Committee

A bill that would shield Pennsylvania landowners from post-production costs by requiring a minimum royalty payment of 12.5%, or one-eighth of the value of oil and gas produced, has again passed the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee.

Members of a seismicity technical advisory committee to the Bureau of Economic Geology at The University of Texas at Austin (UT) have been appointed by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.

The House Subcommittee on Energy and Power will vote Thursday on a bill that calls for lifting a ban on most domestically-produced crude oil exports, the prospect of which could be a boon to oil-heavy plays such as the Bakken and Eagle Ford shales.

A compromise bill intended to block municipal anti-drilling/hydraulic fracturing (fracking) ordinances was passed by a Texas House committee Monday and is on its way to the full House. It includes some concessions to the legislation’s critics, namely Texas cities and their residents upset by drilling activities.

A Texas House committee hearing of two bills intended to rein in municipalities’ regulation of drilling activities drew a standing-room-only crowd Monday afternoon and impassioned argument from both sides.

In their first meeting of Pennsylvania’s 2015-2016 legislative session, members of the state Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee voted unanimously to advance a pair of bills that would give landowners more transparency and protection when making inquiries about their lease agreements.

In an unusual ad hoc session outside its normal chambers, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Thursday morning voted to advance the nomination of Colette D. Honorable to become a commissioner at FERC.

Consideration of Colette D. Honorable’s nomination to be a commissioner at FERC is reportedly on hold following the unexpected death of her husband last weekend, Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Mary Landrieu told reporters Wednesday.

Acting FERC Chairman Cheryl LaFleur seems likely to have a smooth path to a second term as a commissioner, but it may be a rockier road for Norman Bay, who was President Obama nomination for the Chairman’s seat, based on a hearing of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in Washington, DC, Tuesday.