Environmental Group Calls for Tighter Regulation of Frac Sand
The U.S. shale boom has generated a boom in a related industry: “frac sand.” Sand has become an integral component of hydraulic fracturing. Oil companies use sand as a “proppant”: after shale...
View ArticleEnvironmental Groups Ramp-up the Crude-by-Rail Fight in the Courtroom
Bakken crude producers and midstream transportation companies already experience transportation woes related to inadequate pipeline infrastructure, railroad capacity, tank car supply, rail accidents,...
View ArticleAn Update on Recent Oil- and Gas-Related Decisions in Ohio
Due to increased drilling activity in the Utica shale formation, state and federal courts in Ohio and the 6th Circuit have recently issued decisions related to local drilling regulations, drilling...
View ArticleMultistate Regulators Meet in Columbus, Discuss Seismic Activity
From October 19th to 21st, the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission hosted its 2014 annual conference in Columbus, Ohio. The organization is a collection of regulators from states in which there...
View ArticleCity of Fort Collins, Colorado, Appeals Ruling Striking Down Fracking Bans
The week of September 22, the Fort Collins, Colorado, City Council voted to appeal a decision rendered last month that struck down the city’s fracking ban. The North America Shale Blog previously...
View ArticleBakken Crude-by-Rail Update: Transloading Projects Dealt a Setback in California
Recently, we covered environmental groups’ increasing array of state-law challenges to midstream and end users of Bakken crude that transport or receive oil by rail. Since then, a California regulator...
View ArticleBakken Crude-by-Rail: Environmental Groups Ask New York to Regulate DOT-111...
A recent state-law challenge by environmental groups to an aspect of crude-by-rail transportation has teed up the question of federal supremacy over railroad regulation. Because federal law generally...
View ArticleEPA Announces New Greenhouse Gas Reporting Rule for Oil and Gas Sector
On Friday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced new rules for reporting greenhouse gas emissions that will apply to the oil and gas sector, part of EPA’s plan to institute a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Colorado Oil & Gas Association Seeks Overturn of Broomfield Hydraulic...
On Monday, November 24, the Colorado Oil & Gas Association (COGA) filed a lawsuit in the Broomfield District Court for declaratory judgment to invalidate that city’s temporary ban on hydraulic...
View ArticleLocal and National Environmental Groups Seek to Intervene in Denton Fracking...
On Thursday, December 4, 2014, in Texas Oil and Gas Assoc. v. City of Denton, Cause No. 14-08933-431, 431st District Court, Denton County, Texas, the Denton Drilling Awareness Group and Earthworks...
View ArticlePoe Leggette & Alex Obrecht Present on the Safety Concerns that Face...
BakerHostetler’s energy group co-head and a member of the energy team recently presented on the safety concerns that confront the transportation of crude oil by rail. Focusing primarily on federal...
View ArticleClik here to view.
U.S. Department of the Interior Launches Online Data Portal Giving Access To...
Last Thursday, December 11, 2014, the Department of the Interior (“DOI”) became the latest governmental agency to open the doors to some of its data via a new online portal located at...
View ArticleCrude-by-Rail Update: Municipalities in the Bakken Push Back Against...
Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, towns in the western United States grew and thrived around the railroad. In fact, the railroad tracks often became a central geographic feature within...
View ArticleLayoffs in the Energy Sector – Are Employers Prepared?
Over the past few weeks, the media has focused intently on the oil and gas industry’s extensive layoffs. Well known energy companies have made front-page news with their announcements of their...
View Article2015 Texas Legislative Session Includes Twin Bills Concerning Municipal...
With the opening of the 84th Session of the Texas Legislature on January 13, 2015, two of the more closely watched bills in the energy arena will be House Bill 539 (HB539) and House Bill 540 (HB540)....
View ArticlePennsylvania Governor Reinstates Ban on Oil and Gas Leasing in State Parks...
On Thursday, January 29, 2015, Pennsylvania’s new governor, Tom Wolf, signed Executive Order 2015-03, thereby reinstating a moratorium on new leases for oil and gas development in state parks and...
