Washington (Platts)--7Jun2011/223 pm EDT/1823 GMT
A moratorium on all new oil and natural gas drilling permits adopted Monday by the New York State Assembly would "effectively shut down" the industry through June 2012 if passed by the Senate and signed into law, the New York Independent Oil and Gas Association said Tuesday. "Some legislators misunderstand the process to extract oil and natural gas and the regulations that serve to protect the public and the environment," said Brad Gill, executive director of the association. "As a result, they are considering legislation that will harm 400 companies and threaten the jobs of 4,500 current industry employees." Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, a Democrat from lower Manhattan, said in a statement he supported the bill because of the absence of "conclusive scientific evidence that hydrofracking in the Marcellus Shale will pose no threat to public health or safety." Article continues below... Request a free trial of: Gas Daily Gas Daily offers the most detailed coverage of natural gas prices at interstate and intrastate pipeline and pooling points in major U.S. markets. Gas Daily keeps you informed about complex state and federal regulations that affect competition in the gas industry.
A moratorium on all new oil and natural gas drilling permits adopted Monday by the New York State Assembly would "effectively shut down" the industry through June 2012 if passed by the Senate and signed into law, the New York Independent Oil and Gas Association said Tuesday. "Some legislators misunderstand the process to extract oil and natural gas and the regulations that serve to protect the public and the environment," said Brad Gill, executive director of the association. "As a result, they are considering legislation that will harm 400 companies and threaten the jobs of 4,500 current industry employees." Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, a Democrat from lower Manhattan, said in a statement he supported the bill because of the absence of "conclusive scientific evidence that hydrofracking in the Marcellus Shale will pose no threat to public health or safety."
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Gas Daily offers the most detailed coverage of natural gas prices at interstate and intrastate pipeline and pooling points in major U.S. markets. Gas Daily keeps you informed about complex state and federal regulations that affect competition in the gas industry.
He said the bill will "give the state time to assess the risks revealed by the existing data and to review the [state] Department of Environmental Conservation's findings in its forthcoming hydrofracking study." The state senate, which is controlled by Republicans, has not discussed the issue, said Mark Hansen, a spokesman for Temporary Senate President Dean Skelos a Republican from Long Island. The leadership has not decided when it "will take a look at it." Gill pointed out in a statement that 90% of the state's 14,000 active oil and gas wells "required hydraulic fracture stimulation to free the natural resource. If current operations cease in New York, 430 natural gas wells and 250 oil wells will not be drilled over the next year," he said. "That means 21,900,000 Mcf of gas and 18,750 barrels of oil won't be produced in New York, resulting in a loss of $26.7 million in sales," he said. "Real property taxes totaling $1.4 million also will be lost over the course of one year." --Rodney White, rodney_white@platts.com
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