Forty

Forty-five residents of a northeastern Pennsylvania town in the heart of the Marcellus Shale on Thursday sued Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. and a service operator, claiming that their water wells became contaminated when the producer used hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracing) in the course of drilling and stimulating natural gas wells. The plaintiffs claim the hydrofracing “fluid and/or drilling mud includes hazardous chemicals that are carcinogenic and toxic.”

Forty-three senators and 10 House lawmakers sent letters last week to the Bush administration expressing their dismay with a recent federal court ruling that could exempt producers from the payment of royalties on oil and natural gas produced from deepwater leases acquired between 1996 and 2000, a move that would cost the federal government billions of dollars.

Forty companies will be awaiting the news early Wednesday when the Minerals Management Service (MMS) unveils the winning bids in its Western Gulf of Mexico (GOM) Lease Sale 204. There were 358 bids on 282 tracks up for lease.

Forty-one House Republicans have signaled they may vote against the deficit-reduction package this week if critical energy provisions — namely, the development of the coastal plain area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and leasing in currently protected offshore areas — are removed from the bill.