Oil & Gas Blog

On June 26, 2017, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency filed suit against a Colorado operator in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado. Specifically, the suit alleges that the operator failed to ensure that vapor control systems on 86 batteries of storage tanks were sufficiently… Read more

On June 27, 2017, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released a proposed rule for publication in the Federal Register that would rescind the current definition of “waters of the United States” under the Clean Water Act and re-codify the pre-… Read more

On July 3, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit vacated the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s stay of the final rulemaking “Emission Standards for New, Reconstructed, and Modified Sources.” The rulemaking amended the new source performance standards under the… Read more

The Ohio Supreme Court’s 2016 watershed decision in Corban vs. Chesapeake Exploration, LLC closed the door to certain surface owners claiming vested title under Ohio’s Dormant Mineral Act. That decision simultaneously appeared to create a new opportunity for certain owners to establish… Read more

On May 9, 2017, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency fined the builder of the Rover natural gas pipeline $430,000 for multiple water and air pollution violations. According to the Ohio EPA, construction of the pipeline has resulted in 18… Read more

On June 12, 2017, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court affirmed an Environmental Hearing Board decision that upheld the issuance of a drilling permit to an operator in Warren, Pennsylvania. The operator received a drilling permit for an unconventional slant well that would bottom-hole underneath a… Read more

On June 1, 2017, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission announced an investigation into the alleged use of petroleum hydrocarbon constituents during horizontal directional drilling activities on the Rover Pipeline Project in Ohio. The announcement of an investigation follows a May 10, 2017 … Read more

On May 10, 2017, a Senate resolution that would nullify the Bureau of Land Management’s “Methane and Waste Reduction Rule” failed a procedural vote in the U.S. Senate 49-51. Under the Congressional Review Act, Congress can nullify recent federal regulations by passing a joint resolution signed by… Read more

On May 5, 2017, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board announced that it is sending an investigative team to examine the site of an oil and gas related explosion in Firestone, Colorado that resulted in two fatalities and one serious injury. According to the press release, “preliminary information… Read more

On May 8, 2017, the White House announced that President Donald J. Trump will nominate Neil Chatterjee and Robert Powelson as commissioners of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Chatterjee is an energy policy advisor and liaison to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural… Read more

In April 2017, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection reached three penalty settlements with operators, which totaled nearly $1 million in penalty collections. On April 10, 2017, PADEP announced a $400,000 settlement with an operator for air quality violations at a… Read more

On April 28, 2017, the Associated Press reported that Federal Energy Regulatory Commissioner Colette Honorable will not seek reappointment after her term expires in June. Honorable’s departure leaves FERC with just one commissioner, far short of the three commissioners needed for a quorum… Read more

On April 26, 2017, the states of California and New Mexico filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California that challenges the Bureau of Land Management’s February 22, 2017 decision to delay the effective date of the “Consolidated Federal Oil & Gas… Read more

On April 28, 2017, the Texas Supreme Court delivered an opinion in Forest Oil Corp. v. El Rucio Land and Cattle Co., Inc., No. 14-0979 (Tex. 2017). One of the principal questions in the case concerned whether the Railroad Commission has exclusive or primary jurisdiction over claims of… Read more

On April 27, 2017, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida upheld the National Parks Service’s approval of Burnett Oil Co., Inc.’s Plan of Operations to conduct a three-dimensional seismic geophysical survey using vibroseis technology within the Big Cypress National Preserve in… Read more

On April 25, 2017, the Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory issued a press release detailing the findings of a recent study that analyzed the impact of low-frequency seismicity on oil and natural gas production from unconventional shales. According to NETL, data… Read more

On April 24, 2017, the New York Times reported that President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order today that orders a review of the national monument designations made within the last 20 years. The Antiquities Act of 1906 authorizes the president to designate “… Read more

On April 24, 2017, researchers from Duke University released “The Geochemistry of Naturally Occurring Methane and Saline Groundwater in an Area of Unconventional Shale Gas Development” – a peer reviewed study that examined the effects of hydraulic fracturing activities on water quality in West… Read more