Actions

Two conservation groups are suing the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) for allowing natural gas development in the watershed prior to a moratorium instituted last year. The plaintiffs have asked the court to have the drilled wells removed, “and the sites cleaned up and restored to natural conditions.”

Talisman Energy Inc. temporarily shut down all hydraulic fracturing (fracking) operations in North America while it investigated a well control incident that occurred Jan. 17 at a Talisman natural gas well on state forest land in Tioga County, PA, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) said Tuesday. DEP is conducting a separate investigation of the incident.

In separate actions Thursday to provide utility bill discounts for victims of the San Bruno, CA, gas pipeline explosion and prepare for winter natural gas delivery operations in the event of a severe cold snap, the head of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) said regulators would make sure the pipeline is rerouted.

The majority of energy trading representatives surveyed believe that regulatory audit and enforcement actions against energy traders will increase in the future, but only a small percentage rank the industry’s readiness to comply with new financial regulatory reforms as “good” or “excellent” at this point, according to a study released last Tuesday.

The majority of energy trading representatives surveyed believe that regulatory audit and enforcement actions against energy traders will increase in the future, but only a small percentage rank the industry’s readiness to comply with new financial regulatory reforms as “good” or “excellent,” according to a study released Tuesday.

Swap derivative officials urged federal regulators last Wednesday not to jeopardize liquidity when taking actions to make the $600 billion-plus derivatives markets more transparent .

Companies involved in the Gulf of Mexico rig explosion were asked by the Civil Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) to inform U.S. officials of “any significant corporate actions related to the organization, structure and financial position…” going forward.

Federal and state authorities joined Tuesday to bring civil and criminal actions against a former trader for the Bank of Montreal (BMO), his supervisor and three executives at a brokerage firm of the bank for deceiving and defrauding the bank about the true value of its natural gas options book.

Federal and state authorities joined Tuesday to bring civil and criminal actions against a former trader for the Bank of Montreal (BMO), his supervisor and three executives at a brokerage firm of the bank for deceiving and defrauding the bank about the true value of its natural gas options book.