Secretary

Twelve months after launching a national pipeline safety initiative aimed at repairing and replacing aging pipelines, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood on Friday said his agency will lead the effort to expedite federal permitting for NiSource Inc.’s modernization of the Columbia Gas Transmission natural gas transmission and storage system.

Interior Secretary Kenneth Salazar reiterated Tuesday that the Obama administration is continuing to develop draft rules for hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in drilling operations, which he said would not slow the natural gas and oil boom.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar last week unveiled new federal government efforts to streamline onshore leasing and drilling processes on federal lands.

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.

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.

In an attempt to minimize safety risks, the secretary of the Department of Transportation (DOT) should direct the administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to begin collecting information from operators of federally unregulated onshore natural gas gathering and hazardous liquid pipelines, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a new report. The DOT should establish an online clearinghouse or other resource for sharing the information on pipeline safety practices that is collected, said the GAO. It noted that the data should be similar to what PHMSA collects annually from operators of regulated gathering pipelines (mostly located in non rural areas), such as fatalities, injuries, property damage, location, mileage, size, operating pressure, maintenance and the causes of incidents and consequences. The nation’s pipeline network includes an estimated 200,000-plus miles of onshore gathering pipelines, many of which have not been subject to federal regulation based on their generally rural location and low operating pressures.

In an attempt to minimize safety risks, the secretary of the Department of Transportation (DOT) should direct the administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to collect information from operators of federally unregulated onshore natural gas gathering and hazardous liquid pipelines, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a new report Thursday.

A group of independent producers have fired off a letter to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar challenging and contesting recent claims by the Obama administration involving oil and natural gas production on public lands.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and members of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources committee last Tuesday disagreed about the significance of declining oil and gas production on federal lands during a hearing on the department’s proposed 2013 budget.