Regulations

A Maryland panel is recommending that the state impose both a fee and a tax on shale gas development, as well as shift more costs to industry, but it did not propose specific details for any changes.

The Mississippi Development Authority (MDA) has published draft rules and regulations that seek to open the state’s offshore to seismic testing and leasing primarily south of the barrier islands, which is about nine to 10 miles from its shoreline.

As the natural gas industry pushes for a standardized drilling ordinance in Pennsylvania, it doesn’t expect the regulations to be easy, just predictable, a pair of executives told an audience in Pittsburgh last Wednesday.

As the natural gas industry pushes for a standardized drilling ordinance in Pennsylvania, it doesn’t expect the regulations to be easy, just predictable, a pair of executives told an audience in Pittsburgh.

The American Petroleum Institute (API) Wednesday called on New York regulators to remove all prohibitions against drilling in the Marcellus Shale formation in the southern part of the state.

A group of 10 Republican and three Democratic members of Congress from Pennsylvania is calling on the National Economic Council (NEC) to recognize the economic value of the Marcellus Shale to their state and the potential value of shale gas to the nation — and to leave its regulation to state and local authorities.

The federal government should leave shale regulation to the states, but companies should be ready for changes to the tax code that will likely impact their industry, a bipartisan panel of lawmakers told a Philadelphia audience last Wednesday.

The U.S. natural gas pipeline industry faces increased costs from expected stiffer safety regulations now unfolding, but the credit standing of the major pipeline operators should not suffer, according to a report released Wednesday by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Service (S&P).

Despite previous veto threats, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett said he would like to see some of the revenue generated from a proposed impact fee on Marcellus Shale development go toward capping thousands of abandoned wells in the state.