Regulatory

The Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has completed an upgrade to its online drilling permit processing system and will now handle all such applications electronically.

Pennsylvania’s former Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell said this week that he made a “mistake” in putting the economic benefits of the shale gas boom before environmental protections.

The Canadian crusade to break into global liquefied natural gas (LNG) markets was extended Thursday when a project sponsored by Imperial Oil and 70% owner ExxonMobil obtained a 15-year extension to its overseas sales hunting permit.

Louisiana’s Vermilion Parish is now the sixth coastal parish in the state suing the oil and natural gas industry for alleged damages to coastal wetlands.

FERC has approved two projects by Williams Partners LP’s Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Co. LLC (Transco) pipeline that are intended to serve local distribution company demand in New York City and fuel a new gas-fired power plant in Virginia.

FERC on Friday granted Trans-Pecos Pipeline LLC’s request to begin construction of the Presidio Border Crossing Project, which would allow transport of natural gas from Texas to Mexico via the planned Trans-Pecos Pipeline.

FERC staff issued a favorable final environmental impact statement (FEIS) for the Golden Pass liquefied natural gas (LNG) export project in Texas. The project would entail expansion of an existing LNG import terminal to add liquefaction and export capability and construction of a short natural gas pipeline.

FERC released the final environmental impact statement (EIS) Friday for the Rover Pipeline Project, bringing the major Appalachian takeaway pipe one step closer to construction.

The potential failure of subsea bolts used in offshore oil and gas installations has led the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) to call on the industry to help address “significant safety concerns.”