1992

Overall oil production in Texas declined somewhat in January from December, according to preliminary January production figures from the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC). But the Eagle Ford Shale kept on pumping, with leading Eagle Ford counties charting substantial oil production increases from year-ago levels.

Portions of the Susquehanna River Valley aquifer in an area of New York that overlies the Marcellus and Utica shales are among the most favorable for potential large-scale groundwater supply, according to a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) study.

As the state of New York missed Wednesday’s deadline to create regulations for high-volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF), supporters and opponents of the practice took aim at Gov. Andrew Cuomo, anti-fracking lawmakers sought a one-year moratorium, and a landowners group said it would sue the state over the delay.

An energy official in New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration said natural gas is being viewed as a potential “bridge fuel” to the future, when technological advances will presumably open the door for renewables.

Two municipalities in upstate New York have decided to remain neutral on the issue of high-volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF) and will wait until the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) issues its report on the practice.

Legislators and regulators in New York are hinting that should high-volume hydraulic fracturing (fracking) be permitted in the Empire State, localities that are the most receptive to the practice may be the first — and, possibly, the only — areas to allow it.

New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Joseph Martens said there currently is no timeline for a decision on whether hydraulic fracturing (fracking) will be permitted in the Empire State’s portions of the Marcellus and Utica shales, but he predicted a long summer of work ahead.

Elected officials in Delaware County, NY, are demanding that the state and New York City pay $81.3 billion in reparations over 60 years for lost property rights, on the grounds that a proposal to ban hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in the city’s extended watershed would exclude 80% of the county’s land from Marcellus Shale drilling.

New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Joe Martens said the agency plans to maintain current staff levels during the upcoming fiscal year because the budget doesn’t include funds to monitor new unconventional wells.