Presidential

FERC Thursday approved Kinder Morgan Texas Pipeline LLC’s (KMTP) application to amend its presidential permit to increase the design capacity of its U.S.-Mexico border-crossing facilities from 425 MMcf/d to 700 MMcf/d (see Daily GPI, March 8).

FERC Thursday vacated certificates — a Section 3 authorization and a presidential permit — for AES Ocean Express LLC to build the U.S. leg of a pipeline to import natural gas from the company’s proposed $800 million liquefied natural gas (LNG) import project in the Bahamas.

Following the presidential election, a big target is on the backs of oil and gas interests, according to a panel of industry experts.

Following the presidential election, a big target is on the backs of oil and gas interests, according to a panel of industry experts.

In their first presidential debate last Wednesday, Republican candidate Mitt Romney and President Obama squared off over the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act, oil and natural gas tax incentives and whether the increase in oil and gas production over the past couple of years was the result of Obama administration policies.

In their first presidential debate Wednesday, Republican candidate Mitt Romney and President Obama sparred over the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act, oil and natural gas tax incentives and whether the increase in gas production over the past couple of years was the result of Obama administration policies.

Singling out natural gas as an economic engine for the nation, President Obama Friday signed an executive order establishing a high-level, interagency task force to support and oversee the development of unconventional natural gas resources and associated infrastructure.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is considering adding two Texas counties — Wise and Hood — overlying the Barnett Shale in North Texas to the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) nonattainment area, which has failed to meet federal standards for ozone. Gas drilling activities in the region are thought by EPA to be contributing to the ground-level ozone, or smog, problem.

In his energy plan released Thursday, Republican presidential candidate and Texas Gov. Rick Perry called for dismantling the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the suspension and reconsideration of several rules administered by the EPA, the creation of a separate court to address challenges to energy projects, and greater access to onshore and offshore oil and natural gas resources.