Regulations

Responding to Illinois’ tough new hydraulic fracturing (fracking) legislation, and with the potential for a surge of activity in relatively untapped shale natural gas deposits in Illinois, two colleges say they are planning an array of training opportunities for the emerging oil and natural gas industry.

While a majority of Californians support curbs on hydraulic fracturing (fracking), when they are aware of the economic advantages coming from the drilling practice a majority (56%) supports its use, according to a statewide public opinion survey released last Friday.

A bill that would increase regulations on natural gas and oil drillers in Illinois is awaiting Gov. Pat Quinn’s signature after state lawmakers passed the bipartisan legislation.

FERC has imposed a more than $700,000 civil penalty on two subsidiaries of Michigan-based DTE Energy for violation of the agency’s capacity release regulations and the misclassification of firm transportation and park and loan agreements.

Dubbing it the nation’s most stringent, the Illinois state Senate on Friday passed oil and natural gas drilling regulations (SB 1715), sending the proposed provisions to Gov. Pat Quinn for his signature. The governor is expected to sign the bipartisan legislation.

TransCanada Corp. is seeking about C$3 billion in pipeline toll hikes to ensure that shippers cover costs of its aging natural gas Mainline from cradle to grave.

The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (AOGCC) is weighing stricter regulations for hydraulic fracturing (fracking) that, among other things, would require expanded notification of landowners before fracking begins and disclosure of chemicals used in frack fluids.

While California state officials are mulling new regulations related to oil and natural gas drilling, including hydraulic fracturing (fracking), a Stanford-connected engineering researcher/consultant has completed an updated analysis on some earlier work cautioning that fracking can induce seismic activity in geologically active areas, such as some of California’s old producing fields.

The administration of Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett says new natural gas pipelines should be allowed to share rights-of-way (ROW) with roadways, one of 16 policy recommendations made to fulfill a requirement of the state’s new omnibus Marcellus Shale law, Act 13.