Regulation

Judge Sides with Feds on Temporary Oil Pipeline Pause

Bismarck, N.D. (AP) — The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe was unsuccessful Monday in asking a federal judge to recognize three federal agencies’ request for a developer to “voluntarily pause” work on a segment of the Dakota Access pipeline that the tribe says holds sacred sites and artifacts. The tribe s..

Bad News For The Bakken As Obama Administration Blocks Pipeline

The Obama administration shocked the oil industry last week, pulling the plug on a major oil pipeline from the Bakken that had become a flashpoint between a pipeline company on the one hand, and a growing coalition of Native American tribes and environmentalists on the other. Everyone was anxiously..

Gas Pipeline Projects in New Jersey Move Along Slowly

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — More than a dozen natural gas pipelines spanning hundreds of miles and carrying fuel from across the region could crisscross New Jersey if the projects — at various stages in the regulatory process — go forward. Monday marks the end of the public comment period on the proposed ..

Chamber of Commerce Sides with Exxon in Appeal over Arkansas Oil Spill

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is siding with Exxon Mobil in the company’s appeal of a fine and safety measures ordered by a federal regulatory agency after the company’s Pegasus pipeline burst in March 2013 and spilled tens of thousands of gallons of crude oil into a central ..

Federal Intervention on Oil Pipeline Project Unprecedented

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The Standing Rock Sioux’s effort to block a four-state oil pipeline got a lifeline when the federal government temporarily stopped the project, a move some say likely may forever change the way all energy infrastructure projects are reviewed in the future. Just minutes after U..

North Dakota Tribe's Request to Stop Work on Pipeline Denied

NEAR THE STANDING ROCK SIOUX RESERVATION, N.D. (AP) — The Standing Rock Sioux tribe’s attempt to halt construction of the Dakota Access oil pipeline near its North Dakota reservation failed in federal court Friday, but three federal agencies asked the pipeline company to “voluntarily pause” work on ..

Key Ruling on Dakota Access Pipeline Due Today

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A federal judge is set to deliver a key ruling on the four-state Dakota Access pipeline that has drawn thousands of protesters to a construction site in North Dakota in recent weeks. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg says he’ll rule by the end of Friday on the Standing Rock S..

Presidential Candidate Faces Charges in Dakota Access Pipeline Protest

CANNON BALL, N.D. (AP) — A North Dakota judge issued a warrant Wednesday for the arrest of Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein, who is accused of spray-painting construction equipment during a protest against the Dakota Access pipeline. Court records show Stein was charged Wednesday in Mo..

Judge Grants Partial Stop on North Dakota Pipeline Work

WASHINGTON (AP) — An American Indian tribe succeeded Tuesday in getting a federal judge to temporarily stop construction on some, but not all, of a $3.8 billion four-state oil pipeline, but its broader request still hangs in the balance. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg said Tuesday that work wil..

Oil Pipeline Protest Turns Violent in Southern North Dakota

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A protest of a four-state, $3.8 billion oil pipeline turned violent after tribal officials say construction crews destroyed American Indian burial and cultural sites on private land in southern North Dakota. Morton County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Donnell Preskey said four ..

US Takes Key Step to Implement Sage Grouse Conservation Plan

DENVER (AP) — Federal land managers issued guidelines Thursday for restricting energy development, livestock grazing and other activities on public land in the West to protect the greater sage grouse, part of a broad effort to save the bird without resorting to listing it as an endangered species. ..

UN Body Says Sioux Must Have Say in Pipeline Project

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe must have a say with regard to a $3.8 billion oil pipeline that could disturb sacred sites and impact drinking water for 8,000 tribal members, representatives of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues said Wednesday. In a statemen..

California Moves to Add Methane Limits to Climate Agenda

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Democrats are taking further steps to advance the state’s ambitious climate-change agenda, agreeing to regulate methane emissions from landfills and dairy farms for the first time and approving $900 million in spending on environmental programs. The approval cam..

Biden Reveals U.S. Opposition to Nord Stream 2 Pipeline

Comments made by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday indicate that the United States believed the Nord Stream 2 pipeline that would have connected Europe to Russia was a “bad deal” for European Countries, a new report by Reuters says. Gazprom, one of Russia’s major state-run energy companies,..

Lengthy Construction Delay of Iowa Pipeline Denied

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Utilities Board denied Thursday a request by a group of landowners to halt construction of an oil pipeline beyond this week. The three-member board voted in a brief afternoon meeting against a lengthy stay of construction of the Dakota Access pipeline on parcels of ..

Record-Low Lease Bidding Reflects Dismal Time for Gulf Oil

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The federal government’s annual sale of oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico attracted hardly any interest on Wednesday, reflecting a dismal outlook for offshore drilling. Only three oil companies bid, on just 24 of the nearly 4,400 tracts offered for drilling and exploration..

