Forum

The Railroad Commission of Texas(RRC) is planning a half-day session of the Permian Basin (Spraberry Trend Area) and Delaware Basin Forum and Discussion. The forum is intended to educate oil and gas industry representatives on topics including drilling permits, completions, stacked laterals and RRC website queries. The event is scheduled from noon to 4 p.m. CST on Jan. 10 at the Green Tree Country Club, 4900 Green Tree Blvd., Midland, TX. Registration is required and free; seating is limited.

Natural gas infrastructure growth may be outpacing efforts to find more supply-demand balance through U.S. gas exports, according to a panel of experts at the recent LDC Gas Forum Rockies & West in Denver conference.

A state lawmaker in Oklahoma plans to hold a public forum Friday that will include comments from geologists on ongoing seismic activity in the state, as regulators prepare a response to two large earthquakes that struck last week.

The Western Governors’ Association (WGA) on Thursday launched a regional drought forum to examine the lingering impacts of the acute western dry spell on four major areas.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee put the spotlight on two important shale policy issues during its third and final forum on natural gas Thursday: the FracFocus chemical registry and whether a middle ground can be found in the dispute between the states and federal government over regulation of hydraulic fracturing (fracking).

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee put the spotlight on two important shale policy issues during its third and final forum on natural gas last Thursday: the FracFocus chemical registry and whether a middle ground can be found in the drawn-out dispute between states and the federal government over regulation of hydraulic fracturing (fracking).

The Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) has requested a public forum with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) on the agency’s plans regarding the Endangered Species Act (ESA) because members are concerned that new listings could harm domestic oil and natural gas exploration and production. In a letter to FWS Director Daniel Ashe, IPAA CEO Barry Russell said members understand that the agency is obligated to meet certain deadlines under a court-approved settlement with the Center for Biological Diversity and Wild Earth Guardians. However, there has been “little transparency afforded to the public on which species are coming up for review,” Russell said. “The pure depth and breadth of these settlement agreements could harm our membership and create uncertainty in the development of domestic oil and natural gas.” By 2016 FWS is required to complete a review of 250 candidate species for final listing on the ESA and is required to complete other actions on listings and critical habitat petitions of more than 1,000 species.

Speaking to reporters at a technical forum on next-generation blowout preventers (BOP) Tuesday, Interior Department officials said they expected to issue by September a proposal on enhanced standards for BOPs, a device that is believed to have malfunctioned in April 2010 and lead to the blowout of the Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico (see Daily GPI, April 22, 2010). “This is a rule that I believe is much needed, and we will work deliberately toward getting a draft rule published,” said James Watson, director of Interior’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, earlier this month.

The American Petroleum Institute (API) has allied with the Pennsylvania Independent Oil and Gas Association (PIOGA) in a partnership to serve as a forum for information about the Marcellus Shale.