Assembly

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), in an 18-page report released Wednesday, said human error likely led to a deadly explosion and fire that raged for days at a Chevron Appalachia LLC site in February (see Shale Daily, Feb. 11).

Pennsylvania State Universityresearchers who have been charged with monitoring 21 seismograph stations across the state are also reportedly studying the geological structure of the South Newark Basin. The $269,000 study is part of a federal program to research earthquakes nationwide, and was contracted to the university by theDepartment of Conservation and Natural Resources(DCNR) this summer, according to Philadelphia’sIntelligencernewspaper, which gathered the information through a series of right-to-know requests. In 2012 theU.S. Geological Survey(USGS) said the South Newark was one of three Mesozoic shale basins along the East Coast with the “most resource potential” for oil and gas producers (seeShale Daily,June 21, 2012). There is a 95% chance that at least 363 Bcf of undiscovered natural gas is locked in the formation, along with 1 million bbl of undiscovered natural gas liquids, USGS said. Following the USGS report, the General Assembly days later adopted a drilling moratorium for the South Newark Basin, which is located across upscale, ex-urban Philadelphia counties (seeShale Daily,July 3, 2012). The legislation forbid the state’sDepartment of Environmental Protectionfrom issuing well permits in the basin until DCNR completed a study of “the practical resource recovery implications” of the USGS report and the fiscal impact of oil and gas operations in the basin. Oil and gas operations in the South Newark Basin are already restricted by theDelaware River Basin Commission’s de facto moratorium on exploration and development (see Shale Daily,June 16, 2010).

A state lawmaker in Pennsylvania has introduced a bill that would require operators to submit monthly production reports, giving landowners more information to ensure that they are receiving accurate royalty payments.

With only one day to go before the Colorado General Assembly is scheduled to adjourn, the energy industry and Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, have quashed nearly all proposed legislation to revise state oil and gas regulations.

With only one day to go before the Colorado General Assembly is scheduled to adjourn, the energy industry and Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, have quashed nearly all proposed legislation to revise state oil and gas regulations.

Two key legislators in the Pennsylvania General Assembly introduced a pair of bills on Wednesday designed to make natural gas service available to more consumers in the state.

In a stunning setback for shale development in the Empire State, the New York State Assembly voted 95-40 on Wednesday to enact a two-year moratorium on high-volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF). The bill, A5424, now moves to the state Senate.

Republican leaders in the Ohio General Assembly indicated that they will give some consideration to Gov. John Kasich’s proposal to impose new severance taxes on hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and natural gas liquids (NGL) in 2013, after declining to do so in 2012.

A legislator in the Pennsylvania General Assembly on Monday said the state Public Utility Commission’s (PUC) decision to withhold nearly $1 million in impact fee revenue from four townships amounted to extortion.