Sally Jewell, US President Barack Obama’s nominee for Interior secretary, told a US Senate committee she would try to bring differing sides together to find common ground that satisfies both resource development and conservation needs.

The outlook remained uncertain both inside and outside Venezuela following President Hugo Chavez’s death from cancer on Mar. 5. Venezuelan government offices worldwide closed Mar. 6-8 as the South American oil-producing country began a national mourning period.

Three of US President Barack Obama’s recent Cabinet nominees—Sally Jewell to be Interior secretary, Ernest J. Moniz to be Energy secretary, and Gina McCarthy to be Environmental Protection Agency administrator—potentially could have significant impacts on the country’s significantly improved oil and gas outlook, American Petroleum Institute Pres. Jack N. Gerard said.

While US oil and gas production has climbed to its highest level in 2 decades, all of the growth since 2007 has occurred outside federally controlled areas where production actually declined, a recent report from the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service found.

US President Barack Obama nominated Gina McCarthy, the US Environmental Protection Agency’s assistant administrator for air and radiation, to succeed Lisa A. Jackson as EPA’s administrator. He also nominated Ernest J. Moniz, who directs the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Energy Initiative, to succeed Steven Chu as US Energy Secretary.

The US Department of State released a draft supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS) for the proposed Keystone XL crude oil pipeline’s new presidential permit application.

US Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) introduced legislation designed to address regulatory impacts from federal Endangered Species Act closed-door litigation settlements between the US Fish and Wildlife Service and environmental organizations.

The automatic budget cuts under the impending federal budget sequestration will adversely affect federal energy activities, warned Heather Zichal, US President Barack Obama’s chief energy and environmental policy advisor.

Two congressional Republicans announced a bicameral effort to stimulate the US economy and improve energy security with new bills aimed at opening up more federal acreage for oil and gas development, streamlining regulatory processes, and limiting legal challenges.

The US should pursue a diverse energy portfolio, improve the economy’s economic productivity, accelerate innovation and technology improvements across the energy sector, and improve energy policy governance and accountability, the Bipartisan Policy Center said in a new report.

Representatives from the US Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy should have been invited to testify at a hearing examining potential problems from EPA’s allowing gasoline with a 15% ethanol blend into the US market, the ranking minority member of a US House Science, Space, and Technology subcommittee suggested.