Obama

While the commission that was appointed by President Obama to look into the fatal explosion aboard the BP plc-leased Deepwater Horizon rig on April 20 continued to press for a higher liability cap on offshore damages and the creation of a separate safety institute Wednesday, some senators were concerned with the fact that liability is centered solely on the operator, allowing contractors a free pass.

Natural Gas producers may be able to upload their data on fluids used in the hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in a day or two to www.hydraulicfracturingdisclosure.org, provided that they have created a login, said Mike Nickolaus, special projects director for the Ground Water Protection Council (GWPC).

Texas Railroad Commission (RRC) member Elizabeth Ames Jones on Friday joined a chorus of those who are blasting the President Obama’s decision not to open new areas in the offshore to exploration.

Republican control of the U.S. House of Representatives in the incoming 112th Congress means the Obama administration likely will be unsuccessful in attempting again to prop up the budget with new taxes on the oil and gas industry.

The Obama administration’s moratorium on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico has been lifted, but only for those operators that can show that they have complied with existing and the tougher new safety and drilling regulations. The action immediately came under attack from producers and Capitol Hill lawmakers, who question whether it will significantly change the status quo in the Gulf.

The Obama administration has rejected a New York congressman’s bid to put a temporary hold on Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling and exploratory activities in the Delaware River Basin.

The Obama administration’s proposal to repeal two major oil and natural gas tax credits — the Section 199 and dual capacity deductions — would produce extensive economic losses over the upcoming decade, said an economist with Louisiana State University.

Obama officials supported the deepwater moratorium in the Gulf of Mexico even though they knew it would have “significant negative economic impact” and would cost up to 23,000 jobs, according to documents that were filed in federal court in New Orleans last week.

The Obama administration last week formally declared that carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions pose a danger to the public’s health and welfare, which lays the groundwork for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to more stringently regulate emissions from power plants, refineries, factories and vehicles — even if Congress fails to enact climate change legislation.