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A coalition of seven states, led by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, Tuesday told the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) it will sue the agency for failing to address methane emissions from oil and gas operations in violation of the Clean Air Act.

The Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) will consider 35 applications for water withdrawals, most of them intended to support natural gas drilling, at its next meeting in mid-December.

Lamar McKay, who has served as chairman and president of BP plc subsidiary BP America since 2009, will take over as CEO of the Upstream business unit effective Jan. 1. In his new role McKay, who has worked for BP for 32 years, would lead the operator’s combined upstream businesses, which include the exploration, development and production divisions, together with the strategy and integration team. The upstream divisions were created in 2010 following the Macondo deepwater spill in the Gulf of Mexico, which led to a major reorganization designed to improve risk management and global standards. McKay would report to Group CEO Bob Dudley. McKay’s successor has not been announced.

Initial tests of a process used in the Bakken Shale in North Dakota indicate that up to 80% of the water used in hydraulic fracturing (fracking) may be recycled successfully, according to the state’s chief oil and natural gas official.

Reports that President Obama may shake up his energy cabinet are making the rounds in Washington, DC, but it’s unlikely there will be any major change in energy policy if this occurs.

The West Virginia Department of Revenue (DOR) has decided not to assign assessed value to oil and natural gas wellpad sites in the state, heeding the advice of a special committee of county assessors that doing so would pose a hardship to farmers who own surface, but not mineral, rights to their land.

A year-long study has concluded that hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in an urban oilfield in the Los Angeles area will not harm the environment.

Continental Resources Inc. disclosed Tuesday that it has begun reworking a legacy shale play in south-central Oklahoma geographically similar to the Bakken, Marcellus and Eagle Ford shales that could add 1.8 million boe to its reserves in the next few years.

Expanding its presence in the Bakken Shale region, Global Partners LP has agreed to acquire a 60% membership interest in Basin Transload LLC, which operates two transloading facilities in North Dakota with a combined rail loading capacity of 160,000 b/d.