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The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) unanimously agreed Thursday to create a statewide registry for all nonpublic utility and hazardous liquids pipelines, to assess operators for the costs, and for its inspectors to begin enforcing federal pipeline safety laws on most classifications of pipeline.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. on Monday unveiled a strategy to help fund its spending obligations this year, which may include the outright sale of its Permian Basin portfolio, as well as other asset sales and joint venture (JV) partnerships, that together could reap $10-12 billion.

Wyoming officials who make up the state’s Board of Land Commissioners on Thursday unanimously (4-0) issued new rules on natural gas flaring that include the option of charging operators royalties on flared gas. This reverses the past practice of allowing flaring without royalties.

Environmentalists say Delaware Gov. Jack Markell will be in a key position to oppose hydraulic fracturing (fracking) when the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) meets on Monday, but they admit they are unsure of where he stands on Marcellus Shale development within the basin.

December futures continued their relentless retreat Wednesday as traders calculated that spot futures may have almost 18 cents more room to the downside and weather forecasts moderated again. At the close December had dropped 6.0 cents to $3.344 and January had shed 5.9 cents to $3.483. December crude oil vaulted $3.22 to $102.59/bbl.

A Pennsylvania state Senate committee passed amended impact fee legislation on Monday that returned an impact fee to the bill, added environmental safeguards and changed the way the bill would govern local ordinances over oil and gas drilling.

The Joint House-Senate supercommittee Tuesday was called on by a coalition of Senate and House Democrats to include a 0.03% tax on banking and financial firms’ nonconsumer transactions, including trading of derivative contracts, options, puts, forward contracts, swaps and other complex instruments, in their upcoming deficit-reduction legislation.

The Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) later this month plans to consider adopting water quality regulations that would apply to all natural gas development projects in the basin, including the construction and operation of all gas wells, regardless of the target geologic formation, whether a well is for production or exploration, or whether high-volume or low-volume hydraulic fracturing (fracking) is being considered.

A new system for treating shale well flowback water at or near the source was introduced Tuesday near Fort Worth, TX, by Fountain Quail Water Management, a unit of Calgary-based Aqua-Pure Ventures Inc.