Setback

The appropriations committee of California’s Assembly has sidetracked a proposed bill that would have established stringent setback requirements for oil and natural gas drilling, effectively killing the legislation until at least next year.

After Colorado voters rejected a ballot measure last month that would have set a half-mile setback for oil and gas drilling in populated areas, state regulators are considering increasing setbacks for schools and related property.

A new study in Colorado predicts catastrophic crippling of the oil and natural gas industry if a proposed ballot measure to lengthen the setback requirement for new drill sites to 2,500 feet from 500 feet is passed in November.

The untapped oil and gas potential of the Denver-Julesburg (DJ) Basin is estimated to be worth billions, according to a study by a state industry group.

Regulators in Montana, the nation’s 12th-largest oil producer, have begun a process to consider initiating the state’s first drilling distancing requirements.

Regulators in Montana, the nation's 12th-largest oil producer, have begun a process to consider initiating the state's first drilling distancing requirements.

Dallas City Council members on Wednesday afternoon voted to increase natural gas well setbacks from housing from 300 feet to 1,500 feet as part of a drilling ordinance proposed by the Dallas City Plan Commission (CPC) and favored by residents opposed to drilling within the city limits.

City of Dallas officials are inching toward a conclusion to the long-running debate over how large to make the buffer zone around would-be well sites within the city. One proposal could effectively prevent drilling within the city limits, an industry advocate said.

In a stunning setback for shale development in New York state, an appellate court ruled unanimously to uphold two local bans on oil and gas activities.