Referred

The Pittsburgh City Council has referred a series of proposed amendments, which would create “mineral extraction districts” and possibly open the city to at least limited Marcellus Shale drilling, to the city’s planning commission.

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) unanimously agreed Thursday to create a statewide registry for all nonpublic utility and hazardous liquids pipelines, to assess operators for the costs, and for its inspectors to begin enforcing federal pipeline safety laws on most classifications of pipeline.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Mercury and Air Toxic Standards for power plants — commonly referred to as Utility MACT (for maximum achievable control technology) — were finalized recently, and while they cast a shadow on coal-fired generators, the stricter rules offer a brighter future for natural gas demand.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Mercury and Air Toxic Standards for power plants — commonly referred to as Utility MACT (for maximum achievable control technology) — were finalized last week and were expected to be released Wednesday.

A bill recently introduced in the Pennsylvania General Assembly would require the state’s Environmental Quality Board (EQB) to develop standards for the construction of oil and gas well pads in the Marcellus and Utica shales, according to Rep. Fred Keller, a Republican from central Pennsylvania.

Texas House lawmakers Wednesday approved a bill that would require disclosure of the contents of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) fluids used in natural gas wells in the state.

A bill filed last Friday by the Republican chair of the Texas House Committee on Energy Resources to require disclosure of the contents of hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking) fluid has bipartisan support as well as industry and environmentalist fans.

Witnesses for Range Resources Corp. took the stand Wednesday during the first day of a hearing at the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) in Austin, TX, to defend the company against allegations by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that its drilling activities in the Barnett Shale caused the contamination of private water wells in the area. However, EPA representatives were not in attendance.

Natural Gas Exchange Inc. (NGX) has agreed to provide the Alberta Department of Energy with an Alberta gas price index, referred to as the Alberta Market Price (AMP). The AMP is a volume-weighted average of cleared transacted prices for all gas delivered in a calendar month at the NGX Alberta market center on the TransCanada Corp. Alberta System, NGX said. The department will use the AMP to calculate its gas reference price, forming the basis of the royalty obligations for Alberta energy producers. The launch of the new pricing regime is planned for January.