Land

The U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) would require companies drilling on public lands to disclose the chemicals used in their hydraulic fracturing (fracking) operations, according to a draft of proposed BLM regulations acquired by NGI’s Shale Daily.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is slowing the permitting process for oil and gas projects that disturb significant amounts of land.

Having outlined guidelines for balancing sage grouse and economic protections, the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Monday said it will conduct a series of eight scoping meetings in Utah Jan. 17-Feb. 1 to gain feedback on an environmental impact statement (EIS).

Walter H. Helmerich III, chairman of Tulsa-based Helmerich & Payne Inc., the largest active provider of land drilling rigs in the United States, died Tuesday. Helmerich joined the company that his father co-founded in 1950 and became president in 1960. He led the company as CEO for 22 years until 1989 when his son Hans was named CEO. Helmerich is survived by his wife, Peggy, his five sons and 12 grandchildren. Services are to be held Friday at Boston Avenue United Methodist Church in Tulsa.

Eastern markets used to look like the Promised Land to Rockies producers. But surging production growth from the Marcellus Shale amounts to a “keep out” sign planted along the side of Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP’s (KMP) Rockies Express Pipeline (REX).

The Research Partnership to Secure Energy for America (RPSEA) is seeking requests for proposals (RFP) for its Small Producer Program and its Unconventional Resources Program.

Two environmental groups in California have sued the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to prevent the use of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in the Monterey Shale play in north-central parts of the state.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) recently opened a 30-day comment period on the environmental assessment (EA) for EOG Resources’ plans for directional drilling of production wells in an already developed area in the central portion of the Uinta play in northeast Utah. The comment period ends Jan. 13.

Sundrop Fuels Inc., a gasification-based biofuels company backed by Chesapeake Energy Corp., announced that it is buying about 1,200 acres of land in Louisiana to build its first production facility. The inaugural plant, using sustainable forest waste combined with hydrogen from natural gas, will produce up to 50 million gallons a year of what the company claims would be the world’s first “ready-to-use, renewable green gasoline.”