Permits

The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), charged with overseeing offshore drilling for the Department of Interior, has no standardized procedures in place for reviewing permits nor a program to streamline the process, according to an internal audit.

An increase in the fees charged for unconventional oil and gas well permits in Pennsylvania went into effect on Friday under a new flat-fee schedule that will not apply to traditional vertical wells.

As the mayor of Dallas predicted might happen, Fort Worth-based Trinity East Energy LLC is suing the city for millions of dollars after the city council voted last year to deny the company the permits it needed to drill on leases for which it had paid the city more than $19 million.

Ohio has reached a milestone of sorts, surpassing its 1,000th drilling permit last month in what sources say represents the oil and gas industry’s early satisfaction with the Utica Shale and highlights the continued push to develop the play.

Robust crude oil production in August lifted the Texas Petro Index (TPI) to its second consecutive monthly record while the state’s oil and gas industry charted a new record as well. But a downturn in the number of drilling permits issued suggests that things might slow in the months ahead, an economist said.

ZaZa Energy Corp. and joint venture (JV) partner EOG Resources Corp. have revised their agreement in order to further develop and expand their Eaglebine/Eagle Ford Shale East assets

Texas natural gas production during July was up about 7% from the July 2012 level, and oil production was up about 30%, according to preliminary data from the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC).

The New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is proposing a permitting program for liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities and LNG transport within the state in light of increasing interest in the development of LNG facilities. Such a move could lift a 40-year ban on new LNG storage in the state.

A U.S. arm of Royal Dutch Shell plc is throwing in the towel in the Kansas portion of the Mississippian Lime, selling off 45 producing wells and about 600,000 net lease acres.