Effort

Massachusetts lawmakers last year passed a law requiring natural gas utilities to map and report leaks throughout their distribution systems. The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) says the same should be done nationwide.

Bellevue, WA-based Puget Sound Energy (PSE) on Monday became the latest Pacific Northwest energy utility to join a multi-state effort to transform the region’s natural gas energy efficiency market. The Northwest Gas Association (NWGA), other utilities and state/regional organizations are part of the first-in-the-nation effort.

As California’s new state rules (SB 4) for hydraulic fracturing (fracking) continue to unwind (see Shale Daily, June 18), the state’s richest oil-producing area, Kern County, at the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, is in the process of launching its own detailed review of fracking, mirroring an already challenging effort at the statewide level.

The second version of the U.S. Department of Interior’s (DOE) proposed rule to regulate hydraulic fracturing (fracking) on public lands isn’t as bad as the first, but with a projected cost per well of $96,913, it still leaves much to be desired, industry groups said.

Environmental groups, the Edison Electric Institute and large natural gas end-users were quick to commend the Senate’s confirmation Thursday of Gina McCarthy as head the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), but oil and natural gas companies were apparently following the rule, “if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.”

In an effort to revive his plan to levy new severance taxes on hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and natural gas liquids (NGL), Ohio Gov. John Kasich has proposed giving 25% of the tax proceeds to 33 counties in the state’s Appalachian region, home to Ohio’s Utica Shale drilling.

Officials with the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) announced Wednesday that the agency had started a multi-year effort to study water quantity, but rebuffed calls for it to be expanded to a comprehensive environmental study that could include the impacts of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in the basin.

A student-led effort in California has emerged to place a measure on next year’s statewide ballot to enact a tax on oil and natural gas extracted from the state. Backers now have about five months to collect at least 505,000 signatures to qualify for next year’s ballot.

Devon Energy Corp. is increasing its oil-directed drilling this year across the Permian Basin and in the emerging Mississippian Lime as it continues its transition from a natural gas heavyweight, CEO John Richels said Tuesday.