Vote

Tesoro Corp. said it plans to spend about $50 million on rail facilities to boost Bakken Shale crude oil shipments from North Dakota to its refinery in Anacortes, WA. The San Antonio-based company said it hopes to deliver up to 30,000 b/d after the project’s completion, up from the current rate of 1,000 to 2,000 b/d. The project will include loading and unloading facilities and a unit train. Tesoro estimates construction will take between nine months to a year to complete, once the necessary permits are received.

State lawmakers in West Virginia have created a bipartisan 10-member panel to discuss and seek a consensus over Marcellus Shale regulatory reform.

The Republican-led House was prepared to vote out a measure possibly as early as Thursday that would reduce fiscal year (FY) 2012 funding for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) by about 15%.

California regulators last Thursday with a 5-0 vote ordered operators of intrastate pipelines to test or replace all pipe segments that have not been pressure tested. The action came the same day an independent panel set up to review the San Bruno pipeline explosion issued a scathing report criticizing “numerous shortcomings” in pipe integrity management and operations at Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E).

California regulators Thursday with a 5-0 vote ordered operators of intrastate pipelines to test or replace all pipe segments that have not been pressure tested. The action came the same day an independent panel set up to review the San Bruno pipeline explosion issued a scathing report criticizing “numerous shortcomings” in pipe integrity management and operations at Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E).

In the wake of a well blowout last month in the Marcellus Shale, a Pennsylvania Senate committee has approved a bill (SB 995) that would require companies to provide to state and local authorities detailed emergency contact information for all of their wells in the state.

The debate over generating revenue from the natural gas industry in Pennsylvania took a linguistic turn this week when a national tax opponent said that an impact fee working through the General Assembly is actually a tax.

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.