In this week's news update, the fracking ban in New York won't be overturned due to the EPA drinking water study, and the US rig count drops for the 26th straight week.
Baker Hughes announced that the past week saw yet another drop in U.S. rigs exploring for oil and natural gas. The count now rests at 868, a decline of seven from the previous week. A year ago, there were 1,860 active rigs.
According to the company’s June 5 report, out of the current total, 642 rigs were seeking oil and 222 seeking natural gas. Four were listed as miscellaneous.
Texas lost five rigs, Colorado and New Mexico each lost two, while Arkansas, North Dakota, Ohio and Pennsylvania each dropped by one.
Louisiana added three rigs, West Virginia gained two, and California and Kansas added one each. Alaska, Oklahoma, Utah and Wyoming were unchanged.
EPA report won’t affect New York fracking ban
Though the recently released report from the Environmental Protection Agency stated that the five-year study did not find that fracking has led to any systemic or widespread pollution of drinking water, Governor Andrew Cuomo’s administration says the ban on fracking will stay.
New York Department of Environmental Conservation spokesman Tom Mailey said that New York’s review was more comprehensive than the EPA’s review. The DEC will be releasing a legal document formalizing the state’s fracking ban.
Federal jury acquits former BP exec
David Rainey, the former BP vice president of exploration in the Gulf, was acquitted of lying by a federal jury on June 5. Rainey had been charged with willfully making a fraudulent statement to federal law enforcement regarding the amount of oil that had spilled into the Gulf of Mexico upon on the explosion of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil rig in April, 2010. He faced a five-year sentence if found guilty.
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