Regulation

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement’s (BOEM) permit-issuing process is gathering steam. The Interior Department approved a fifth permit — this time for Chevron USA Inc. — to resume drilling in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM). This is the first permit issued for completely new exploration since the federal moratorium was lifted last October.

The head of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEM) signaled Monday that more drilling permits in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) may be in the offing in the near term.

The Arkansas Public Policy Panel (APPP) issued a report last week urging state lawmakers to strengthen regulation of oil and gas development in the Fayetteville Shale and encouraged them to use moratoria as needed.

The Arkansas Public Policy Panel (APPP) issued a report Wednesday urging state lawmakers to strengthen regulation of oil and gas development in the Fayetteville Shale and encouraged them to use moratoria as needed.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEM) is seeking information and nominations regarding proposed oil and gas lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) Western and Central Planning Areas for the 2012-2017 Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Natural Gas Leasing Program.

A bill that would have changed West Virginia’s regulation of Marcellus Shale drilling was not brought up for a final vote by the House of Delegates during the final day of its 2011 regular session Friday and so will not become law this year.

The West Virginia House of Delegates was set to vote late Friday or Saturday on a bill to change the state’s regulation of Marcellus Shale drilling.

The Interior Department has fired back at a federal judge’s mid-February order for the department’s Bureau of Ocean Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEM) to act within 30 days on five pending permit applications to drill wells in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM). In a new filing Interior has asked for a stay of the judge’s order.

Based on a “thorough” review of the evidence, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEM) said it found no evidence of unsafe conditions on BP plc’s Atlantis oil and gas platform in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM).