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A decision by the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to set aside its original federal hydraulic fracturing (fracking) proposal has drawn plaudits from associations representing major oil and natural gas producers.

A decision by the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to set aside its original federal hydraulic fracturing (fracking) proposal has drawn plaudits from associations representing major oil and natural gas producers.

U.S. hydraulic fracturing (fracking) capacity utilization has fallen by almost one-third since January, and all of the major domestic plays are in a “negative frack pricing environment,” according to PacWest Consulting Partners.

In two separate but related cases in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York, a judge has ruled that energy companies can’t use the state’s de facto moratorium against high-volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF) as an excuse to invoke force majeure to extend expiring oil and natural gas leases.

A kerfuffle between the Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC) and an anti-drilling group over copyright infringement has resulted in the latter removing from its website a logo similar to the one used by the MSC.

Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. Monday sought authorization to place the remaining portion of its Northeast Supply Diversification (NSD) Project in service on Nov. 1. The request came only days after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the start-up of a portion of the NSD facilities to provide service to three shippers beginning Oct. 1 (see Shale Daily, Sept. 24).

Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. got the go-ahead from FERC Thursday to start up facilities that will enable it to provide interim firm transportation service to three shippers on its Northeast Supply Diversification (NSD) Project beginning Oct. 1, one month ahead of the in-service date for the entire project.

The supervisor of Ohio’s Wayne National Forest (WNF) on Monday said an in-depth study has proved that there is no need to amend the forest’s six-year-old land and resource management plan nor to supplement the environmental impact statement (EIS) to address possible surface impacts from unconventional drilling.

An energy official in New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration said natural gas is being viewed as a potential “bridge fuel” to the future, when technological advances will presumably open the door for renewables.