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The leading California state lawmakers bird-dogging proposals to stiffen the state’s oversight of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) brought a new issue to the table — acidization to unlock Monterey Shale oil deposits — during a state Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee hearing last month in Sacramento .

In an announcement that ends a two-year tug of war with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over jurisdiction, Wyoming energy and environmental regulators will lead the investigation, working with the EPA, to continue the study of the potential impact of natural gas production activities in the Pavillion, WY, area on drinking water.

Like other cities and its own county in Colorado, the Boulder City Council is set to consider two actions related to the use of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) on open space within the city limits.

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, may consider legislation to promote natural gas after his panel has completed its trio of gas forums this month, a spokesman for the committee told NGI.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee plans to hold a hearing at 10 a.m. on April 9 to consider the nomination of Ernest Moniz to be secretary of the Department of Energy (DOE). Moniz would succeed current Energy Secretary Steven Chu (see Daily GPI, March 5). Moniz currently serves as science adviser in the administration and director of the MIT Energy Initiative. He is a familiar face to lawmakers on Capitol Hill, where he has testified on a variety of energy issues. Moniz has a reputation of being supportive of natural gas development, calling it a “bridge fuel” even as he has called for more funding for renewable energy. In 2010 he co-authored an MIT study that concluded that gas would be a leader in reducing U.S. greenhouse gas emissions over the next several decades, mostly by replacing older, inefficient coal plants with combined-cycle gas generation.

Following a judge’s decision in favor of TPG-Axon Capital, SandRidge Energy Inc. last week cleared the way for shareholders to consider a slate of candidates proposed by the hedge fund to replace SandRidge’s entire board of directors.

Following a judge’s decision in favor of TPG-Axon Capital, SandRidge Energy Inc. on Tuesday cleared the way for shareholders to consider a slate of candidates proposed by the hedge fund to replace SandRidge’s entire board of directors.

Crude oil shipments on all U.S. railroads could hit 700,000 b/d by the end of this year, up 40% from current levels, and top 1 million b/d in 18 months, said BNSF Railway Co. CEO Matthew Rose.

Tennessee Gas Pipeline has filed a complaint in federal court in Scranton, PA, to enjoin the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board (EHB) from holding a hearing Monday (Jan. 14) to consider environmentalists’ petitions to block the pipeline’s Northeast Upgrade Project.