Oil Pipeline Subject of Federal Hearing, Small Work Stoppage

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A Texas company that’s building an oil pipeline across four states was told Wednesday by the Iowa Utilities Board to stay away from the properties of 15 Iowa landowners until Monday to give board time to review legal issues involving a lawsuit. Also Wednesday, a federal judge ..

Feds to Livestream Gulf Oil and Gas Lease Sale

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The federal government says that, for the first time, it’s broadcasting an oil and gas lease sale live on the internet. The sale Wednesday offers all 23.8 million acres available for drilling and exploration in the Gulf of Mexico off the Texas coast. At earlier sales, an officia..

Pennsylvania DEP Fines Pipeline Companies for Modifying Construction Plans Without Proper Approval

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has fined CNX Gas Company LLC (CNX) and CONE Midstream Partners LP (CONE) for not constructing pipelines as approved in their permits with the agency. CNX was directly fined $139,000 and CONE was fined $45,000 for violating the state’s Cl..

Sioux Tribe Leader Wants Political Help to Halt Oil Pipeline

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A tribal leader Wednesday said he contacted the White House and met with North Dakota’s senators in an effort to halt construction of a $3.8 billion, four-state oil pipeline that crosses the Missouri River near an American Indian reservation in southern North Dakota. Standing ..

Court: Ratepayers Can't be Asked to Finance Gas Pipelines

BOSTON (AP) — The highest court in Massachusetts is blocking electric utilities from passing on to ratepayers the costs of building new natural gas pipelines. The Supreme Judicial Court in its unanimous decision Wednesday said state regulators made a mistake in approving the tariffs and authorizing..

Judge Orders Protesters Not to Interfere with Oil Pipeline

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A federal judge is ordering protesters in North Dakota not to interfere with the construction of a $3.8 billion, four-state oil pipeline. U.S. District Court Judge Daniel Hovland granted the developer’s motion for a temporary restraining order Tuesday. Dakota Access filed a l..

Alberta’s Cap on Oilsands Emissions Will Cost Billions With Little Effect on Greenhouse Gases

Capping carbon emissions in Alberta’s oilsands will leave hundreds of billions of dollars in the ground while doing very little to reduce greenhouse gases, finds a new study released today by the Fraser Institute. The study, How Alberta’s Carbon Emission Cap Will Reduce Oil Sands Growth, estimates ..

Plans to Protect Rare Colorado, Utah Birds May Limit Pipeline ROW

DENVER (AP) — Federal land managers announced long-awaited plans to protect the rare Gunnison sage grouse, a bird found only in Colorado and Utah. The Bureau of Land Management released a nearly 1,000-page document late Thursday proposing restrictions on energy development, roads and grazing. The ..

Kenyan Government Approves Plan to Create Oil Infrastructure

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenya’s government says it has approved a plan to produce between 2,000 and 4,000 barrels a day of crude oil in an effort to exploit the country’s oil production potential. A statement from the president’s communications department said Thursday that infrastructure will be upg..

Opposition to Oil Pipeline Heats Up in North Dakota, Iowa

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — American Indians blocked crews constructing the $3.8 billion Dakota Access oil pipeline in North Dakota on Wednesday, while Iowa landowners are asking a judge to halt work in their state until their constitutional challenges are heard. Law enforcement was called to keep the pe..

California’s Largest Utility Found Guilty of Obstructing Investigators

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A federal jury found California’s largest utility guilty of violating pipeline safety regulations before a deadly natural gas pipeline explosion in the San Francisco Bay Area and then misleading investigators about how it was identifying high-risk pipelines. After deliberating ..

Louisiana Politicians Go to Court Blaming Big Oil for Coastal Woes

ALLIANCE, La. (AP) — The oil industry has left a big footprint along the Gulf Coast, where a Delaware-sized stretch of Louisiana has disappeared. But few politicians would blame Big Oil for ecosystem abuse in a state where the industry employs up to 300,000 people and injects $73 billion into the e..

FERC Approves Williams Partners’ Dalton Expansion Project

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved Tulsa, OK-based Williams Partners’ expansion of Transco’s fully contracted Dalton Expansion Project, designed to provide additional natural gas service to utility companies and the city of Cartersville in northwest Georgia. Construction on the..

API Files Suit Against EPA's Final Oil and Natural Gas Sector Rule

API filed a lawsuit Tuesday with the D.C. Circuit Court challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) final oil and natural gas sector rule calling for emission standards for new, reconstructed, and modified sources. Specifically, API challenges the EPA’s failure to adhere to the specific ..