Voice

The Senate Commerce Committee last Thursday approved by voice vote pipeline safety reauthorization legislation that would levy stiffer penalties on pipelines (oil, natural gas and hazardous) following the rash of explosions in the past year.

The Senate Commerce Committee Thursday approved by voice vote pipeline safety reauthorization legislation that would levy stiffer penalties on pipelines (oil, natural gas and hazardous) following the rash of explosions in past months.

The state of Pennsylvania has filed criminal charges against a Greene County business owner for allegedly dumping millions of gallons of wastewater — including Marcellus Shale drilling fluids — into local streams.

The Senate has passed by voice vote an amendment to the broad financial regulatory reform bill that would make it easier for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to prove manipulation in commodity and derivatives markets.

Independent oil billionaire T. Boone Pickens continued to voice his support for gas-friendly legislation Wednesday, telling members of the House Committee on Ways and Means that the NAT GAS Act (HR 1835), which seeks to establish a sustained market for natural gas vehicles (NGV) and rein in gas market volatility, would create 600,000 jobs and help wean the country off imported oil.

Independent oil billionaire T. Boone Pickens continued to voice his support for gas-friendly legislation Wednesday, telling members of the House Committee on Ways and Means that the NAT GAS Act (HR 1835), which seeks to establish a sustained market for natural gas vehicles (NGV) and rein in gas market volatility, would create 600,000 jobs and help wean the country off imported oil.

Without the addition of an odorant, natural gas has almost no scent. Until recently gas producers had almost no voice on Capitol Hill. However, repeated success at unlocking gas from unconventional plays has them speaking up for policies that would make markets for their invisible and heretofore largely ignored fuel.

Without the addition of an odorant, natural gas has almost no scent. Until recently gas producers had almost no voice on Capitol Hill. However, repeated success at unlocking gas from unconventional plays has them speaking up for policies that would make markets for their invisible and heretofore largely ignored fuel.

A House appropriations subcommittee last Wednesday approved by voice vote a $32.3 billion spending bill for the Interior Department, Environmental Protection Agency and related agencies for fiscal year 2010. The measure did not include a $122 million fee favored by the Obama administration to force the development of existing nonproducing leases in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). But the respite may only be temporary.