View ArticleChina to Increase Shale Gas Production
China plans to increase its shale gas production from 1.3 billion cubic meters of shale gas per year to 30 billion cubic meters per year by 2020, according to Chen Weidong of China National Offshore...
View ArticleNew Mexico Federal Court Frames The Issues That Will Define Future Fights...
On January 15, 2015, the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico became the first federal court to address questions related to the scope of local governments’ ability to regulate...
View ArticleState Oil and Gas Laws v. Local Control: The Struggle Continues in Ohio
On February 17, 2015, the Ohio Supreme Court announced its ruling in The State Ex Rel. Morrison v. Beck Energy Corporation et al. That closely-watched case addressed whether local ordinances that...
View ArticleClik here to view.
OPEC’s Price War Is Entrenching North American Shale Producers’ Global...
Oil price uncertainty strengthens the global competitive advantages of U.S.—and Canadian—unconventional oil projects. Both countries offer excellent geology, robust supporting infrastructure, deep...
View ArticlePennsylvania Governor Proposes Severance Tax
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf has proposed a new state severance tax on natural gas drilling. The measure, which the governor introduced as a means to fund the state’s education system, would impose a...
View ArticleDistrict Court Rejects Claim to Aggregate Series of Compressor Stations
A federal judge in Pennsylvania recently denied an environmental group’s attempt to subject a driller’s gas compressor stations to stricter regulatory permitting. This decision provides reliable...
View ArticleClik here to view.
California Crude Trains: How Much Oil Is Actually Coming In and Where Is It...
California has become ground zero for legal opposition to crude-by-rail projects. Opponents decry derailments, toxic vapors, and other ills.[i] Yet despite the dire images painted by crude-by-rail’s...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Colorado Court Ruling Confirms Role of Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation...
It is not uncommon for royalty disputes between mineral lessors and operators to increase as oil and natural gas prices decrease. Before mineral lessors go running to the courthouse in Colorado,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Federal Government Continues to Prosecute Royalty Underpayment Claims...
Earlier this month, John Walsh, U.S. Attorney for the District of Colorado, announced that upwards of $66,000 had been recovered from Slawson Exploration Company (Slawson) in a settlement for alleged...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Keystone XL’s Opponents Won’t Derail Canadian Oil Trains to the Gulf Coast
The U.S. Gulf Coast—with its 1.4 million barrels per day of coker[*] refining capacity geared to maximize output of high-value lighter products from lower-cost, heavy, high-sulfur crude oil...
View ArticleClik here to view.
IRS Publishes Proposed Regulations Addressing Fracking Services by MLPs
On May 6, 2015, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) published proposed regulations [REG-132634-14], which if finalized would clarify that income from certain oil and natural gas fracturing (“fracking”)...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Oklahoma Follows Texas’ Lead in Prohibiting Local Hydraulic Fracturing Bans
In the wake of Texas’ recent “ban on banning hydraulic fracturing,” Oklahoma lawmakers have passed a similar law—SB 809—prohibiting municipal governments from regulating oil and gas drilling at the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Oilfield Water Recycling Could Significantly Boost Texas Water Supplies
Robust drilling and production activity in the Eagle Ford, Permian Basin, Granite Wash, and other oil-producing areas of Texas has unleashed high demand for frac water and a surge of produced water as...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Third Circuit Court of Appeals Affirms That Pennsylvania Law Does Not...
On June 25, 2015, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed the District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania’s prior entry of summary judgment in favor of the lessor...
View ArticleClik here to view.
ONRR Continues to Penalize Oil and Gas Companies With Federal Leases in...
Today, the Department of the Interior’s Office of Natural Resources Revenue (“ONRR”) announced that it has issued a $6.9 million civil penalty to High Plains Gas, Inc., for failure to submit production...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Toilet to Frac: Legal and Practical Aspects of Using Municipal Effluent for...
Thus far, the idea of using purified municipal sewage effluent—“reclaimed water” in industry parlance—for city water supplies has proven a tough sell. Human psychology poses significant barriers to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Will Congress Repeal the Crude Oil Export Ban in Fall 2015?
