Directing

Chevron Corp. is directing about $7.5 billion for U.S. upstream projects in 2013, with most of the focus on deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM) projects, the producer said.

A coalition of environmental groups has called on the Obama administration to issue an executive order directing the government to adopt as soon as possible the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board (SEAB) subcommittee on shale gas production’s recommendations that apply to federal agencies.

A coalition of environmental groups has called on the Obama administration to issue an executive order directing the government to adopt as soon as possible the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board (SEAB) subcommittee on shale gas production’s recommendations that apply to federal agencies.

Washington’s Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC) on Wednesday slapped a $104,300 penalty on Bellevue, WA-based Puget Sound Energy (PSE) for violating an order directing it to correct the use of its “refusal of service” requirements. The UTC action alleges that PSE in October 2010 provided “inaccurate or misleading information” to some of its customers, including low-income people, regarding how much they were required to pay to reconnect their gas and electric utility service. In addition, the regulators alleged that the combination utility misled or inaccurately informed customers who had been disconnected for nonpayment. UTC ordered the utility to correct the mishandling of 26 customer accounts, all of which were part of a random sampling of hundreds of disconnected customer accounts. The state regulatory panel said a UTC staff investigation subsequently found that PSE had “failed to correct its mishandling” of the accounts, and alleged that the utility committed 515 violations.

The Philadelphia City Council unanimously passed a resolution last Thursday directing the city to join a lawsuit against the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) over Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling in the Delaware River Basin.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) said it would comply with an executive order from President Obama, directing it and other independent agencies to gain public input for assessing and streamlining federal regulations. The executive order requires the agencies to develop a plan for periodically reviewing existing regulations and to make those plans public within 120 days. It follows a similar order from Jan. 18 directed at executive agencies.

West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin issued an executive order directing the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to begin enforcing several new safeguards on Marcellus Shale drilling, and to identify areas of regulatory concern.

West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin issued an executive order Tuesday directing the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to begin enforcing several new safeguards on Marcellus Shale drilling, and to identify areas of regulatory concern.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) said Monday it would comply with an executive order from President Obama, directing it and other independent agencies to gain public input for assessing and streamlining federal regulations.