District

A federal judge is considering whether five separate cases against EQT Corp. and Consol Energy Corp. should proceed as class action lawsuits, a decision that could potentially add thousands of plaintiffs in Southwest Virginia to those who allege that the companies cheated them out of millions in royalty payments.

The American Petroleum Institute (API) and a coalition of business groups last week appeared before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to challenge the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) implementation of Section 1504 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act, which requires companies registered with the agency to publicly report how much they pay governments for access to oil, natural gas and other minerals.

The American Petroleum Institute (API) and a coalition of business groups appeared before the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit Monday to challenge the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) implementation of Section 1504 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act, which requires companies registered with the agency to publicly report how much they pay governments for access to oil, natural gas and minerals.

A recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, which found that FERC lacked jurisdiction in natural gas futures markets, was a disappointment, but Commissioner Tony Clark said Wednesday he hoped Congress could come up with a legislative fix to address cases involving “cross-market manipulation” of the physical and futures markets (see NGI, March 18).

A recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, which found the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission lacked jurisdiction in natural gas futures markets, was a disappointment, but FERC Commissioner Tony Clark said Wednesday he was hopeful Congress can come up with a legislative fix addressing jurisdiction in cases of “cross-market manipulation” (see Daily GPI, March 18).

An investigation continued Thursday in the natural gas explosion that destroyed most of a city block in a shopping district Tuesday night in Kansas City, MO. A snow storm that blanketed the region Wednesday night had slowed progress, officials said.

Texas lawmakers on Wednesday gained some insight into where an increasing amount of money in the Lone Star State comes from: the Eagle Ford Shale oil and gas patch. The state is producing more oil than it has in the last 25 years, thanks in large part to the unconventional play in South Texas.

While California state officials are mulling new regulations related to oil and natural gas drilling, including hydraulic fracturing (fracking), a Stanford-connected engineering researcher/consultant has completed an updated analysis on some earlier work cautioning that fracking can induce seismic activity in geologically active areas, such as some of California’s old producing fields.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska applauded a U.S. District court decision that vacates the designation of 187,000-square miles of Alaska’s North Slope as critical habitat for polar bears by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS).