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Agreements carved out by the small Front Range Colorado town of Erie have added to the state’s rules covering hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and could serve as a model for other local jurisdictions. The state, however, maintains the exclusive right of enforcement.

Presumptive Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Thursday unveiled an energy plan that he said would open more federal lands to oil and gas drilling and would make North America energy independent by 2020 — the final year of his second term in office — if he is elected this November.

The head of Wyoming’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is retiring, and Gov. Matt Mead said on Monday that he is starting a search for a replacement. DEQ Director John Corra, who has headed the department for two different governors since 2003, will stay on the job until October. Mead lauded Corra for setting “a standard for effective and balanced regulation with fiscal prudence.” Mead has asked for interested candidates to submit a letter of interest and resume to his office (2090 W. 24th St. Cheyenne, WY, 82002).

Japan’s Sumitomo Corp. agreed Wednesday to pay Devon Corp. $1.4 billion for a 30% stake in 650,000 net acres in the Permian Basin’s Cline and Midland-Wolfcamp shales.

In the latest of a rash of energy proposals coming from Republicans, Sen. John Hoeven of North Dakota and Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California Thursday introduced legislation that calls for the Interior Department to add a lease sale off the coast of Virginia to its five-year plan, to step up permitting for energy development on federal lands, and give the go-ahead for the construction of the northern leg of the Keystone XL oil pipeline.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich has signed an executive order prohibiting the state’s Department of Natural Resources “from issuing any permit, license or lease allowing for the withdrawal or production of oil and gas from or under the bed of Lake Erie.” Congress previously enacted legislation prohibiting the issuance of permits or leases for drilling under the Great Lakes, but it was important that Ohio issue its own prohibition on Lake Erie drilling in case the congressional ban should be lifted, according to the executive order.

Spain’s Repsol could opt to sell its 75% stake in the Canaport LNG terminal in Saint John, NB, as part of a plan to refocus operations and streamline its balance sheet, the company confirmed.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich signed an executive order on Tuesday temporarily giving the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) additional power to regulate wastewater injection wells used by oil and natural gas drilling operations.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich has signed an energy bill that enjoyed bipartisan support in the General Assembly and creates new rules for hydraulic fracturing (fracking).