Rising congressional support signals real promise that the ban on U.S. crude oil exports could be repealed within the next six months. The U.S. now exports more than 550 thousand barrels per day (kbd)...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals Affirms Ruling That New York State’s...
New York’s 2010 moratorium on hydraulic fracturing, culminating in Governor Andrew Cuomo’s formal ban of the practice in his state on December 17, 2014, made many large waves in the political, legal,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Texas Wastewater Injection Wells Off the Hook for Causing Earthquakes
On September 10, the Texas Railroad Commission absolved a second oil and gas company of causing a series of earthquakes in northern Texas finding that the seismic activity was due to “natural tectonic...
View ArticleClik here to view.
State Supreme Court Imposes Strict Limitations on Secretary of State’s...
This week the Ohio Supreme Court denied three Ohio counties’ attempts to ban high-volume hydraulic fracking. But that denial was procedural, not substantive, so the victory is limited to the instance...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Birds of a Feather? Greater Sage-Grouse Decision Shows That Conservation and...
On September 22, energy developers in the West breathed a sigh of relief when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announced that the greater sage-grouse does not require protection under the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
North Dakota Saltwater Disposal Enforcement Actions Highlight Key Legal and...
Spills or improper disposal of oilfield produced water—which can be more than 10 times saltier than seawater and may also contain heavy metals and other chemicals—can turn even staunchly pro-oil and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
DO YOU DARE TO FLARE? A North Dakota Field Office Provides a View Into the...
While high-profile regulatory efforts focused on hydraulic fracturing, waters of the United States, sage grouse, and greenhouse gas emissions have grabbed media headlines over the last several months,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Crude-By-Rail Update: Siting a Crude Oil Transloading Terminal in California?...
Proposed crude-by-rail (CBR) projects in California increasingly face opposition lawsuits designed to stall and derail the terminals. The suits often focus on alleged noncompliance with the California...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Recent Federal Legislation Rings In the New Year With Some Exciting...
On December 18, 2015, the current divided United States Congress, which has not been known for many grand compromises, passed an omnibus spending bill featuring key measures related to renewable...
View ArticleClik here to view.
EQT Wins a Temporary Victory, but the Future of Oil and Gas Operations in...
EQT Corp. won a temporary victory in its continuing effort to defend against the potential shutdown of its 200 oil and gas wells and one wastewater injection well in Fayette County, West Virginia,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Moratorium on New Oil and Gas Operations Lifted in Adams County
On Tuesday, Adams County, Colorado, commissioners lifted a six-week moratorium on new oil and gas drilling operations in urban areas. The moratorium, previously approved by the county commissioners in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Crude-by-Rail Update: Largest West Coast Terminal Proposal Suffocating Under...
The largest proposed crude-by-rail (CBR) transloading facility on the West Coast recently survived a major hurdle to its ultimate construction and operation—a lease extension. But with the proposed...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Midstream Gathering Agreements Targeted by Recent Oil & Gas Bankruptcies
Continuing low oil and natural gas commodity prices have led to bargain prices at the pump, but also high tension in many boardrooms. This strain on the industry has resulted in many exploration and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Oil and Gas: Managing Personnel Reductions and Asset Sales Under Increasing...
As oil enters the ninth month of sub-$50 per barrel prices – and natural gas languishes below $3 per MMBtu – the oil and gas industry confronts a challenging time of transition. Layoffs have already...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Continued Attempt to End Shale Development in Colorado – This Time...
An attempt to put restrictions on shale development, so as to effectively end it, is nothing new in Colorado. Just this year, several Democrats attempted to push a bill through the Colorado House of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Cabot Oil & Gas Continues to Fight $4.24 Million Federal Court Jury Verdict...
After a recent round of post-trial motion briefing in Ely v. Cabot Oil & Gas Corp., Case No. 3:09-cv-02284-MCC (M.D. Pa.), it appears one of the most heavily publicized landowner lawsuits against...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Texas Supreme Court to Hear Case on “Capability of Production” Under Shut-In...
On Sept. 2, the Texas Supreme Court granted review in a case that may clarify when a shut-in well’s capacity for production in paying quantities is determined. In BP America Production Company v. Red...
View Article
