America’s status as the world’s leading producer of oil and natural gas is delivering major benefits to U.S. families and businesses. Production increases have ensured a stable supply of affordable, reliable energy, helping drive down prices for gasoline, electricity and home heating. Carbon emissions have also dropped – to near 20-year lows – thanks to… Keep reading →
On Thursday, March 26, 2015, the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) published in the Federal Register the Final Rule on hydraulic fracturing on federal and Indian lands.
The Bureau of Land Management contends that its new rules are consistent with state regulations and industry standards, but stakeholders believe that the rules are unnecessary or simply miss the mark.
The ban comes in light of a report from the New York State Department of Health claiming there is insufficient information to understand the health risks.
On December 17, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s administration announced that the State of New York will ban hydraulic fracturing in response to conclusions presented in a report prepared by the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) and comments made by the Acting Health Commissioner and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) Commissioner.
On Tuesday, November 4, 2014, 59 percent of voters elected to ban the practice of hydraulic fracturing (“fracing”) in the city of Denton, which sits on top of the hydrocarbon-rich Barnett Shale. Although the ban does not prevent conventional drilling operations, the ban essentially forbids fracing, effectively expelling the drilling industry from city limits. Other municipalities sitting on top of the Barnett Shale—such as Fort Worth, Dallas and Arlington—have grappled with urban drilling as well, but Denton’s complete prohibition marks the first of its kind in Texas.
The 2014 US Midterm Elections significantly altered the balance of power in the US Congress. As a result, energy policy from now on ranks high on the upcoming Republican majority’s legislative agenda. Indeed, Republican leadership is wasting no time with both the US House of Representatives and the US Senate prepared to take up and… Keep reading →
EPA’s current estimate of the completion time for a draft of its study of the risks posed by hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) to drinking water is now projected by the agency to be developed in early 2015. This is based on comments in a letter originating from EPA’s Region 8 office stating that the study on the risks posed by fracking to drinking water won’t reach draft final form until “early 2015”. [Region 8 Letter]
Energy, Petrochemical & Natural Resources
Action item: To avoid and discourage duplicative and unnecessary federal oil and gas regulations, oil and gas operators should resist federal efforts to federalize hydraulic fracturing regulations and should actively engage with state regulators to craft innovative and practical regulations at the state level.
Historically, states have taken the lead in regulating oil and gas development given the states’ primary interest in securing rational oil and gas development in their own boundaries. Hydraulic fracturing—a 60-year-old technology used for oil and gas development—is a temporary process of pumping fluids underground for the purpose of extraction of natural gas or oil from deep formations lying 5,000 to 8,000 feet or more below the surface. Fresh groundwater is located from about less than 600 feet below the surface. Hydraulic fracturing has been practiced routinely for decades by operators in many states, including New York.
