Regulation

Energy regulatory officials in Mexico reportedly agreed on Tuesday to follow a directive from President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to align regulations and permitting with his goal of strengthening state-owned oil company Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) and power company Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE). The news, which was first reported by local outlet Expansión, sent shockwaves…

Mexico’s Comisión Reguladora de Energía (CRE) is losing its independence and failing to carry out its constitutional mandate under the current government, according to a former chairman and two former commissioners of the energy regulator. Created in 1994 under the liberalizing economic reforms of former president Carlos Salinas de Gortari, the CRE performs similar functions…

Editor’s Note: NGI’s Mexico Gas Price Index, a leader tracking Mexico natural gas market reform, is offering the following question-and-answer (Q&A) column as part of a regular interview series with experts in the Mexican natural gas market. This 34th Q&A in the series is with María Serna, Partner of Legal Services at energy consultancy Talanza…

Mexico’s Comisión Reguladora de Energía (CRE) on Tuesday informed employees of mass layoffs effective immediately, with the natural gas regulation segment hit especially hard, a former employee confirmed to NGI’s Mexico GPI. The former employee, who asked to remain anonymous, said an estimated 200 staffers, or about 40% of CRE’s workforce, were told to return…

In what is believed to be a first in the industry, elected officials in Mora County, NM, have enacted a total ban on oil and gas drilling.

NW Natural promoted CFO David Anderson to executive vice president for operations and regulation. Anderson was a senior vice president/CFO with TXU Gas prior to joining NW Natural as its CFO in 2004. Also, Stephen Feltz was promoted to senior vice president and CFO, and C. Alex Miller was promoted to treasurer.

Elected officials in Ft. Collins, CO, the university town about 57 miles north of Denver, have passed a ban on oil and natural gas drilling and hydraulic fracturing (fracking) within the city limits. The measure still must pass on a second reading in early March.

Moving right along on the energy regulatory front, Colorado’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) on Wednesday launched a study of air emissions tied to oil and gas development.

A trio of New York legislators opposed to high-volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF) held court over a lengthy public hearing Thursday on rules that would govern the practice, but officials with the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) were not in attendance.