Despite the Commonwealth Court's recent decision striking down Act 13’s limits on municipalities enacting zoning ordinances more restrictive than the state’s uniform requirements, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission ("PUC") has begun enforcement of Act 13's impact fee provisions. Specifically, the PUC has started to review some municipalities' ordinances that seek to regulate drilling activity ...
On July 22, 2011, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett’s Marcellus Shale Advisory Commission in Harrisburg, Pa. forwarded to the Governor several recommendations to allow Pennsylvania to develop a comprehensive, strategic proposal for the responsible and environmentally sound development of the Marcellus Shale. Back in March 2011, the Governor created the Commission to address changes to the laws and rules for gas drilling in Pennsylvania ...
On July 26, 2012, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court issued its decision in Robinson Township, et al. v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, involving the challenge brought by seven townships and boroughs to the Act 13 provision preempting local regulation involving oil and gas operations, codified at 58 Pa. C.S. Section 3304 ...
On May 25, 2007, the Supreme Court of Canada rendered a unanimous decision in favour of our client, Transat Tours Canada Inc., a subsidiary of the Transat A.T. Inc. group, which ranks among the ten largest tourism businesses in the world. This precedent is of crucial importance for Canadian firms carrying on business abroad ...
As natural gas commodity prices continue their near-term climb, and new domestic sources become harder to find, many oil and gas producers and large gas users such as chemical companies are looking abroad for a cheaper and more readily available source of supply ...
The window for low-income service providers to take advantage of funds available through the Oregon Solar+ Storage Rebate Program is closing. Each year, 25 percent of the program’s budget is allocated to low-income and moderate-income homeowners and service providers. This year, the non-income-restricted funds have already been disbursed, and only low-income and moderate-income restricted funds remain ...
Many government agencies set goals for their construction projects to be awarded to disadvantaged business enterprises (DBE). The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) DBE certification program sets antidiscrimination regulations that states can implement for federal funding. The Certification Office for Business Inclusion and Diversity (COBID) is the certifying authority of DBEs (on behalf of the DOT) in Oregon ...
The mining industry has been subject to some specific measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I. Collective Safe-Passage Permits. According tonumber 10.bof theinstructionsfor travel permitsissued bythe Ministry of Internal Affairs and Public Security1,updatedonApril2nd, 2020, mining companies and their related industries are considered as part of those basic services, utilities, and services with a high degree of social worth ...
Canada is uniquely positioned to provide an abundance of secure and reliable energy. With conventional oil supply declining, the need for unconventional resources, like oil sands and shale gas, will increase. Alberta and British Columbia, Canada’s two western-most provinces, house the vast majority of Canada’s oil and natural gas deposits, making both provinces key players in the push to develop resources sufficient to meet growing energy demand in North America and beyond ...
There have been recent interesting developments in Latin American aviation. Set forth below is a discussion of some of them. Topics include: General Outlook Key Mexican Reforms U.S. and European Expansion Mexico: Dynamic Aviation Sector The Venezuela Crisis Excerpted from Latinvex. To read the full article, click here ...
International Oil Companies (IOCs) that have been eyeing East Africa may want to look beyond established jurisdictions like Kenya and Mozambique. Across the water that is, to the Indian Ocean islands of Seychelles, Mauritius and Comoros. All three islands offer interesting opportunities, but in this short article I’ll be concentrating on just one of them – Seychelles ...
According to the Mexican Constitution (the "Constitution"), the Nation has direct ownership of subsoil, as well as the exclusive right to develop and use petroleum and gas. Therefore, private ownership of hydrocarbons is forbidden and ownership of reserves of petroleum and gas belongs to the Nation.As a result, the Nation may not grant oil exploration and user rights to private entities ...
1. Industry Structure and Market Portugal is usually looked at as a potential oil-producing country attracting industry players on a regular basis to carry out prospection activities due to the extension of its coast. In fact, several public agencies and experts have identified the Portuguese off-shore and on-shore as having oil producing potential ...
The British government has adopted stringent measures to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus effective from 23 March 2020[1], including a nationwide lockdown, closure of non-essential shops and public venues and mandatory social distancing. The general rule is that people should stay at home, but workers can travel to and from work if they cannot perform their work from home[2] ...
The price of oil—already hammered by market conditions—took another stumble in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak with no immediate relief in sight. Accordingly, the Oil & Gas Industry must prepare for the looming wave of oncoming legal issues, which will affect every sector of the market. This alert contains recommended actions for industry stakeholders ...
Ofgem announced last week that it is delaying its decision on proposals relating to transmission losses. The gas and electricity market regulator's previous statement that it favours one of several proposals before it on this subject has caused considerable consternation among commentators in Scotland ...
Introduction: The new reality As a result of the sudden and dramatic fall in the oil price that had occurred between June 2014, when oil had been trading at prices of around US$115 per barrel of Brent crude, to January 2015 by which time it had fallen to around US$35 per barrel, I was prompted to prepare a “Guide for Contractors”. Parties in the offshore oil and gas sector, and in particular contractors in the industry, were facing turbulent and unpredictable times ...
This alert provides links to the latest insights and commentary on key energy and environmental issues from the Hunton Andrews Kurth team. Links to our most recent posts on the Nickel Report Blog for this month are below. Please subscribe to receive alerts when new posts are published by visiting our blog and entering your email address in the subscribe field or by following us on Twitter. For current Covid-19 related news updates please read more here ...
Another great year for the Ocean team at SVW has ended. The Shipping industry had a great year, as we have witnessed it through our clients’ engagements. More steps have been taken toward environmentally smarter investments by many clients, not only within the fuel engine options in new-building orders, but also piloting strategic joint ventures and collaborations in the fuel terminals infrastructure (hydrogen/ammonia), as well as power plants ...
As a consequence of the spread of COVID-19, certain protection and prevention measures have been developed in order to safeguard health in the different sectors that are operational. In this report we will share security measures implemented in Venezuela aimed at protecting the health of operators and personnel working in ports and at sea, as well as some recommendations established by international organizations. 1 ...
President Obama has renewed his proposal to cut over $40 billion in tax breaks for oil, gas and coal producers over the next decade in an attempt to spend more for alternate energy and conservation. The $3.8 trillion budget proposal represents a 29% increase in renewable energy funds in 2013, as compared to 2012 ...
Some are just donkeys with a horn.I will remember 2019 as the year when many unicorns were exposed as donkeys in disguise.Invoking the rarity and mystique of the mythical creature, a “unicorn” is the term the financial market coined for companies worth US$1 billion or more. The year opened with high hopes for such companies that sought an initial public offering (IPO) in the following months ...
