Fracturing

Colorado is the third oil/gas producing state to join legal challenges to the federal Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) proposed rules for hydraulic fracturing (fracking) on public and tribal lands.

Colorado is the third oil/gas producing state to join legal challenges to the federal Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) proposed rules for hydraulic fracturing (fracking) on public and tribal lands.

The Department of Interior (DOI) issued its long-awaited rule for hydraulic fracturing (fracking) on public and tribal lands on Friday. It requires operators to temporarily store produced water in aboveground tanks and disclose most of the chemicals they use to the FracFocus registry.

Reward doesn’t come without risk, and where hydraulic fracturing (fracking) is concerned there is sometimes too much emphasis on the latter while the former is not fully appreciated, according to a study by the Vancouver, BC-based Fraser Institute.

The California state Senate on Thursday rejected a bill (SB 1132) seeking to establish a moratorium on the use of hydraulic fracturing (fracking), for which the state is in the process of finalizing new rules from a bill (SB 4) passed last year.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Tuesday released revised underground injection control (UIC) program permitting guidance for wells that use diesel fuels during fracking activities.

European Union (EU) nations are likely to reconsider hydraulic fracturing (fracking) for its potential to promote energy independence and spur economic growth, according to consultant Frost & Sullivan (F&S).

House Democrats have called on the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to finalize “long overdue guidance” expeditiously for oil and natural gas hydraulic fracturing (fracking) activities using diesel fuel, and to reject any industry efforts to weaken or delay it.

A group of Republicans in the California congressional delegation led by Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy warned Gov. Jerry Brown last Thursday that implementation of the state’s new hydraulic fracturing (fracking) legislation (SB 4), signed into law last month, should not get in the way of the state’s oil/natural gas resurgence.McCarthy and 13 other Republican congressional representatives warned that the new regulation shouldn’t be an undue hindrance to the industry. Regulating the latest advanced drilling techniques should not hand-tie the industry, the congressional representatives told Brown.