Waters

The House Resources Committee has decided to hold off taking legislation that would open up more federal waters and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to energy development to the House floor this week in an attempt to deal with the concerns of the Florida delegation, a spokeswoman for the panel said.

Tankers laden with liquefied natural gas (LNG) navigating the waters of Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island would hurt the state’s economy by interfering with recreational boating, the seasonal tourism trade, commercial fishery operations, ferry operations and cruise ships, according to studies released this week.

Concerned by a growing interest to open banned waters to drilling activity, more than 100 House lawmakers have called on Appropriations Committee members to keep intact the long-standing prohibition against oil and natural gas exploration and production in much of the federal Outer Continental Shelf (OCS).

Concerned by a growing interest to open banned waters to drilling activity, more than 100 House lawmakers have called on Appropriations Committee members to keep intact the long-standing prohibition against oil and natural gas exploration and production in much of the federal Outer Continental Shelf (OCS).

Virginia’s Senate last Thursday passed an amended bill that advocates opening for the first time the state’s coastal waters to natural gas exploration and production (E&P) activities.

Virginia Gov. Mark Warner last week vetoed a controversial bill that advocated lifting a moratorium to open the Commonwealth’s offshore waters to natural gas exploration and production (E&P) activities. Warner said he was “uncomfortable” with the legislation, even though it easily passed the General Assembly earlier this year (see NGI, Feb. 28).

Virginia’s Senate on Thursday passed an amended bill that advocates opening for the first time the state’s coastal waters to natural gas exploration and production (E&P) activities.

Virginia Gov. Mark Warner on Tuesday vetoed a controversial bill that advocated lifting a moratorium to open the Commonwealth’s offshore waters to natural gas exploration and production (E&P) activities. Warner said he was “uncomfortable” with the legislation, even though it easily passed the General Assembly earlier this year (see Daily GPI, Feb. 25).

NiSource Inc. subsidiary Columbia Gas Transmission Corp. last Thursday said it is testing the waters to determine the interest of Appalachian producers in a potential expansion of its existing natural gas pipeline system that would permit delivery of additional supplies to markets in the Upper Southeast, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions.