Regulatory

Texas LNG Brownsville LLC has been granted free trade agreement (FTA) export authorization for its proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal to be sited at the Port of Brownsville, TX.

Twelve shippers have signed up for about 90% of the firm capacity that would be available on the proposed PennEast Pipeline, which would access eastern Marcellus Shale gas for the benefit of markets in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, according to the project’s formal application at FERC.

Wyoming’s Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (WOGCC) is about to release proposed rules to double the money oil and natural gas operators set aside to pay for the abandonment and plugging of old wells.

Massachusetts lawmakers last year passed a law requiring natural gas utilities to map and report leaks throughout their distribution systems. The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) says the same should be done nationwide.

In the wake of the milestone decision by federal officials to not list the greater sage grouse as endangered or threatened, Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead late Tuesday said he intends to pursue a regional initiative to reform the Endangered Species Act (ESA) as incoming Western Governors’ Association (WGA) chairman.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has proposed a supplement to a 2013 proposed rulemaking designed to clamp down on speculation in physical commodity futures and swaps, including oil and natural gas transactions.

The Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) doesn’t want New England to meet its energy needs with a large-scale newbuild natural gas pipeline — namely Kinder Morgan Inc.’s (KMI) Northeast Energy Direct (NED) — so it’s seeking to overturn Massachusetts utility capacity contracts that support the project.

In a milestone decision that the energy industry, state political leaders and environmentalists all support, the Obama administration on Tuesday decided to protect the greater sage grouse with public-private conservation programs at the state level and not through listing of the ground-dwelling bird under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). It amounts to the largest land conservation effort ever undertaken, according to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell.

Halliburton Co. has agreed to pay almost $18.3 million total in overtime wages to 1,016 U.S. employees in one of the largest recoveries of its type in years, the Department of Labor said Tuesday.