Democratic

The bill (H.R. 4606), which cleared the House by 286-10, was sponsored by Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-MT), whose term expires at the end of the year, and was supported by Montana Democratic Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester. It allows maintenance work on a 3 1/2-mile section of pipeline, which was built in the 1950s, that runs through Glacier National Park lands. It is part of an 118-mile pipeline system that serves about 25,000 people and runs parallel to U.S. Highway 2 along Glacier’s southern boundary.

A total of $157.7 million was bid last Wednesday in Western Gulf of Mexico (GOM) Lease Sale 229 in New Orleans, the first sale under the Obama administration’s new Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) leasing plan for 2012-2017. BP plc, which was temporarily suspended last week from new government contracts, submitted no bids (see related story).

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett said Friday the state has appealed to the state Supreme Court a ruling by the Commonwealth Court that struck down portions of Act 13, the state’s new omnibus Marcellus Shale law.

In a 4-3 decision on Thursday, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court ruled that portions of Act 13, the state’s new omnibus Marcellus Shale law, were “unconstitutional, null and void” on the grounds that its limits on local zoning violate municipalities’ right to substantive due process.

Attorneys involved with a legal challenge to portions of Act 13, Pennsylvania’s new omnibus Marcellus Shale law, say a decision by the state’s Commonwealth Court could come within a month and will have far-reaching consequences regardless of which way the court rules.

A panel of seven Commonwealth Court judges heard oral arguments Wednesday in a lawsuit filed by seven Pennsylvania municipalities and others that claim parts of Act 13, the state’s new omnibus Marcellus Shale law, are unconstitutional.

In a surprising move Monday, Senate Republicans called Democrats’ bluff, voting to proceed with debate on a Democratic bill to repeal billions of dollars of oil and natural gas tax breaks for the major producers.

Occidental Petroleum Corp. (Oxy) CEO Stephen Chazen last Wednesday said the permitting process to drill in California has been streamlined, and he credited Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown for the turnaround.

Due to adjustments made by oil and natural gas service companies, Democratic leaders on the House Energy and Commerce Committee Tuesday said 500,000 gallons more of diesel fuel and fluids were used in hydraulic fracturing (fracking) between 2005 and 2009 than were previously reported.