Opposition

Major environmental groups leading opposition to the northern portion of the proposed $7 billion, 1,700-mile Keystone XL oil pipeline project from Alberta to refineries in the Gulf of Mexico region lashed out at the U.S. State Department last Friday for not making public the comments being collected on the project’s draft supplemental environmental impact statement (see Shale Daily, March 4). Effectively, the only way to hear and respond to public comments on the draft study will be at a hearing scheduled for April 18 in Grand Island, NB, said a Friends of the Earth spokesperson, calling the move “unusual.” This is prompting the foes of Keystone XL to claim the State Department is violating public transparency practices followed by other federal agencies regarding draft environmental studies. The stakeholders are in the middle of a 45-day comment period on the proposed northern portion of TransCanada Corp.’s controversial tar sands oil pipeline from Western Canada to Cushing, OK.

Opposition to hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in New York State has grown slightly, according to a Siena College Research Institute poll released Monday.

Opposition to hydraulic fracturing (fracking) flared up in Ohio last week after about 100 protestors stormed an office and a water handling facility in one town, while an oil and gas oilfield service company threatened to take its business elsewhere if another town were to oppose drilling.

Over some industry opposition, the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) Monday approved final setback requirements for oil and natural gas wells. Industry representatives criticized the action as “going too far,” and potentially hurting the state’s economy.

A Quebec government official said Wednesday that legislation will be introduced next week to formally enact a moratorium on shale gas development in the province, a ban that would be in effect until the results of a two-year study on potential impacts are fully vetted.

“There are no scenarios that I see where anything is going to stop [the United States] from reaping the benefits of unconventional energy resources,” a Houston-based energy attorney said.

Over opposition from a consumer groups, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) authorized a five-year, $150 million joint research effort between a federal research laboratory and three of the state’s major investor-owned utilities. Natural gas operating advancements are one of four focus areas.

Opposition to Alberta oilsands pipeline plans is spreading and escalating into a constitutional, aboriginal rights challenge against liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports from the Pacific Coast of British Columbia (BC).

Opposition to Alberta oilsands pipeline plans is spreading and escalating into a constitutional, aboriginal rights challenge against liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports from the Pacific Coast of British Columbia (BC).