Producers Sue Over Fracking Rule

Posted on by March 24, 2015

The Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) and Western Energy Alliance have sued the Secretary of the Interior and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), challenging BLM’s issuance of regulations related to hydraulic fracturing on federal and Indian lands.

The lawsuit, filed in federal district court in Wyoming, calls BLM’s rulemaking “a reaction to unsubstantiated concerns,” and says the administrative record lacks the factual, scientific, or engineering evidence necessary to sustain the agency’s action.

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Administration Issues Regulations on Fracking

Posted on by April 7, 2015

The Obama administration has proposed the nation’s first federal regulations on hydraulic fracturing.

The new rules apply only to oil and gas wells on public lands. According to the Department of Interior, that is about 100,000 wells. The large majority of fracked wells are located on private land.

“Current federal well-drilling regulations are more than 30 years old, and they simply have not kept pace with the technical complexities of today’s hydraulic fracturing operations,” said the interior secretary, Sally Jewell.

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Deal Ends Refinery Strike

Posted on by March 18, 2015

Negotiators for the United Steelworkers Union and Shell Oil Co. announced they have reached an agreement on a new contract, after a month-long strike at 15 oil refineries, including two in California.

The previous contract, which covered 30,000 workers expired Jan. 31. Work stoppages, affecting 6,500 employees, began the next day.

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Chevron Comments on Market Outlook

Posted on by March 11, 2015

Speaking to security analysts, Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) executives expressed confidence in the long-term outlook for the energy business, and outlined how it is responding the recent decline in oil and gas prices.

“The fundamentals of the oil and gas business remain attractive for our company and investors, as our products are vital to a growing world economy,” said John Watson, chairman and CEO of San Ramon-based Chevron.

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Hermosa Beach Voters Reject Drilling

Posted on by March 5, 2015

Voters in Hermosa Beach rejected a measure that would have allowed E&B Natural Resources to drill 34 oil wells in the coastal community.

The vote was 3,799 against, with 1,016 in favor. Turnout was comparatively large in the city of 20,000 residents; in other elections across Los Angeles county, less than 9% of eligible voters went to the polls.

Hermosa Beach will have to pay Bakersfield-based E&B Natural Resources a fee of $17.5 million, which was set in a settlement between the city and the company that was drafted in 2012. The city has established a reserve of $6 million, and plans to pay the balance in annual installments of $800,000, according to City Manager Tom Bakaly.

Trillium CNG To Build Monterey Fueling Station

Posted on by February 23, 2015

Trillium CNG announced that it will build and operate a compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling station in Monterey, California, for fueling the trash trucks of  the Monterey Regional Waste Management District.

Construction will begin in April at the Monterey Regional Environmental Park, with completion of the fueling facilities expected by the end of July. A portion of the fuel will be from landfill gas that will be recovered, treated and compressed. In 2016 the district plans to recover methan gas from the nearby Monterey Peninsula Landfill and convert it to CNG.

The CNG station will serve the district’s 50 CNG-fueled trucks, as well as other city and county vehicles that use the fuel. The station is being designed so it can expand its capacity to serve up to 100 CNG vehicles per day.