The disposal of polluted wastewater from a drilling technique known as hydraulic fracturing should be overseen by individual states and not the U.S. government, state regulators told a congressional committee.  More »

Baker Hughes Inc. (BHI) is looking at deals as it tries to extract bigger profits from the boom in U.S. shale-oil exploration. That may put Key Energy Services Inc. (KEG) and Lufkin Industries Inc. (LUFK) on its wish list.  More »

The Obama administration is carefully writing new rules to govern hydraulic fracturing on public lands to make sure they don’t impede the development of America’s promising natural gas supplies, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar insisted today.  More »

The state House and Senate opened a long-anticipated debate over competing Republican bills to overhaul the regulation of natural gas drilling and impose a fee on drilling companies, as the Democratic minority complained that neither proposal goes far enough in tapping revenue from the lucrative industry.  More »

If you ask the oil industry, a boom in extracting gas from dense shale rock formations across the nation is fueling a surge in jobs, with the potential to create tens of thousands more in New York, Pennsylvania and other states. But those job creation claims are wildly inflated, according to Food and Water Watch, a consumer and conservation group.  More »

After living all of her 82 years in the same community, Lois Sinness left her hometown this month, crying and towing a U-Haul packed with her every possession.  More »

A broad-ranging bill to regulate natural gas drilling in the state and impose a fee on drillers won a key state Senate committee’s support Monday but not the bipartisan backing the high-ranking Republican sponsor had hoped for.  More »

BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP), Australia’s biggest oil and gas producer, expects output from its U.S. shale assets to quadruple by 2020, driven by the $12.1 billion purchase of Petrohawk Energy Corp.  More »

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said it has found high levels of benzene and other chemicals in the latest groundwater samples from a community within a gas field.  More »

Oil and gas companies that hydraulically fracture wells spent $747 million lobbying federal policymakers and contributing to lawmakers’ campaigns from 2001 through late 2011, an advocacy group said today. Common Cause says its findings reflect industry’s desire to avoid federal regulation.  More »

A federal task force studying ways to boost the safety of natural gas drilling says today its members are disappointed that the federal government, state regulators and industry leaders haven’t heeded their advice.  More »

The first results from wells in Poland show Europe is unlikely to match the U.S. boom in shale gas, analysts at Bernstein Research said.  More »