Rich Nemec

Given the array of major accidents on both sides of the U.S.-Canadian border during the past 12 months, the booming domestic oil/natural gas industry is keeping a close eye on the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) for possible revised rules for shipping crude oil by rail. Swift action last month by Canadian regulators has heightened expectations.

Reversing actions it took just weeks earlier, the city council in Carson, CA, a Los Angeles suburb in the oil-producing area surrounding the Long Beach-LA Harbor, voted Thursday to end a ban on oil and natural gas drilling. Council members decided not to extend the 45-day drilling ban measure, which expires later this month.

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) executives said Thursday there is no early resolution in sight for the regulatory and criminal legal proceedings facing the utility for the 2010 explosion of one of its natural gas pipelines, which killed eight and devastated a San Bruno, CA, neighborhood (see Daily GPI, Sept. 27, 2010).

North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple has rejected a request by state house minority Democrats for a special legislative session to address possible funding problems tied to keeping up with the Williston Basin oil boom. Dalrymple expressed confidence that the state could provide the financial assistance needed to help communities affected until lawmakers reconvene in January.

Oil production on North Dakota’s Fort Berthold Indian Reservation has become a significant part of the nation’s second largest oil-producing state, and tribal leaders are touting the reservation’s output as among the top 10 oil producing states in the nation.

Heading into a major alternative clean fuel transportation convention early in May in Southern California, the push for building out natural gas vehicle (NGV) fueling infrastructure is being continued by two of the nation’s leading NGV fueling providers. Along the way, use of compressed natural gas (CNG) keeps growing.

Tulsa-based Oneok Partners LP said on Monday it has completed three natural gas gathering/processing and natural gas liquids (NGL) projects totaling nearly $1 billion. The projects are part of the company’s previously announced $6 to $6.4 billion capital program through 2016, and the partnership has $2-3 billion in unannounced projects on the drawing board.

Industry representatives in North Dakota on Tuesday told the state’s Industrial Commission that flaring can be reduced without production restrictions or a “one-size-fits-all” regulatory scheme. They urged state officials to adopt an industry task force’s recommended approach submitted earlier this year (see Shale Daily, Jan. 30).

Despite industry opposition, a proposal (HB 1297) to have the state study the possible health impacts from oil/natural gas development is going to the Colorado state Senate for consideration after passing in the House of Representatives by a 38-26 vote Thursday. It will be assigned to a committee for initial review in the Senate.