Officials

With exploration and production (E&P) activity heating up along the eastern border of Montana as an extension of the North Dakota oil and natural gas boom, state lawmakers in the Big Sky state have proposed about a half-dozen new laws to deal with the impact on the local communities in the region.

Officials in the Canadian province of New Brunswick unveiled new rules for oil and natural gas development in the prospective Frederick Brook Shale on Friday, including a requirement that operators disclose all of the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing (fracking).

California state oil/natural gas officials have scheduled the first in a series of all-day public workshops for Feb. 19 in Los Angeles to gain feedback on draft hydraulic fracturing (fracking) rules for the state.

California air quality officials reported that for the fourth consecutive year carbon emissions from power plants in the state have declined dramatically. A full-year figure for 2012 is still being calculated, according to the California Air Resources Board (CARB), which is the lead agency implementing the state’s precedent-setting 2006 climate change law (AB 32). As measured by CARB, power plant carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) emissions in 2011 totaled 34.9 million metric tons of CO2e (MTCO2e), compared to 52.3 million MTCO2e four years earlier. Subsequently, the totals dropped to 49.3 million MTCO2e in 2009 and down further to 44.6 million MTCO2e in 2010. Power plants are the biggest stationary source of MTCO2e emissions, followed by refineries and hydrogen plants, whose total emissions are also down compared to 2008 but have steadily risen during the last three recorded years (2009-2011).

Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Steven Chu is stepping down, following several other key energy and environmental officials, including Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa Jackson. “I informed the president of my decision a few days after the election that [my wife] and I were eager to return to California. I would like to return to an academic life of teaching and research but will still work to advance the missions that we have been working on together for the last four years,” he said. Chu in a letter to his employees highlighted some of the progress made while serving in the administration, including forming a $45 million inter-agency effort last year by Interior, DOE and EPA o research hydraulic fracturing (fracking) during fiscal 2013. He also cited DOE’s role in capping BP plc’s blown Macondo oil well in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. Salazar, who oversaw a moratorium on offshore drilling after the BP oil spill and the restructuring of the agency, will step down in March (see NGI, Jan. 21). Jackson resigning following President Obama’s State of the Union speech on Feb. 12, bringing to an end a sometimes tumultuous four-year tenure (see NGI, Jan. 7).

Government and industry officials are cheering plans for a compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling corridor stretching from Pennsylvania into West Virginia along Route 79. It will support the Marcellus shale gas-inspired initiatives for converting hundreds of vehicles to operate on natural gas.

While California state officials are mulling new regulations related to oil and natural gas drilling, including hydraulic fracturing (fracking), a Stanford-connected engineering researcher/consultant has completed an updated analysis on some earlier work cautioning that fracking can induce seismic activity in geologically active areas, such as some of California’s old producing fields.

Nova Scotia officials are exploring options to secure a more stable natural gas supply and are issuing a request for proposals (RFP) to examine challenges on price volatility and meeting gas demand now and into the future.

Legislators and state government officials in Ohio, as well as industry groups, are discussing a bill that, if enacted, would require oil and natural gas land agents to register with the state and provide homeowners with several disclosure forms.