Provisions

As part of its proposed $10.7 billion budget for fiscal year (FY) 2009, the Department of Interior (DOI) last Monday called on Congress to repeal provisions in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 that extend royalty relief for offshore oil and natural gas producers for five years.

Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, last Monday blasted provisions in the Bush administration’s $25 billion budget request for the Department of Energy (DOE) in fiscal year (FY) 2009, which eliminate the oil and natural gas research and development (R&D) program, the weatherization program and cut funding for solar energy research. The DOE also proposes to repeal $50 million in guaranteed funding outside the regular budget for onshore natural gas exploration.

As part of its proposed $10.7 billion budget for fiscal year (FY) 2009, the Department of Interior Monday called on Congress to repeal provisions in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 that extend royalty relief for offshore oil and natural gas producers for five years.

House energy bill provisions that would take away producer tax incentives and repeal parts of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct) would be a disaster for the oil and natural gas industry, a top official of a producer group told a House committee last Wednesday.

House energy bill provisions that would take away producer tax incentives and repeal parts of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct) would be a disaster for the oil and natural gas industry, a top official of a producer group told a House committee Wednesday.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has extended the time to file comments in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) aimed at implementing the transparency provisions of the Energy Policy Act (AD06-11) and the staff has scheduled an informal workshop to discuss various implementation and other technical issues associated with the NOPR. The Commission said the extension was in response to a request by the Texas Gas Pipeline Association (TPA). The notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR) would require intrastate gas pipelines to post on the Internet the daily capacities and volumes of natural gas flowing through their major receipt and delivery points. It also would require buyers and sellers of more than de minimus amounts of natural gas to report the numbers and volumes of relevant transactions for the previous calendar year. It also would require each holder of blanket marketing certificate authority or blanket unbundled sales services certificate authority to notify the Commission annually as to whether it reports its transactions to publishers of electricity or natural gas price indexes and whether the reporting conforms to certain standards. FERC extended the time for filing initial comments through July 11. Reply comments should be filed on or before Aug. 9. Questions about the conference should be directed to Lee Choo, lee-ken.choo@FERC.gov, (202) 502-6334.

The Western Governors’ Association (WGA) last Tuesday called on Congress to drop provisions in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct) that allow for the categorical exclusion of National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) reviews for certain oil and natural gas drilling in wildlife corridors and crucial wildlife habitat on federal lands.

The Western Governors’ Association (WGA) Tuesday called on Congress to amend provisions in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct) that allow for the categorical exclusion of National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) reviews for certain oil and natural gas drilling in wildlife corridors and crucial wildlife habitat on federal lands.

FERC on Thursday issued a proposed rule that implements provisions of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct) giving the Commission the authority to coordinate the schedule of other federal and state agencies in processing natural gas pipeline, liquefied natural gas and storage projects and to maintain a consolidated record of all agency decisions for use in judicial reviews.