Levied

The backer of a bid to hike the severance tax levied on natural gas producers operating in Arkansas last week submitted 69,717 signatures to a petition to get the initiative placed on the November ballot. Former gas utility executive Sheffield Nelson needed to gather 62,507 signatures. The signatures gathered have not yet been reviewed and could be challenged. Nelson wants to hike the severance tax to 7% from the current range of 1.25-5%. His opponents include energy industry members as well as the Arkansas Chamber of Commerce and anti-tax hike group Arkansas for Jobs and Affordable Energy. Nelson, a Republican who was a chairman of Arkla Inc. and a two-time gubernatorial candidate, is the leader of the Committee for a Fair Severance Tax (see Shale Daily, June 29).

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has levied a $40,000 fine on an Ultra Petroleum Corp. subsidiary for several violations from 2011, including operating an illegal transfer station from a Marcellus Shale well pad in Potter County.

The Department of Transportation (DOT) last week levied a $2.3 million civil penalty on El Paso Corp. and its subsidiary Colorado Interstate Gas Co. (CIG) for violations of federal pipeline safety regulations that led to a fatal explosion on a CIG-operated pipeline in Wyoming in November 2006. The fine was the largest ever assessed against a pipeline company under the administrative authority of DOT’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA).

The Department of Transportation (DOT) Tuesday levied a $2.3 million civil penalty on El Paso Corp. and its subsidiary Colorado Interstate Gas Co. for violations of federal pipeline safety regulations that led to a fatal explosion on a CIG-operated pipeline in Wyoming in November 2006. The fine was the largest ever assessed against a pipeline company under the administrative authority of DOT’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA).

A severance tax should be levied on natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania — including the state’s prolific Marcellus Shale area — with the revenues dedicated to conservation, local governments, Pennsylvania’s Fish and Boat Commission and Game Commission, according to a coalition of environmental, conservation and sporting groups, municipal officials and state legislators.

A severance tax should be levied on natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania — including the state’s prolific Marcellus Shale area — with the revenues dedicated to conservation, local governments, Pennsylvania’s Fish and Boat Commission and Game Commission, according to a coalition of environmental, conservation and sporting groups, municipal officials and state legislators.

The almost $7 million to be forfeited by Constellation NewEnergy-Gas Division LLC and the $400,000 levied against Entergy New Orleans Inc. in separate cases for violations of FERC’s capacity release rules could have been much higher if the companies had not self-reported the violations, Federal Energy Regulatory (FERC) Chairman Joseph T. Kelliher said in announcing consent agreements with the companies March 11.

The almost $7 million to be forfeit by Constellation NewEnergy-Gas Division LLC and the $400,000 levied against Entergy New Orleans Inc. in separate cases for violations of FERC’s capacity release rules could have been much higher if the companies had not self-reported the violations, FERC Chairman Joseph T. Kelliher said in announcing consent agreements with the companies Tuesday.

The federal government levied nearly $1.5 million in penalties last year against offshore oil and natural gas companies for violations that occurred on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), the Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) said last Thursday.