Conservation

The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) reconvened Thursday in Denver, but was unable to resolve lingering issues and delayed until Feb. 11 finalizing new setback requirements for oil and natural gas wells.

The Independent Oil & Gas Association of New York (IOGA) has submitted 119 pages of comments to the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), just before the deadline to comment on the proposed rules governing high-volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF).

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has proposed slashing the Department of Environmental Conservation’s (DEC) budget by more than one-sixth for the upcoming fiscal year, dashing hopes that the agency could hire additional oil and natural gas drilling inspectors.

The New Mexico Oil Conservation Commission (OCC) resumed hearings Thursday on rules for handling oil and natural gas drilling waste, but it alienated environmental groups by refusing to take additional testimony in the year-old case.

The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) ended three days of hearings in Denver Wednesday as it drew closer to finalizing new setback requirements for oil and natural gas wells, but it still fell short of finishing the unpopular and complex task.

The New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) says it has received more than 800 responses so far on proposed rules governing high-volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF), as the final 11 days of a 30-day public comment period tick away.

The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) has drafted proposed rules for sampling and monitoring groundwater before and after new wells are drilled, as well as changes to setbacks, which formalizes some procedures that the industry had begun voluntarily last year (see Shale Daily, Aug. 4, 2011).

Supporters of oil and natural gas exploration in New York are in disagreement with the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) over just how much of the state would be open to high-volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF), while an environmental group has called the agency’s latest actions “meaningless.”

The New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has released 90 pages of documents detailing proposed regulations governing high-volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF), and it has set the dates for a 30-day public comment period on the proposed rules. The action appeared to signal a long-awaited break in the state’s drilling moratorium.