Banned

After studying hundreds of thousands of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) operations, the practice was determined to have caused noticeable tremors at the surface in only three cases and was “not a significant” source of earthquakes, according to researchers at UK’s Durham University.

A Siena College Research Institute poll released Tuesday shows New Yorkers are still almost evenly split on the issue of hydraulic fracturing (fracking), but it contains some surprising numbers concerning where the practice is generating support and opposition.

An appellate court in Pennsylvania has ruled that compressor stations fit the legal definition of “gas production” and therefore can’t be banned by localities where other aspects of natural gas production are already permitted.

The mayor of Albany, NY, has vetoed an ordinance that would have banned hydraulic fracturing (fracking) within the city limits on the grounds that the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has not finalized its actions over the practice.

Pennsylvania most likely won’t see a tax or fee on shale development this summer.

The oil and natural gas industry clinched a crucial victory last Tuesday when the Senate by a wide margin passed legislation that paves the way for future leasing in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. However, the legislative battle is far from over. The Senate and House are now tasked with the responsibility of reconciling two vastly different offshore leasing bills — a feat some believe will test the mettle of even the best Capitol Hill negotiators.

Concerned by a growing interest to open banned waters to drilling activity, more than 100 House lawmakers have called on Appropriations Committee members to keep intact the long-standing prohibition against oil and natural gas exploration and production in much of the federal Outer Continental Shelf (OCS).

Concerned by a growing interest to open banned waters to drilling activity, more than 100 House lawmakers have called on Appropriations Committee members to keep intact the long-standing prohibition against oil and natural gas exploration and production in much of the federal Outer Continental Shelf (OCS).

Senators have sent opposing letters to Interior Secretary Gale Norton on the issue of oil and natural gas leasing in off-limit regions of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS).