Unanimously

Calling them a model for other states, the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (COGCC) on Tuesday unanimously approved new rules for the disclosure of chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing (fracking), including trade secret protections sought by the oil and gas industry. The Colorado Oil and Gas Association (COGA) said the state “now has the strongest hydraulic fracturing rule in the country,” and environmental groups praised the action.

Elected officials in Cecil Township, PA, voted unanimously on Monday to adopt changes to two of its ordinances governing Marcellus Shale development but are still waiting to hear if Range Resources Corp. will drop a lawsuit it filed against them in October over the changes.

Sending a message to the natural gas industry, California regulators last Thursday unanimously handed out the biggest fine ever for a gas utility, increasing a penalty to $38 million against Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) for a fatal distribution pipeline failure and explosion on Christmas Eve in 2008 in a Sacramento suburb.

The nine-member city council in Colorado’s second largest city, Colorado Springs (pop. 416,000), voted unanimously Wednesday to invoke a 60-day moratorium on oil and gas drilling within the city limits. The action was taken in an emergency meeting scheduled to look at exploration and production (E&P) activity.

The Philadelphia City Council unanimously passed a resolution last Thursday directing the city to join a lawsuit against the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) over Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling in the Delaware River Basin.

China’s largest producer, Sinopec International Petroleum Exploration and Production Corp., is grabbing access to Canada’s unconventional plays in northeastern British Columbia and the Deep Basin of Alberta through a C$2.2 billion cash deal with Calgary’s Daylight Energy Ltd.

California regulators unanimously agreed last Thursday that Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) can resume higher operating pressure in its receipt point of natural gas supplies at the California-Arizona border at Topock. Regulators called for “stricter utility accountability” in pipe pressure tests. Separately on Friday five new pipeline measures were signed into law.

California regulators unanimously agreed Thursday that Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) can resume higher operating pressure in its receipt point of natural gas supplies at the California-Arizona border at Topock. Regulators called for “stricter utility accountability” in pipe pressure tests.

California’s Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors decided Tuesday night to hold off on a ban of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and instead add well permitting requirements to require individual approvals by the county’s planning and development department.