Congressional

Congressional Republicans are facing mounting pressure from the White House to rescind oil and natural gas tax breaks in a deal aimed at reducing the federal deficit and raising the debt ceiling. Producers say they plan to fight to retain the tax breaks, but they concede that it won’t be easy if the repeal of industry tax deductions is part of a “grand bargain” to cut the deficit.

Congressional Republicans are facing mounting pressure from the White House to rescind oil and natural gas tax breaks in a deal aimed at reducing the federal deficit. Producers say they plan to fight to retain the tax breaks, but they concede that it won’t be easy if the repeal of industry tax deductions is part of a “grand bargain” to cut the deficit.

With congressional budget talks at an apparent standstill and a government shutdown looming at press time Friday, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and other federal agencies were preparing to operate in an essential operations-only scenario, while the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said it would conduct business as usual — at least temporarily.

With congressional budget talks at an apparent standstill and a government shutdown looming, FERC and other federal agencies are preparing to operate in an essential operations-only scenario.

A congressional push to increase regulations on hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking) would have little impact on Pennsylvania, according to a regional director of the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

The Louisiana congressional delegation led by Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) has called on President Obama to put an end to the de facto moratorium in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico.

The Louisiana congressional delegation led by Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) has called on President Obama to put an end to the de facto moratorium in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico.

Congressional lawmakers were far from united in their reaction to the findings and recommendations in the final report of the presidential commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon rig disaster, which was released Tuesday.

The 32-member Congressional Natural Gas Caucus last Wednesday called on Congress to back off from imposing any new hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking) regulations on producers until the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) completes its study on the risks of hydrofracking to public health and water quality.