastern Gas Shales Project, which lasted from 1976 to 1992, and the annual FERC-approved research budget of the Gas Research Institute, where the federal government began extensive research funding in 1982, disseminating the results to industry. The federal government also provided tax credits and rules benefiting the industry in the 1980 Energy Act. The Department of Energy later partnered with private gas companies to complete the first successful air-drilled multi-fracture horizontal well in shale in 1986. The federal government further incentivized drilling in shale via the Section 29 tax credit for unconventional gas from 1980–2000. Microseismic imaging, a crucial input to both hydraulic fracturing in shale and offshore oil drilling, originated from coalbeds research at Sandia National Laboratories. The DOE program also applied two technologies that had been developed previously by industry, massive hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, to shale gas formations, which led to microseismic imaging.


title: Shale gas

text: Although the Eastern Gas Shales Project had increased gas production in the Appalachian and Michigan basins, shale gas was still widely seen as marginal to uneconomic without tax credits, and shale gas provided only 1.6% of US gas production in 2000, when the federal tax credits expired.


title: Shale gas

text: George P. Mitchell is regarded as the father of the shale gas industry, since he made it commercially viable in the Barnett Shale by getting costs down to $4 per . Mitchell Energy achieved the first economical shale fracture in 1998 using slick-water fracturing. Since then, natural gas from shale has been the fastest growing contributor to total primary energy in the United States, and has led many other countries to pursue shale deposits. According to the IEA, shale gas could increase technically recoverable natural gas resources by almost 50%.


title: Shale gas

text: In 2000 shale gas provided only 1% of U.S. natural gas production; by 2010 it was over 20% and the U.S. Energy Information Administration predicted that by 2035, 46% of the United States' natural gas supply will come from shale gas.


title: Shale gas

text: The Obama administration believed that increased shale gas development would help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.


title: Shale gas

text: Because shales ordinarily have insufficient permeability to allow significant fluid flow to a wellbore, most shales are not commercial sources of natural gas. Shale gas is one of a number of unconventional sources of natural gas; others include coalbed methane, tight sandstones, and methane hydrates. Shale gas areas are often known as "resource plays" (as opposed to "exploration plays"). The geological risk of not finding gas is low in resource plays, but the potential profits per successful well are usually also lower.


title: Shale gas

text: Shale has low matrix permeability, and so gas production in commercial quantities requires fractures to provide permeability. Shale gas has been produced for years from shales with natural fractures; the shale gas boom in recent years has been due to modern technology in hydraulic fracturing (fracking) to create extensive artificial fractures around well bores.


title: Shale gas

text: Horizontal drilling is often used with shale gas wells, with lateral lengths up to within the shale, to create maximum borehole surface area in contact with the shale.


title: Shale gas

text: Shales that host economic quantities of gas have a number of common properties. They are rich in organic material (0.5% to 25%), and are usually mature petroleum source rocks in the thermogenic gas window, where high heat and pressure have converted petroleum to natural gas. They are sufficiently brittle and rigid enough to maintain open fractures.


title: Shale gas

text: Some of the gas produced is held in natural fractures, some in pore spaces, and some is adsorbed onto the shale matrix. Further, the adsorption of gas is a process of physisorption, exothermic and spontaneous. The gas in the fractures is produced immediately; the gas adsorbed onto organic material is released as the formation pressure is drawn down by the well.


title: Shale gas

text: Although the shale gas potential of many nations is being studied, as of 2013, only the US, Canada, and China produce shale gas in commercial quantities, and only the US and Canada have significant shale gas production. While China has ambitious plans to dramatically increase its shale gas production, these efforts have been checked by inadequate access to technology, water, and land.


title: Shale gas

text: The table below is based on data collected by the Energy Information Administration agency of the United States Department of Energy. Numbers for the estimated amount of "technically recoverable" shale gas resources are provided alongside numbers for proven natural gas reserves.


title: Shale gas

text: The US EIA had made an earlier estimate of total recoverable shale gas in various countries in 2011, which for some countries differed significantly from the 2013 estimates. The total recoverable shale gas in the United States, which was estimated at 862 trillion cubic feet in 2011, was revised downward to 665 trillion cubic feet in 2013. Recoverable shale gas in Canada, which was estimated to be 388 TCF in 2011, was revised upward to 573 TCF in 2013.


title: Shale gas

text: For the United States, EIA estimated (2013) a total "wet natural gas" resource of 2,431 tcf, including both shale and conventional gas. Shale gas was estimated to be 27% of the total resource. "Wet natural gas" is methane plus natural gas liquids, and is more valuable than dry gas.


title: Shale gas

text: For the rest of the world (excluding US), EIA estimated (2013) a total wet natural gas resource of . Shale gas was estimated to be 32% of the total resource.


title: Shale gas

text: Europe has a shale gas resource estimate of compared with America's reserves , but its geology is more complicated and the oil and gas more expensive to extract, with a well likely to cost as much as three-and-a-half times more than one in the United States. Europe would be the fastest growing region, accounting for the highest CAGR of 59.5%, in terms of volume owing to availability of shale gas resource estimates in more than 14 European countries.


