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Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, the ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, met Friday with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and other top Japanese officials to discuss opportunities to export Alaska natural gas to Japan.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, the ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Gas Resources Committee, last week blasted the Obama administration’s final environmental impact statement (EIS) on the land management plan that will guide oil and natural gas development in the years ahead in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A), saying it would restrict access to more than 80% of the gas reserves.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, the ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Gas Resources Committee, blasted the Obama administration’s final environmental impact statement (EIS) on the land management plan that will guide oil and natural gas development in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A) in the years ahead, saying it would restrict access to more than 80% of the gas reserves.

A member of the Pittsburgh City Council has introduced four proposed amendments to the city’s zoning code that would allow 40-acre minimum “mineral extraction districts” for Marcellus Shale drilling.

The five-member California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) on Thursday denied a long-standing proposal to develop an idle dry natural gas field into an underground storage project beneath a residential community in Sacramento. CPUC members voted 3-2 against the 7.5 Bcf capacity independent project.

The composition of the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission (PRC) is changing with the election of one new member in the recent state primary and the prospect for a second new regulator following the general election in November. Current District 1 Commissioner Jason Marks is term-limited out this year. Bernalillo County Assessor Karen Montoya won a Democratic primary and will face Republican candidate Christopher Ocksrider in November for the seat. In the meantime, Valerie Espinoza, a county clerk in Santa Fe, gained sufficient votes for the District 3 seat to allow her to bypass a runoff and head straight to the PRC, replacing Douglas Howe. Howe was appointed by Gov. Susana Martinez on an interim basis to fill a vacancy created when Jerome Block resigned last year after pleading guilty to felony charges involving embezzlement of public funds.

Citizens for Property Rights (CPR), a five-member group that opposes what members believe are too-strict restrictions on gas drilling imposed by the city of Southlake, TX, failed to get enough signatures on a petition to relax some of the rules. However, CRP Chairman Stephen Oren said the group will try again.

Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), who has been at the forefront of the chamber’s efforts to address cyber vulnerabilities involving the nation’s critical infrastructure, sent a letter to the American Gas Association (AGA) Thursday expressing concern about a recent report that said AGA-developed standards to protect data transmitted by control systems were abandoned because of the costs.

The Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission (PUC) said Monday it plans to conduct a public forum on electric (EV) and natural gas vehicles (NGV) to help the five-member PUC and other state agencies determine how they can best foster stepped up investment in alternative fuel vehicles.