Introduced

House Republicans Tuesday once again introduced legislation that would open the federal waters offshore Virginia to natural gas and crude oil exploration. The bill calls for the Interior Department to proceed with a Virginia offshore lease sale — the first lease sale conducted off the East Coast in 30 years — no later than one year after the passage of the bill.

U.S. Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA) has introduced three bills that would end the de facto moratorium on shallow water and deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), jump-start oil and natural gas lease sales and lift a ban on new offshore drilling.

U.S. Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA) introduced three bills Tuesday that would end the de facto moratorium on shallow water and deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), jump-start oil and natural gas lease sales and lift a ban on new offshore drilling.

Texas state Rep. Tank Parker (R-Flower Mound) has introduced companion bills that would make urban areas with significant oil and gas drilling a priority for inspections by the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) and double the potential monetary penalty for violations.

Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA) and Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ) introduced legislation Thursday to establish an escalating fee on the “tens of millions of acres of public lands” that oil and natural gas producers have under leases but which are not producing. The objective of the measure is to compel companies to produce on existing leases before they can acquire new leases, a Markey spokeswoman said.

A bipartisan group of senators led by Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) and Mary Landrieu (D-LA) introduced a resolution last Wednesday calling on the Interior Department to streamline the reviewing process for shallow and deepwater drilling applications and provide better guidance to producers seeking new permits.

In Arkansas, home to the Fayetteville Shale, state Rep. Kathy Webb (D-Little Rock) has introduced a quintet of bills targeting the natural gas industry for greater scrutiny of drilling operations. The content of the proposed legislation shows that the lawmaker has hydraulic fracturing (fracking) on her mind.

New Mexico House Speaker Ben Lujan has introduced legislation to boost the use of natural gas as a transportation fuel. HB 198 would give consumers an alternative to soaring gasoline prices and providing some incentives to convert their vehicles to run on compressed or liquefied natural gas. Currently, there are nine natural gas transportation fueling stations in the state, and most of the natural gas vehicles (NGV) are owned by municipalities. Under the proposed law vehicle owners would be credited with 70% of the conversion costs to switch to an NGV after receiving a 40% federal tax credit between now and Jan.1, 2017. A similar bill passed the state’s House last year but died in the Senate Finance Committee. Lujan said the typical NGV costs about $1.76/gallon, compared with more than $3/gallon for gasoline-fueled vehicles.

In Arkansas, home to the Fayetteville Shale, state Rep. Kathy Webb (D-Little Rock) has introduced a quintet of bills targeting the natural gas industry for greater scrutiny of drilling operations. The content of the proposed legislation shows that the lawmaker has hydraulic fracturing (fracking) on her mind.