Bureau

A special state appeal panel has invalidated the selection by Maine’s Bureau of General Services (BGS) of a proposal by Maine Natural Gas (MNG) to build an 80-mile-long natural gas pipeline to the state capital, Augusta, and the surrounding Kennebec Valley.

In what it said would be its final update of evacuation and shut-in production statistics related to Hurricane Isaac, the Bureau of Safety Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) said Tuesday that two production platforms and a single rig remained evacuated in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). Based on data from offshore operator reports submitted as of 11:30 a.m. CDT Tuesday, BSEE estimated 4.73% (213 MMcf/d) of natural gas production and 4.16% (57,439 b/d) of oil output in the GOM was shut in. All of those statistics peaked in the immediate aftermath of Isaac, when BSEE reported 509 production platforms and 50 rigs evacuated, and an estimated 75.52% (3.264 Bcf/d) of gas production and 94.99% (1.311 million b/d) of oil production was shut in (see Daily GPI, Aug. 31).

The San Francisco-based Center for Biological Diversity has issued a 60-day notice of intent to file a lawsuit against the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for allegedly failing to keep wildlife protected from hydraulic fracturing (fracking) of oil and gas wells on federal lands it manages in the Monterey Shale in central California.

Based on data from offshore operator reports submitted as of 11:30 a.m. CDT Monday, the Bureau of Safety Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) estimated that about 6.11% (274.85 MMcf/d) of current natural gas production, and 7.98% (110,144 b/d) of oil output in the GOM was shut in.

The Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has issued an amendment to the draft White River Resource Management Plan for oil and natural gas development in northwestern Colorado’s Piceance Basin over the next 20 years.

Rep. Bill Flores (R-TX) has introduced a bill that would further delay action on the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) proposed rule governing hydraulic fracturing (fracking) activities on public and Indian lands until Interior Secretary Ken Salazar submits a report examining the effects of the rule.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) said Monday a team of scientists has embarked on a three-week expedition to study marine life in the Hanna Shoal area of the Chukchi Sea, a prerequisite to opening areas in offshore Alaska to oil and natural gas leasing.

The federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced the results of Tuesday and Wednesday lease sales in the Dakotas and New Mexico. They brought in nearly $29 million combined: $3.3 million from the Dakotas and $25.6 million from New Mexico.

The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) proposed rule to require companies to publicly disclose chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing (fracking) operations on federal and Indian lands would duplicate regulations already in place in states where BLM lands are located, according to several comments filed with the agency over the past six weeks.