Regulatory

FERC on Monday approved a joint request for temporary waivers of certain agency regulations to facilitate the $3.75 billion sale of Apache Corp. Gulf of Mexico assets to Fieldwood Energy LLC.

Royalties withheld by the U.S. Department of Interior for fiscal year (FY) 2013, estimated at $109 million to date, will be returned to the states in FY 2014, but when that happens remains a question, according to a spokesman for Interior’s Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR).

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on Wednesday conditionally authorized Dominion Cove Point LNG LP to export domestically produced liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Cove Point LNG Terminal in Calvert County, MD, to countries that do not have a free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States.

Two companies recently filed with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for authorization to export containerized liquefied natural gas (LNG) to free trade agreement (FTA) countries.

Ministers from Japan and India meeting in Tokyo Monday agreed for the liquefied natural gas (LNG)-consuming countries to work together to secure what they believe would be more equitable pricing for supplies.

In a memo sent to Republicans lawmakers Friday, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) said the House will take up a bill, theProtecting States’ Rights to Promote American Energy Security Act, in the coming weeks that would restrict the Obama administration’s ability to impose duplicative regulations on fracking on federal and tribal lands.

Top Senate lawmakers called on FERC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission four months ago to execute a memorandums of understanding (MOU) to coordinate their actions in monitoring natural gas and electricity market trading. But the agencies failed to iron out their disagreements, mostly over jurisdiction.

A nonpartisan policy research group in Pennsylvania is doubling down on its assertion that the state would be better served by a severance tax on oil and gas, adding that Pennsylvania is getting “shortchanged” compared other states like Texas and West Virginia, which both have severance taxes.

U.S. policymakers should consider approving 1.5-2 Bcf/d of liquefied natural gas (LNG) export capacity each year, which would avoid rocking the domestic gas market and be a pace that shale gas producers could keep in step with, analysts at Bernstein Research said in a note.