Representatives

Over some industry opposition, the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) Monday approved final setback requirements for oil and natural gas wells. Industry representatives criticized the action as “going too far,” and potentially hurting the state’s economy.

More than 100 members of the House of Representatives have called on Energy Secretary Steven Chu to approve exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG), and ExxonMobil and America’s Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA) followed suit. But a group representing natural gas municipal utilities urged the Obama administration to reject the export applications that are pending at the department.

The wall thickness of a section of pipe on the 20-inch diameter Columbia Gas Transmission system that ruptured Tuesday in West Virginia was significantly deteriorated, said National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators Thursday. There also was a pressure drop on the line, but the magnitude of the decrease is unknown as was whether drop was the result of the rupture or its cause.

On a 6-3 vote after dozens of citizens and business representatives spoke, the Colorado Springs, CO, City Council late Tuesday night approved rules to allow the use of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in oil and natural gas drilling, mirroring similar statewide rules.

The Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) will consider 35 applications for water withdrawals, most of them intended to support natural gas drilling, at its next meeting in mid-December.

By a narrow margin, voters last Tuesday elected President Obama to a second term in office, and kept Republicans in control of the House of Representatives and Democrats in the majority in the Senate. By maintaining the status quo in Washington, DC, this may ensure that the stalemate over energy policy will continue for another four years.

A bipartisan group of 44 U.S. representatives from Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas wants the Department of Energy (DOE) to expedite approval of applications to export liquefied natural gas (LNG), according to a letter sent to U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu last Tuesday.

A bipartisan group of 44 U.S. representatives from Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas want the Department of Energy (DOE) to expedite approval of applications to export liquefied natural gas (LNG), they said in a letter sent to U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu Tuesday.

A bill to legalize and begin regulating hydraulic fracturing (fracking) passed the North Carolina House of Representatives on Thursday. It will return briefly to the state Senate before being sent to Gov. Bev Perdue for her signature.