Communities

Residents of Pittsburgh and the 32-county area surrounding it believe drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale is both an economic opportunity for the region and a potential environmental and public health threat, according to the results of a recent survey conducted by PittsburghToday and the staff of the University of Pittsburgh’s University Center for Social and Urban Research.

A closed-door meeting held in Utah’s Uintah County earlier this year by officials from three states and industry representatives violated the state’s open meeting law because during the meeting officials mapped out strategies to challenge a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) ruling to restrict oil shale development, according to a lawsuit filed this week.

Following through with market commitments to break through the Midcontinent crude bottleneck, Enbridge Inc. and Enterprise Products Partners LP said late Monday they will double the capacity of the Seaway Pipeline to 850,000 b/d by mid-2014 after lining up capacity commitments from shippers.

A local ordinance that bans oil and gas operations in the Town of Middlefield, NY, has been upheld by the Otsego County Supreme Court, the second time in a week that a New York state judge has ruled in favor of such a law.

As Pennsylvania prepares to put in place a unique mega-law (HB 1950) to regulate and tax its blockbuster baby, the Marcellus Shale, nobody thinks it’s perfect, but most are prepared to live with it and work to improve it.

A utility proposal to bring natural gas service for the first time to a number of heating oil-dominated central Maine communities is turning into a bit of a football as a state legislative proposal bids to help facilitate financing for gas supply projects. Supporters contend that it will help boost the state’s economy and critics are leery of the state picking favorites among energy sources.

Two U.S. shareholder groups that together have more than $130 billion in investor assets on Tuesday called for more transparency by natural gas operators that use hydraulic fracturing (fracking).

An official with the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) said a recent media report that the commission was poised to rake in millions of dollars from a five-year deal to sell lake water for use in hydraulic fracturing (fracking) was exaggerated.

After inaugurating natural gas production in New Brunswick, a persistent pioneer of drilling on Canada’s Atlantic seaboard says early signs of an untapped fossil fuels mother lode have been found in eastern Quebec.