Officials

BP plc officials said Friday they intend to sell the company’s lucrative stake in TNK-BP, which is owned equally with Russia’s Alfa Access Renova (AAR), a group of Russian billionaires.

State officials squared off with House subcommittee Democrats last Thursday over the role, if any, that the Obama administration should have in regulating hydraulic fracturing (fracking).

Despite seeing some economic benefits from Marcellus Shale drilling in neighboring Pennsylvania, elected officials in the Town of Horseheads, NY, are considering a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in their community.

Despite seeing some economic benefits from Marcellus Shale drilling in neighboring Pennsylvania, elected officials in the Town of Horseheads, NY, are considering a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in their community.

State officials squared off with House subcommittee Democrats Thursday over the role, if any, that the Obama administration should have in regulating hydraulic fracturing (fracking).

Wyoming has set aside $750,000 to help fund cistern systems for Pavillion homeowners whose groundwater may have been contaminated by natural gas drilling, and affected residents will be able to take advantage of that offer, Gov. Matt Mead told reporters last Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters at a technical forum on next-generation blowout preventers (BOP) Tuesday, Interior Department officials said they expected to issue by September a proposal on enhanced standards for BOPs, a device that is believed to have malfunctioned in April 2010 and lead to the blowout of the Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico (see Daily GPI, April 22, 2010). “This is a rule that I believe is much needed, and we will work deliberately toward getting a draft rule published,” said James Watson, director of Interior’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, earlier this month.

Officials in New Brunswick unveiled a list of more than 100 recommended changes to the province’s regulatory framework for oil and natural gas on Thursday, including tougher casing and cementing standards, increased water protections and substantially higher royalties.

Touting potential jobs and economic growth, California energy officials on Wednesday approved approximately $100 million in annual state funds to support the development of more alternative and renewable fuel vehicle technologies. Natural gas as a transportation fuel will benefit directly and indirectly for up to nearly one-third of the allotment.