Immediately

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit has upheld a lower court’s ruling supporting the Interior Department’s arguments that it is not required to immediately issue leases to oil and natural gas producers following purchases.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) has updated several maps and data charts for the Utica Shale and Point Pleasant formation, including one map showing the weight of Total Organic Carbon (TOC) that could be used by operators to decide where to drill in the future.

The U.S. Commerce Department has granted Valero Energy Corp. a one-year authorization to ship crude oil from the U.S. Gulf Coast to a company-owned refinery in Quebec, Canada.

An executive order (EO) issued by Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett on Tuesday requires the state’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to immediately start looking for ways to speed up the permit process for applications to drill.

Effective immediately, a competitive market for compressed natural gas (CNG) — chiefly as a new rival against oil products — is open for business across most of Nova Scotia. And it’s Eastern Canada’s chief oil refiner, Irving Oil, that will be delivering the trucked gas to coastal fish processors, hospitals, universities and other large commercial users as early as next year.

Wyoming state investigators said Thursday a mechanical failure in the well was the main cause of a natural gas well blowout late in April at a Chesapeake Energy Corp. drilling site. However, operating errors also contributed. The incident lasted about three days; no one was injured (see Shale Daily, April 30).

Al Armendariz, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Dallas office, resigned Monday following public outcry over his remarks supporting a “crucify them” approach to enforcement of the oil and natural gas industry.

Energy Transfer Partners LP, the former partner with Enterprise Products Partners LP in a proposed oil pipeline from Cushing, OK, to Houston, is suing Enterprise and its new partner in a similar project, Enbridge Inc.

A lawsuit seeking class action status has been filed in Arkansas against a trio of energy companies alleging that their activities have caused “thousands of earthquakes in central Arkansas.”