Outcome

Market dynamics will override politics and the job creation and economic stimulus effects of the gas industry will prevail in the years ahead regardless of the outcome of this fall’s presidential election, according to panelists at the LDC Gas Forum’s Midcontinent meeting in Chicago Monday.

Market dynamics will override politics and the job producing and economic stimulus effects of the gas industry will prevail in the years ahead regardless of the outcome of this fall’s presidential elections, according to panelists at the LDC Gas Forum’s mid-continent meeting in Chicago Monday.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) said Wednesday the dunes sagebrush lizard (DSL) does not need to be listed on the Endangered Species Act after New Mexico and Texas voluntarily agreed to protect the animal’s habitat.

Federal officials have confirmed that two agencies studying the effects of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) are conducting their work in Washington County, PA, near a Marcellus Shale drilling and impoundment site that is the target of a lawsuit.

Wyoming’s state oil/gas supervisor found himself Wednesday cross ways with Gov. Matt Mead regarding the continuing multi-governmental scrutiny of the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) two test water wells in natural gas fields near Pavillion, WY. EPA initially identified a possible link between hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and local drinking water contamination.

On the ground, the shale boom is a mixed bag as rural landowners weigh the alternatives of securing lucrative royalties at the cost of their land being part of an oil/gas industrial push that critics contend is threatening local environments and public water supplies. The Los Angeles Times last Sunday profiled the dilemma through a feature on two brothers with dairy farms in the rich Marcellus Shale in western New York.

As a compromise bill to impose an impact fee on unconventional natural gas plodded through the Pennsylvania legislature Tuesday, Gov. Tom Corbett assumed a favorable outcome, commending lawmakers for their cooperation, saying he was “looking forward to signing the legislation into law.”

As a compromise bill to impose an impact fee on unconventional natural gas plodded through the Pennsylvania legislature Tuesday, Gov. Tom Corbett assumed a favorable outcome, commending lawmakers for their cooperation, saying he was “looking forward to signing the legislation into law.”

With West Virginia’s Marcellus Shale industry still in its infancy and state regulators saying they need additional staff and funding to adapt to the burgeoning drilling business, more than a dozen candidates are seeking to be elected later this year to a 14-month term as governor of the Mountain State.