Oil And Gas Drilling

Backers of the controversial FRAC (Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals) Act, including co-sponsor Diana DeGette (D-Denver), were quick to caution Thursday that a proposed U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) study of hydraulic fracturing shouldn’t be seen as an alternative to legislation.

A bill mandating stricter handling of oil and gas brine that was passed in 2008 by strange bedfellows Josh Penry, R-Grand Junction, in the state Senate and Bernie Buescher, D-Grand Junction, in the House was upheld by a Denver District Court judge Tuesday, according to the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel.

Salazar, the focus of repeated grilling Wednesday on whether he plans to run for governor given the withdrawal of Gov. Bill Ritter, sidestepped those questions and outlined an aggressive new leasing program meant to continue domestic oil and gas development but under stronger environmental and health protections.

Two Republicans have entered the fray to take down a key state senate seat narrowly won by Democrat Gail Schwartz in 2006, as the GOP eagerly eyes any possible openings in the party’s bid to reclaim a majority in the Colorado Senate.
According to the Aspen Daily News, both Bob Rankin, who has homes in Aspen [...]

Hard on the heels of Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson announcing greenhouse gas emissions pose a public health threat, the agency’s Denver office said it will review air pollution standards for oil and gas operations.
According to the Associated Press, the latest announcement comes in response to a January complaint filed by WildEarth Guardians and [...]

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar fired back at the oil and gas industry Tuesday, telling reporters on a conference call that recent attacks on the Obama administration’s policies have “all the flavor and deception of election-year politics,” according to the New York Times.

A coalition of environmental groups is demanding the U.S. Bureau of Land Management immediately suspend use of so-called “390 categorical exclusions” for permitting oil and gas drilling operations on BLM land.
In a letter signed by, among others, Western Resource Advocate, Environment Colorado and the Colorado Environmental Coalition, and dated Oct. 2, the groups call on [...]

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 rather famously – or infamously, depending on your point of view – allowed for a Safe Drinking Water Act exemption for the Haliburton-perfected process of hydraulic fracturing in of natural gas wells.

A U.S. District Court judge Thursday blocked a Canadian company from exploring or drilling for natural gas in the 79,000-acre Baca National Wildlife Refuge near Great Sand Dunes National Park in southern Colorado’s San Luis Valley.
A coalition of environmental groups challenged a U.S. Fish and Wildlife decision during the Bush administration in 2007 that would [...]

Add this news to the numerous reasons oil exploration and production are down on the Western Slope. From Slate.com’s The Big Money:

“A welcome-back party for Big Oil” is how the Wall Street Journal today sums up the Iraqi government plan to open up its oil fields to the highest bidders after three decades of tight control under Saddam Hussein. Starting next week, the Iraqi government will begin auctioning off contracts to foreign countries, opening up a market with 115 billion barrels in “proven reserves.” “If all goes according to plan in the first round, foreign oil companies will move in to help Iraq revive production at six developed fields that have suffered from years of war and neglect,” the newspaper writes.