Charge

The Pennsylvania Senate on Tuesday unanimously confirmed Bruce Beemer to serve as attorney general (AG). Gov. Tom Wolf had nominated Beemer, who previously served as inspector general, to fill the vacancy left by Kathleen Kane (see Shale Daily,Aug. 19). Kane resigned earlier this month after being convicted of felony perjury charges for leaking grand jury testimony to a Philadelphia newspaper. Kane had sparred at times with the oil and gas industry, filing criminal charges againstXTO Energy Inc. for a spill at a drilling site and a wide-ranging lawsuit against Chesapeake Energy Corp. for allegedly deducting post-production costs from royalty checks (see Shale Daily,Aug. 5;Dec. 9, 2015). Beemer would serve as AG until January. Democrat Josh Shapiro and Republican state Sen. John Rafferty are facing off for the seat in the November election. The Senate confirmed Beemer during a special one day session before the chamber’s return from summer recess on Sept. 26.

The ultimate costs from the Macondo well blowout in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico six years ago, already considered the costliest environmental disaster in history, have reached $61.6 billion, BP plc said Thursday.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged four companies and eight individuals, including Breitling Energy Corp. CEO Chris Faulkner, with defrauding investors in an $80 million oil and gas scheme.

FERC on Thursday granted a Southwest Gas Corp. request for a rehearing of a Paiute Pipeline Co. proposal to charge a zero fuel retention charge and a standalone retention charge for actual lost and unaccounted for natural gas for transportation service that only uses Paiute’s Adobe Lateral in Nevada.

Houston-based Plains All American Pipeline LP and an employee were indicted by a California grand jury Monday on 46 total criminal counts for allegedly violating state laws in connection with an oil pipeline leak last year near Santa Barbara.

Houston-based Plains All American Pipeline LP and an employee were indicted by a California grand jury Monday on 46 total criminal counts for allegedly violating state laws in connection with an oil pipeline leak last year near Santa Barbara.

The Michigan attorney general’s (AG) office has begun mailing claim forms to about 700 residents in Northern Michigan who may have been affected by a racketeering and bid-rigging scheme involving Chesapeake Energy Corp. in 2010 that caused lease prices on their land to plummet. In April, Chesapeake agreed to create the fund to settle multiple antitrust, fraud and racketeering charges brought by AG Bill Schutte (see Daily GPI,April 24;June 25, 2014;June 5, 2014). Landowners had claimed they were notified by Chesapeake land representatives in 2010 concerning leasing their land, but nearly all of the leases were later canceled. Chesapeake also was charged with colluding with Encana Corp. during a 2010 state oil and gas leasing auction to suppress prices (see Daily GPI, March 19, 2014;June 26, 2012). Encana settled in 2014 and agreed to pay $5 million. Chesapeake pleaded no contest to one misdemeanor charge each for attempted antitrust violation and false pretenses. If Chesapeake abides by the settlement terms, the misdemeanor charges would be dismissed in March and all other criminal charges would be dismissed by the state. The claims period ends Feb. 25. Questions should be directed to the AG’s Division of Corporate Oversight at (517) 373-1160.

The U.S. government may not pursue charges against two former BP plc supervisors under a 177-year-old federal statute covering seaman’s manslaughter for their roles in the Macondo well blowout in 2010, which resulted in the deaths of 11 men, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday. However, they still face 11 counts of involuntary manslaughter.

A federal grand jury for the Northern District of California on Tuesday issued a superseding indictment charging Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) with obstructing a safety investigation and violating the 1968 Pipeline Safety Act (PSA) related to the 2010 rupture of a natural gas transmission pipeline that killed eight people in San Bruno, CA.