Community

U.S. exploration and production (E&P) operators have begun to disclose some of the risks involved with their development efforts, but overall, they continue to do a poor job of communicating how they manage toxic chemicals, water, waste, air emissions and community impacts, according to shareholder advocates.

George P. Mitchell, whose company successfully paired horizontal drilling with hydraulic fracturing (fracking), which launched the rebirth of onshore natural gas and oil drilling in North America, was honored Monday by Texas Gov. Rick Perry and state legislators.

Rapid City, SD-based Black Hills Corp. will sell its 40 MW natural gas-fired “CT II” generation unit at its mostly coal-fired Gillette Energy Complex in Wyoming to the City of Gillette for $22 million.

In what is believed to be a first in the industry, elected officials in Mora County, NM, have enacted a total ban on oil and gas drilling.

Following a second vote by the City of Dallas Plan Commission to deny Trinity East Energy LLC permission for three drill sites within the city limits, Trinity East Energy LLC said it will seek to persuade a super-majority of the 15-member Dallas City Council to grant the permits.

Canada’s First Nations on Wednesday protested across the country — blocking railways, border crossings, and in some places hindered access to oil and natural gas facilities — to protest the federal government’s passage last month of an omnibus budget bill that altered the rules for leasing tribal lands.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said domestic water wells in two Arkansas counties showed no evidence of contamination from oil and natural gas drilling in the Fayetteville Shale, but it cautioned that additional testing would be necessary to provide an adequate comparative analysis.

BP plc plans to begin drilling the first of 10 appraisal wells in Trumbull County, OH, next April, but developing eastern Ohio’s portion of the Utica Shale may be hampered by a lack of pipeline infrastructure, officials said this week.

The North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) has developed a Internet-based mapping tool to help community officials plan for road maintenance, dust control and other traffic-related problems that accompany expanded oil and natural gas development in the Bakken Shale and adjacent formations. The enhanced mapping includes information and locations for “permit status before spud” to provide the pre-drilling status for newly permitted well sites. It provides a new layer to the DMR oil/gas division’s GIS mapping system, enabling planners to identify where truck traffic could be most concentrated for a given period. “Users will be able to identify the operator of the rig and or well, as well as possible time frames when permits could be drilled,” said Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem. The GIS map server is available at the DMR website as part of the North Dakota Industrial Commission (www.dmr.nd.gov/oilgas).