Passed

Gulfmark Energy Group Inc. of San Antonio, TX, said it has obtained financing from Notre-Dame Capital Inc. of Montreal to support development of its Eagle Ford Shale assets. The company said it intends to drill through the Escondido, Olmos, San Miguel, Austin Chalk and Eagle Ford formations. “We have yet to assess all of the undeveloped potential opportunities to expand our operations utilizing horizontal wells with multi-stage fracturing technologies,” said CEO Michael Ward. “Multiple targets have been identified; however, several other opportunities are currently under evaluation and analysis. This financing will allow us to explore all resources available in our current asset base.” Gulfmark operations are currently focused on western South Texas. Terms of the financing were not disclosed.

A California bill (SB 489) to increase access to various clean energy sources, including biogas was passed out of the lower house Assembly’s Appropriations Committee earlier in August on a 12-4 vote with a “do-pass” recommendation. The measure’s author, Sen. Lois Wolk said the bill is designed to remove current barriers in the way of small-scale renewable energy development, and specifically gives farmers and food processors in the agricultural sector the ability to cut their businesses’ energy bills through more combined heat-power systems. SB 489 would enable all eligible renewable energy technologies — including biomass and biogas — to use the state’s net energy metering program that allows customers to offset some of their power usage with on-site generation. This is aimed at greatly expanding the benefits net energy metering to a wider group of energy producer/users.

The West Virginia Legislature is unlikely to draft legislation on Marcellus Shale regulatory reform before the end of the year, according to a state senator with a key role in the process.

California’s proposed law (AB 591) to address hydraulic fracturing (fracking) passed a second hurdle, being voted out 5-1 from the state Senate Environmental Quality Committee (EQ). The measure has been sent to the Senate Appropriations Committee, but no hearing date has been set. AB 591’s author, Assemblyman Bob Wieckowski, told EQ that the proposal is a “modest” attempt to provide state regulators in the Division of Oil and Gas with added information on fracking. Wieckowski emphasized that fracking in some form has been around for the past 50 years in California, but only recently has the oil/gas sector begun to use more sophisticated techniques that carry greater potential impact on the state’s water quality. The bill is aimed at chemical disclosure for operators using the fracking process and comes at a time that Wieckowski said “several reports” from the oil/gas industry have indicated California is on the “cusp of a boom” in unconventional oil/gas recovery because of drilling technique advancement, such as fracking. Chemicals used and sources and amounts of water in the fracking process will be disclosed as a result of AB 591, Wieckowski said.

The House last Wednesday by a wide margin passed legislation that would force the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to act on exploratory air permits within a six-month time frame and would limit the ability of opponents to use the EPA’s Environmental Appeals Board to invalidate the permits for offshore exploration, both in offshore Alaska and in the Gulf of Mexico.

The House Wednesday by a wide margin passed legislation that would force the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to act on exploratory air permits within a six-month time frame and would limit the ability of opponents to use the EPA’s Environmental Appeals Board to invalidate the permits for offshore exploration, both in offshore Alaska and in the Gulf of Mexico.

The House last Thursday narrowly passed an agriculture spending bill that reduces fiscal year (FY) 2012 funding for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) by about 15%. At the same time the agency deferred the July 16 effective date of some parts of the Dodd-Frank derivative reform measures.

A bill aimed at chemical disclosure in hydraulic fracturing (fracking) passed its first hurdle Tuesday in the California Senate, passing out of the Natural Resources and Water Committee with opposing industry groups and lawmakers all indicating that a compromise that should facilitate the measure’s continuing legislative journey is close at hand (see Shale Daily, June 14). AB 591 next goes to the Senate Environmental Quality (EQ) Committee.

The House Thursday narrowly passed an agriculture spending bill that reduces fiscal year (FY) 2012 funding for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) by about 15%.