Passed

Texas House lawmakers Thursday passed a bill (HB 2767) that is intended to encourage oil and gas operators to conserve and recycle as much as possible the water they use in the energy patch.

Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant on Tuesday signed into law several energy bills that were passed by state lawmakers this spring, including one piece of legislation that should encourage more development in the emerging Tuscaloosa Marine Shale (TMS), as well as other unconventional oil and natural gas formations.

Regulators with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) passed a milestone in the Utica Shale last week, after having cumulatively issued more than 600 permits for horizontal wells targeting oil and natural gas.

The chief of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ (ODNR) Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management (DOGRM) has issued a unitization order for Chesapeake Energy Corp. in Carroll County, putting forced pooling into effect for a second time in the emerging Utica Shale.

Colorado’s oil production last year passed the 40 million bbl mark for the first time in 50 years, while natural gas and coalbed methane (CBM) production were down in the face of stubbornly low prices, according to preliminary data from the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC).

States increasingly will push for more disclosure of the hydraulic fracturing process.

The Senate earlier this week passed legislation that would allow a natural gas pipeline to be built through the Denali National Park in Alaska. However, the House of Representatives failed to act on the measure before the 112th Congress adjourned.

The House Wednesday overwhelmingly passed a Republican-sponsored bill that would expand oil and natural leasing in the Outer Continental Shelf during 2012-2017. But the victory may be short-lived because it’s unlikely that the GOP plan, which was proposed as a replacement to the Obama administration’s slimmed-down OCS leasing plan, will be voted out of Congress.

Taking two opportunities to field questions on hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in as many days, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he supports “home rule” legislation and believes such powers would be an appropriate method for communities that support drilling to have it.