Obama Admin Imposes New Regulations On Fracking

[Geee]

Daily Caller:

The Obama administration has unveiled new regulations for hydraulic fracturing on federal lands, imposing stringent requirements for oil and gas drilling in areas already struggling to boost production.

 

The Department of the Interior’s new rules set standards for cement casings of fracked wells, public disclosure of the chemicals used in the process, more stringent wastewater storage standards and requirements that companies submit geographical information to the government.

 

“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,” Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said.

 

“As we continue to offer millions of acres of public lands for conventional and renewable energy production, it is absolutely critical the public have confidence that transparent and effective safety and environmental protections are in place,” Jewell added.

[Geee]

Drillers file lawsuit to challenge Obama's new fracking rules

 

Oil and natural gas drillers wasted little time filing a lawsuit against the Obama administration’s new hydraulic fracturing regulations Friday.

The complaint from the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) and Western Energy Alliance came less than an hour after the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management unveiled the first major regulations on fracking on federal and American Indian land.

 

The lawsuit accuses federal regulators of promulgating “a reaction to unsubstantiated concerns” that lacks the factual, scientific or engineering evidence necessary to justify them.

 

http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/236429-drillers-file-lawsuit-to-challenge-fracking-rules

[Cyber_Liberty]

How many leases does this really affect, considering Obama has refused to lease federal land for any kind of petroleum development?

[clearvision]

Helping Opec drive the US out of the oil business?

[Valin]

How many leases does this really affect, considering Obama has refused to lease federal land for any kind of petroleum development?

 

 

Good point. As I recall most of the new wells and fracking is on private lands.

[Valin]

Helping Opec drive the US out of the oil business?

 

Irrepressible US Shale Defies OPEC

Mar. 16 2015

 

When OPEC, led by Saudi Arabia, chose not to cut production last November, it effectively consigned its members to a prolonged period of low prices and the financial strain, palliated only by the hope that the bear market would soon squeeze American shale producers. The petrostate cartel essentially abdicated its market-fixing role on a bet that the relatively high cost of hydraulic fracturing would make American firms the world’s new swing producers, but as the FT reports, that bet is looking more and more suspect:

 

(Snip)

 

Fear the Fracklog!

Mar. 19 2015

 

U.S. shale producers are setting aside more and more potential production in the face of falling prices, resulting in a glut of drilled but not yet fracked wells colloquially termed America’s fracklog. The FT explains:

 

(Snip)

 

 

American Oil Prices Fall to New Lows

Mar. 2015

 

After a brief rebound, crude prices are once again falling to new depths as the U.S. benchmark hit its lowest level in six years this week. The New York Times reports: