To settle or not to settle; that is the question. Whether it’s practical or simply expedient for a federal agency facing legal action to negotiate a compromise so it can use increasingly scarce resources elsewhere . . .

Heavy rain didn’t dampen Western Energy Alliance members’ enthusiasm the morning of May 7 during their 2013 Washington call-up. They had too many places to go . . .

Lucio Noto supplied interesting details as he reminisced Apr. 29 about the merger which created ExxonMobil Corp. in 1999. . . .

Four agencies are moving ahead and continuing to coordinate federal hydraulic fracturing research despite missing a pair of deadlines . . .

Broader questions emerged from the US Chemical Safety Board’s initial report on its investigation of an Aug. 6, 2012 incident at Chevron USA’s Richmond, Calif., refinery. . . .

During Bill Clinton’s first US presidential campaign in 1992, workers at its headquarters kept focused by periodically glancing at a poster proclaiming: “It’s the economy, stupid.” . . .

Fugitive methane emissions from natural gas operations are a significant global warming pollution source which should be reduced sharply, a new World Resources Institute working paper asserts. . . .

Countries in Asia’s southern Caucasus region already have shown they can work together and build long-distance pipelines . . .

Many people in the oil and gas industry have been thinking hard about future workforce needs. They cite the number . . .

American security and prosperity are increasingly, and inextricably, linked to developing countries, a new Center for Strategic and International Studies report says . . .

Gina McCarthy would not be nominated as the next EPA administrator for 3 more days. But an American Petroleum Institute official was ready on Mar. 1 . . .

Many anticipated Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s death from cancer. It still raised significant questions about what will happen next when it actually happened . . .

Washington’s major league baseball team, which became the National League’s eastern division champion in 2012, isn’t the only group in the nation’s capital which feels as if it’s wearing a target . . .

Sally Jewell’s nomination on Feb. 6 to succeed Ken Salazar as US Interior secretary was indisputably a surprise. . . .

American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers President Charles T. Drevna made his primary 2013 New Year's resolution early, and quickly started to keep it. . . .

The idea that Colorado regulators faced setbacks seems confusing at first. In this context, however, “setback” refers to . . .

Maybe it was because it was a presidential election year. Whatever the reason, words seemed to matter more than substance . . .

The US Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration is expected to announced new safety regulations in 2013 . . .

From the outset, the discussion’s question seemed provocative: Can the world live without Iranian oil? . . .

Norway is taking a phased development approach as it tries to create sustainable Arctic offshore oil and gas projects in the Barents Sea . . .

Most of the interest so far in the International Energy Agency’s medium-term global energy outlook was in its suggestion that the United States could surpass Saudi Arabia...

Federal regulators and US crude oil pipeline owners and operators have made real progress in 2012, PHMSA Administrator Cynthia L. Quarterman . . .

Early indications were that the US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement avoided a well-intentioned mistake . . .

At first glance, the National Petroleum Council’s future transportation fuels report may have looked like a cop-out . . .

Deep federal spending cuts and tax increases due to automatically kick in early next year actually may force Congress and the White House to finally begin addressing the budget deficit  . . .

In retrospect, it was inevitable. Claims made in “Gasland”, Josh Fox’s anti-fracing documentary, were so dramatic and troubling . . .

Arctic offshore oil and gas resources extend beyond North America, experts reminded their audience at a July 12 forum . . .

There was plenty of drama, intrigue, and even some comedy, on July 2 when North Carolina’s general assembly overrode a July 1 veto by Gov. Beverly Perdue . . .

The Interior Department announced June 22 that it would accept comments on its proposed onshore hydraulic fracturing regulations for another 60 days. Then it unofficially explained why this was not a delay . . .

Voluntary conservation agreements already in place in New Mexico and Texas have kept the US Fish and Wildlife Service from listing the dunes sagebrush lizard as an endangered species . . .

Can states effectively protect drinking water supplies as more oil and gas is produced from tight shales? That's the core question . . .

A British researcher was started as he studied a night-time satellite photo of the US when he saw what he termed a "mystery city" in western North Dakota and eastern Montana . . . .

The US Bureau of Land Management didn't have to wait long for comments about its proposed hydraulic fracturing regulations. . . .

It was Tim Wigley’s first Washington call-up as the Western Energy Alliance’s president, and he liked what he saw. . . .

Occasionally, it’s good to remember that decades of research and development normally precede technological breakthroughs . . .

Four experts reminded a congressional committee that forces driving global oil markets are still beyond federal lawmakers’ control as the US Senate . . .

The Silly Season arrived earlier than usual in Washington, undoubtedly because gasoline prices soared and many members of Congress felt their constituents’ pain more than usual . . .

Alberta Premier Alison Redford wasted no time delivering her message: Her government plans to more actively tell the oil sands story . . .

US Sen. Lisa Murkowski believed that oil and gas production on federally-managed acreage dropped, as production grew on privately-held land, because the Obama administration created such a hostile environment . . .

Daniel Yergin had covered a lot of territory when he spoke at the US Chamber of Commerce on Feb. 16. . . .

A West Virginia University research associate professor has developed a technology to remotely monitor Marcellus Shale natural gas wells  . . .

There were several insights as two National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners committees held a joint meeting on hydraulic fracturing Feb. 6 at NARUC’s 2012 winter meeting here . . .

Natural gas vehicles may not have much political appeal in Washington, but they're slowly gaining ground in some states . . .

The pipeline safety reauthorization bill, which US President Barack Obama signed into law on Jan. 3, 2012, was a conspicuous exception to 2011's hyper-partisan federal legislative gridlock . . .

Ohio Department of Natural Resources Director James Zehringer ordered operations halted at a fluid injection well . . .

It’s time for this column’s annual awards for dubious achievements and amusing moments in government: the 2011 Watchies . . .

Many rural US communities facing economic pressures and high unemployment would welcome oil and gas resource development. It can also challenge local governments . . .

The essential question at a Dec. 7 Center for Strategic and International Studies seminar was whether North America is on the verge  . . .

Kathryn Klaber quickly got to the point when she addressed the American Gas Association’s Natural Gas Roundtable luncheon on Nov. 29. The Marcellus Shale Coalition’s president and executive director . . .

International sanctions and an unfavorable investment climate continue to limit Iran’s development of its considerable oil and gas resources . . .

The US House Judiciary Committee approved HR 1996, the Government Litigation Savings Act, on Nov. 17 by 19 to 14 votes. Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Tex.) said that the 1980 Equal Access to Justice Act . . .

Some member of Congress still want the US Environmental Protection Agency to take a bigger role in regulating surface activities connected with onshore oil and gas exploration and production . . .

Can we learn from history? Hindsight gives us an advantage over those who were involved in important policy decisions back then. But the people who were there can still offer significant perspectives . . .