Eliminating

Nearly two-thirds of energy executives believe the United States can attain energy independence by 2030, eliminating the U.S. dependency for foreign oil, according to the results of the 11th annual Energy Industry Outlook Survey conducted by the KPMG Global Energy Institute.

Legislators in the Ohio House of Representatives have passed a mid-biennium budget review bill but stripped out Gov. John Kasich’s proposals to restructure taxes and regulations on the oil and natural gas industry.

In his State of the State address on Wednesday Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn urged lawmakers to eliminate the state’s natural gas utility tax.

FERC last Thursday issued a final rule eliminating duplicative storage reporting requirements for interstate and intrastate natural gas pipelines, which it said would save the industry an estimated $400,000 annually.

FERC on Thursday issued a final rule eliminating duplicative storage reporting requirements for interstate and intrastate natural gas pipelines. This will save the industry an estimated $400,000 annually, according to the agency.

FERC last Thursday proposed eliminating the semi-annual storage reporting requirements for interstate natural gas pipelines, intrastate pipelines that provide interstate services, and Hinshaw pipelines that provide interstate services subject to the Natural Gas Act (NGA), saying it finds that the reports are “largely duplicative with other reporting requirements.”

FERC Thursday proposed eliminating the semi-annual storage reporting requirements for interstate natural gas pipelines, intrastate pipelines that provide interstate services, and Hinshaw pipelines that provide interstate services subject to the Natural Gas Act (NGA), saying it finds that the reports are “largely duplicative with other reporting requirements.”

An administrative law judge (ALJ) at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has released a proposed decision outlining the procedures for eliminating current restrictions on the operating pressures of major natural gas transmission pipelines operated by Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) in the wake of last year’s San Bruno pipe rupture and explosion. The ALJ also denied a recommendation by PG&E for raising future pipe pressures.

The Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management will publish in the Federal Register a final rule eliminating part of existing regulations that allow two congressional committees to direct the Interior secretary to make an emergency withdrawal of lands from mining and mineral leasing activity. The change eliminates the redundancy in existing regulations and removes constitutional issues raised by the committee-directed withdrawal provision. The final rule, however, will retain a procedure whereby the secretary alone can initiate an emergency withdrawal immediately upon determining that an emergency exists and that extraordinary measures need to be taken to protect natural resources or resource values that otherwise would be lost. The rule does not affect the conventional process for segregating and protecting public lands, the BLM said.