title: Shale gas

text: The extraction and use of shale gas can affect the environment through the leaking of extraction chemicals and waste into water supplies, the leaking of greenhouse gases during extraction, and the pollution caused by the improper processing of natural gas . A challenge to preventing pollution is that shale gas extractions varies widely in this regard, even between different wells in the same project; the processes that reduce pollution sufficiently in one extraction may not be enough in another.


title: Shale gas

text: In 2013 the European Parliament agreed that environmental impact assessments will not be mandatory for shale gas exploration activities and shale gas extraction activities will be subject to the same terms as other gas extraction projects.


title: Shale gas

text: Barack Obama's administration had sometimes promoted shale gas, in part because of its belief that it releases fewer greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions than other fossil fuels. In a 2010 letter to President Obama, Martin Apple of the Council of Scientific Society Presidents cautioned against a national policy of developing shale gas without a more certain scientific basis for the policy. This umbrella organization that represents 1.4 million scientists noted that shale gas development "may have greater GHG emissions and environmental costs than previously appreciated."


title: Shale gas

text: In late 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a report which concluded that shale gas emits larger amounts of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, than does conventional gas, but still far less than coal. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas, although it stays in the atmosphere for only one tenth as long a period as carbon dioxide. Recent evidence suggests that methane has a global warming potential (GWP) that is 105-fold greater than carbon dioxide when viewed over a 20-year period and 33-fold greater when viewed over a 100-year period, compared mass-to-mass.


title: Shale gas

text: Several studies which have estimated lifecycle methane leakage from shale gas development and production have found a wide range of leakage rates, from less than 1% of total production to nearly 8%.


title: Shale gas

text: A 2011 study published in Climatic Change Letters claimed that the production of electricity using shale gas may lead to as much or more life-cycle GWP than electricity generated with oil or coal. In the peer-reviewed paper, Cornell University professor Robert W. Howarth, a marine ecologist, and colleagues claimed that once methane leak and venting impacts are included, the life-cycle greenhouse gas footprint of shale gas is far worse than those of coal and fuel oil when viewed for the integrated 20-year period after emission. On the 100-year integrated time frame, this analysis claims shale gas is comparable to coal and worse than fuel oil. However, other studies have pointed out flaws with the paper and come to different conclusions. Among those are assessments by experts at the U.S. Department of Energy, peer-reviewed studies by Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Maryland, and the Natural Resources Defense Council, which claimed that the Howarth et al. paper's use of a 20-year time horizon for global warming potential of methane is "too short a period to be appropriate for policy analysis." In January 2012, Howarth's colleagues at Cornell University, Lawrence Cathles et al., responded with their own peer-reviewed assessment, noting that the Howarth paper was "seriously flawed" because it "significantly overestimate[s] the fugitive emissions associated with unconventional gas extraction, undervalue[s] the contribution of 'green technologies' to reducing those emissions to a level approaching that of conventional gas, base[s] their comparison between gas and coal on heat rather than electricity generation (almost the sole use of coal), and assume[s] a time interval over which to compute the relative climate impact of gas compared to coal that does not capture the contrast between the long residence time of CO and the short residence time of methane in the atmosphere." The author of that response, Lawrence Cathles, wrote that "shale gas has a GHG footprint that is half and perhaps a third that of coal," based upon "more reasonable leakage rates and bases of comparison."


title: Shale gas

text: In April 2013 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency lowered its estimate of how much methane leaks from wells, pipelines and other facilities during production and delivery of natural gas by 20 percent. The EPA report on greenhouse emissions credited tighter pollution controls instituted by the industry for cutting an average of 41.6 million metric tons of methane emissions annually from 1990 through 2010, a reduction of more than 850 million metric tons overall. The Associated Press noted that "The EPA revisions came even though natural gas production has grown by nearly 40 percent since 1990."


title: Shale gas

text: Using data from the Environmental Protection Agency's 2013 Greenhouse Gas Inventory yields a methane leakage rate of about 1.4%, down from 2.3% from the EPA's previous Inventory.


title: Shale gas

text: A five-year set of studies coordinated by the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and released 2018, found that methane leaks in the U.S. are 60% higher than estimates by the EPA. The study, which was conducted by researchers from 40 institutions, estimated a 2.3% methane leak rate, "enough to erode much of the climate advantage gas has over coal".


title: Shale gas

text: A 2014 study from Manchester University presented the "First full life cycle assessment of shale gas used for electricity generation." By full life cycle assessment, the authors explained that they mean the evaluation of nine environmental factors beyond the commonly performed evaluation of global warming potential. The authors concluded that, in line with most of the published studies for other regions, that shale gas in the United Kingdom would have a global warming potential "broadly similar" to that of conventional North Sea gas, although shale gas has the potential to be higher if fugitive methane emissions are not controlled, or if per-well ultimate recoveries in the UK are small. For the other parameters, the highlighted conclusions were that, for shale gas in the United Kingdom in comparison with coal, conventional and liquefied gas, nuclear, wind and solar (PV).