Review

FERC last week scheduled the Freeport LNG natural gas liquefaction and export project for environmental review with a final environmental impact statement (EIS) to be made available Dec. 27, which means it could be nearly a year before there is a final Commission decision on facilities construction.

At his confirmation hearing last week, Department of Energy (DOE) secretary-designate Ernest J. Moniz committed to review the department’s data and studies on natural gas exports, which relied on what some have said is outdated information that failed to examine the regional impacts of exporting liquefied natural gas (LNG).

At his confirmation hearing Tuesday, Department of Energy (DOE) secretary-designate Ernest J. Moniz committed to review the department’s study of natural gas exports, which relied on what some have said is outdated information which failed to examine the regional impacts of exporting liquefied natural gas (LNG).

The Interior Department’s Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR) said Tuesday that it penalized Chesapeake Energy Corp. $765,000 for “knowing or willful submission of inaccurate information” on its oil and natural gas royalty reports.

U.S. natural gas production was 2.56 Tcf in December and totaled 29.77 Tcf in 2012, the seventh consecutive year-over-year increase, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Monthly Energy Review for March.

U.S. natural gas production was 2.56 Tcf in December and totaled 29.77 Tcf in 2012, the seventh consecutive year-over-year increase, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Monthly Energy Review for March.

As a formal set of proposed rules on hydraulic fracturing (fracking) moves through preliminary public review in California, Gov. Jerry Brown last Wednesday expressed confidence that his state’s oil and gas regulators would apply “science and common sense” to frack regulations.

Noting that it wants to give the public an adequate opportunity to review and comment, the Interior Department’s U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) said Wednesday that it is extending the public comment period on two proposed rules: to list as endangered the gunnison sage grouse, which is found south of the Colorado River in Colorado and Utah, and to designate 1.7 million acres of critical habitat for the bird under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo was reportedly considering a plan to allow 10 to 40 horizontal test wells on a trial basis in the state’s Southern Tier, but changed his mind after discussing high-volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF) with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., his former brother-in-law and an avid environmentalist.