School

Colorado’s oil/gas industry is pushing back against a proposal in the state legislature (HB 1256) seeking to expand current setback requirements beyond 1,000 feet for oil/natural gas drilling from schools.

Range Resources Corp. has withdrawn three conditional-use permit applications in Washington County, PA, where it had planned to develop unconventional well pads near a school, in a move that environmentalists hailed as a victory and the company said was purely financial.

Rex Energy Inc. is planning to begin site development late next week at a controversial location near a large school campus in western Pennsylvania. The company has been met with staunch opposition from a group of parents concerned about the health and safety of students.

Frio County, TX is in the heart of Eagle Ford Shale country, but drilling waste hauling and disposal worries have overshadowed the economic boom that oil and gas activity has brought to the South Texas region, county officials said.

A critical review of the energy industry’s FracFocus registry by the Harvard Law School’s Environmental Law Program last week was taken to the woodshed for allegedly including false statements and misrepresentations in its review.

One day after a report by Harvard Law School researchers leveled withering criticism against FracFocus, the two organizations that jointly manage the oil and natural gas disclosure registry fired back for what they claim were misrepresentations of the site.

Outgoing Anadarko Petroleum Corp. Executive Chairman Jim Hackett plans to begin attending Harvard Divinity School in the fall. Hackett, 59, who served as CEO of The Woodlands, TX-based operator until last May, long has been interested in learning to write, speak and teach about faith and leadership, which were key reasons he retired from the company, according to a spokesman. The Harvard University program offers four degree programs: master of theological studies, master of divinity, master of theology and doctor of theology. Hackett’s retirement is to take effect after Anadarko’s annual meeting in May. He previously worked at Devon Energy Corp., as well as NGC Corp., Burlington Resources (acquired by Anadarko in 2006), and Amoco Oil Co. Hackett is a board member and adjunct professor at Rice University.

Outgoing Anadarko Petroleum Corp. Executive Chairman Jim Hackett plans to begin attending Harvard Divinity School in the fall. Hackett, 59, who served as CEO of The Woodlands, TX-based operator until last May, long has been interested in learning to write, speak and teach about faith and leadership, which were key reasons he retired from the company, according to a spokesman. The Harvard University program offers four degree programs: master of theological studies, master of divinity, master of theology and doctor of theology. Hackett’s retirement is to take effect after Anadarko’s annual meeting in May (see Daily GPI, Feb. 20). He previously worked at Devon Energy Corp., as well as NGC Corp., Burlington Resources (acquired by Anadarko in 2006), and Amoco Oil Co. Hackett is a board member and adjunct professor at Rice University.

A University of Minnesota research team is working on a biotechnology-based process to purify wastewater from hydraulic fracturing (fracking) operations.