Scheduled

A bipartisan panel of West Virginia lawmakers seeking a consensus on possible Marcellus Shale regulatory reform are scheduled to meet Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning in Charleston.

Joseph Martens, who directs the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), is scheduled to answer questions from the public from 9-10 a.m. EDT on Saturday about natural gas drilling and high-volume hydraulic fracturing on CitizensConnect, a website created by Gov. Andrew Cuomo to promote communication with his administration. DEC spokeswoman Emily DeSantis said all questions to Martens would be welcomed. “This is an important issue with great public interest. Commissioner Martens is happy to engage with the public about it.” Questions may be submitted online before Saturday.

Kodiak Oil & Gas Corp. said Wednesday it has agreed to purchase 13,500 net acres in the Bakken Shale play from an undisclosed private oil and gas company for about $235 million in cash. It also agreed to assume the terms of a contract for its sixth drilling rig.

Laser Northeast Gathering Co. LLC is abandoning its efforts to have a proposed gathering system in northeast Pennsylvania classified as a public utility with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC).

Idaho regulators have scheduled a hearing for Sept. 13 to take public comments on a settlement that would result in a net rate decrease for Spokane, WA-based Avista Utilities’ natural gas and electric retail utility customers in northern Idaho. In July Avista applied for gas and power rate increases averaging 2.7% and 3.7%, respectively, but the proposed settlement would allow much smaller average increases of 1.6% and 1.1%, effective Oct. 1. With several other rate adjustments for the combination utility, customers face the prospect of overall decreases of about 1% for gas and 2.4% for electricity. In addition, as part of the deal Avista would not seek another increase in base rates from the Idaho Public Utilities Commission (PUC) before April 1, 2013. The three PUC commissioners will conduct a combination public and technical hearing Sept. 13 in Coeur d’Alene, ID.

Making good on its comparisons to Saudi Arabia in terms of natural energy resources, the Marcellus Shale has been making its heft felt on the Northeast region’s pipelines, wreaking havoc with traditional basis on lines such as Tennessee Gas Pipeline.

The New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), which had been scheduled on Wednesday to release the final draft of a report on the environmental impacts of hydraulic fracturing (fracking), said the report has been delayed because the department is too busy assisting with cleanup related to Hurricane Irene.

In an effort to ensure that air around Marcellus and Utica shale production sites is safe and to provide the shale industry “with the most efficient option to get operations up and running,” the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (Ohio EPA) said it is creating a new general permit.

The Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC), which governs water quality and regulates water withdrawals over a portion of the Marcellus Shale, is being sued by a coalition of environmental groups for allowing natural gas drilling regulations to be proposed before an environmental impact study was completed.