- Utah state leaders and the Utah Petroleum Association committed Monday to increasing in-state refined petroleum production by 23,500 barrels per day over the next five years, boosting capacity 13%.
- Utah signed its end of an agreement with Idaho to collaboratively manage the Bear River System, investing in cloud seeding, water operations and floodplain management to secure future water resources.
- Utah aims to capitalize on regional energy supply declines, like California’s phaseout of oil extraction, to stabilize local fuel prices and maintain energy reliability.
In a joint agreement with the Utah Petroleum Association, Utah’s state leadership promised to support increased energy production on Monday afternoon.
Gov. Spencer Cox, Senate President J. Stuart Adams, House Speaker Mike Schultz and UPA President Rikki Hrenko-Browning signed a commitment to increase the production of refined petroleum products Monday at the Capitol.
The agreement promised to increase the state’s production capacity by 23,500 additional barrels a day in the next five years — about a 13% increase.
“One hundred years ago, (Utah) leaders did not think small,” Cox said. “The realities of today demand the same big thinking.”
The state’s petroleum trade association promised to expand in-state crude oil production, invest in fuel storage development, progress permitting reform and strengthen Utah’s reliable energy production.
Simultaneously, Utah promised to encourage capital investment and modernization and foster a stable and competitive regulatory environment.
Cox signs tentative Bear River collaboration with Idaho
Cox also signed a memorandum, which would formalize Idaho and Utah’s intent to collaborate on the future of the Bear River System. Idaho Governor Brad Little has not yet decided if he will sign.
The Bear River System is a 500-mile watershed that begins in Utah’s Uinta Mountains, flows through Wyoming and Idaho, then ends in the Great Salt Lake.
In the tentative agreement, both states would promise to invest in cloud seeding in the Bear River Watershed, improve Bear Lake and Bear River operations, maintain existing storage water delivery commitments from Bear Lake, and figure out how to manage the flood plain below Bear Lake.
Joel Ferry, the executive director of Utah’s Department of Natural Resources, said the agreement “is designed to protect water security for tomorrow.”
“We’re doubling down on our joint investment in things like cloud seeding. This is all about that abundance mindset — using technology to actually increase the amount of water available to agriculture, to municipal and industrial users,” Ferry said.
In 2026, Utah uses drones and ground-based seeders to try and increase the amount of rain and snow the state receives. In both methods, the machines disperse silver iodide or salt into clouds to give water droplets more to cling to, the Deseret News previously reported.
Ferry thanked Cox, Schultz and Adams for being supportive of creative water solutions.
Neighbor states decreasing energy production hurts Utah
While Utah has been growing and investing hundreds of millions into its refining sector, UPA President Hrenko-Browning said the state’s neighbors “are doing the opposite and seeing their refining sectors decline.”
For instance, California is aiming to phase out all oil extraction in the state by 2045.
Similar out-of-state regulations can cause a “tightening of supplies across this market,” Hrenko-Browning said. “Free markets are very powerful forces, but they don’t always work as quickly as we would like them to. So we are eager to turn those disruptions into a benefit for the citizens of Utah and our neighbors who depend upon us.”
Schultz, R-Hooper, echoed the same sentiment.
California’s intense regulatory environment in its energy sector has shown that “Utah doesn’t operate in a vacuum,” he said.
“Refineries are shutting down, and it’s tightening supply across the entire region. And when supply tightens, prices go up. Even here in Utah, we’re not going to allow the poor planning of other states to dictate what families pay at the pump here in Utah.”