Safe

Indications from a meeting on Monday of the Marcellus Shale Safe Drilling Initiative Advisory Commission in Annapolis are that Maryland will continue to chart a cautious course for the exploitation of its unconventional energy resources, said commission member and Republican State Sen. George Edwards, who represents three counties in western Maryland.

Asserting that a complete moratorium on shale exploration “would limit the potential” for research, the government of the Canadian province of New Brunswick said Tuesday it intends to continue to identify and act on the opportunity for greater scientific work to be done relating to shale gas exploration.

An official with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said a progress report on its study of the potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) on drinking water should be issued before the end of the year, and the final report published in 2014.

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper said Wednesday the state hopes to avoid a lengthy court battle with the City of Longmont over newly enacted natural gas and oil drilling regulations, which challenge the state’s authority to regulate energy operations.

State officials squared off with House subcommittee Democrats Thursday over the role, if any, that the Obama administration should have in regulating hydraulic fracturing (fracking).

Standing in the middle of North Dakota’s booming oil/gas production fields, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on Tuesday rolled out new federal government efforts to streamline onshore leasing and drilling processes on federal lands. Salazar made the announcement after two days of touring the Bakken Shale area, a major economic driver in what is now the nation’s third largest oil producing state.

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) told California regulators Tuesday that it has completed the validation of safe operating pressures on the about one-third of its 6,000-mile natural gas transmission pipeline system that cuts through highly populated urban areas know as “high consequence areas” (HCA).

A Pennsylvania lawmaker is taking aim at one of the most contentious issues in the Marcellus Shale: gas migration.

The Research Partnership to Secure Energy for America (RPSEA) is seeking requests for proposals (RFP) for its Small Producer Program and its Unconventional Resources Program.