Considering

The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) is considering three new setback zones for drilling based on the distance from a wellhead or production facility to the nearest occupied building.

The Pennsylvania General Assembly has passed a bill that authorizes the state Department of General Services (DGS) to lease state-owned land for oil and natural gas drilling, as well as mining for coal, limestone and collecting coalbed methane.

Growth of crude oil production from the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas has Corpus Christi, TX-based Flint Hills Resources considering a $250 million expansion of its West Refinery.

Facing an ongoing challenge of flaring up to almost a third of its associated natural gas supplies in the oil-rich Bakken Shale, North Dakota is considering a proposal to use mobile equipment to turn some of the flared supplies into much-needed fertilizer for the state’s agricultural industry. Another proposal calls for a $1 billion farmer-owned fertilizer plant using natural gas currently being flared.

Facing an ongoing challenge of flaring up to almost a third of its associated natural gas supplies in the oil-rich Bakken Shale, North Dakota is considering a proposal to use mobile equipment to turn some of the flared supplies into much-needed fertilizer for the state’s agricultural industry. Another proposal calls for a $1 billion farmer-owned fertilizer plant using natural gas currently being flared.

In an attempt to leverage the state’s two biggest industries, North Dakota is considering construction of a world-scale, $1.5 billion nitrogen fertilizer plant. The plant could make use of some of the state’s natural gas now being flared in the face of low prices to fuel the facility, while the North Dakota Corn Growers Association (CGA) would use the plant to make anhydrous ammonia.

A fourth company is considering plans to build an ethane cracker in West Virginia, according to state Commerce Secretary Keith Burdette.

A fourth company is considering plans to build an ethane cracker in West Virginia, according to state Commerce Secretary Keith Burdette.

Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) regulators are considering plans to sell water to operators to use for horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing (fracking), as well as possibly lease land in portions of the Marcellus and Utica shales.