US Rep. Bill Flores (R-Tex.) introduced a bill that aims to curb costs and regulations resulting from federal Endangered Species Act closed-door litigation settlements between the US Fish and Wildlife Service and environmental organizations.

The Well Life Cycle Practices Forum, a UK group formed in response to the Macondo tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, has published a second edition of its guidelines for relief-well planning for work on the UK continental shelf (OGJ Online, July 31, 2012).

The US Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration proposed ExxonMobil Pipeline Co. pay a $1.7 million fine because of a July 2011 failure of its Silvertip crude oil pipeline across the Yellowstone River near Laurel, Mont.

The US Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration issued a corrective action order on Mar. 22 outlining steps Chevron Pipe Line Co. must take in response to a leak 4 days earlier in its products pipeline near Willard, Utah.

Crude oil has been removed from a barge that was under tow when it collided Mar. 12 with a liquefied petroleum gas pipeline near Bayou Perot 30 miles south of New Orleans, the US Coast Guard said.

Shell Offshore Co. will have to develop a comprehensive operations management program—including closer oversight of its contractors—before it can resume Alaskan Arctic offshore exploration activities, US Sec. of the Interior Ken Salazar said.

A tug and barge collided with a liquefied petroleum gas pipeline near Bayou Perot in Lafourche Parish, 30 miles south of New Orleans on Mar. 12, resulting in a fire involving the barge and the pipeline.

Abu Dhabi National Energy Co. (TAQA) confirmed a hydrocarbon release was detected in one of the Cormorant Alpha platform legs in the northern UK North Sea, adding there was no hydrocarbon release into the sea or air.

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.

Alberta’s Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) issued four high-risk enforcement actions against Plains Midstream Canada in relation to an Apr. 28, 2011, spill of 28,000 bbl crude oil from Plains’ Rainbow Pipeline in Northern Sunrise County, Alta., roughly 95 km northeast of Peace River.

Royal Dutch Shell PLC announced it will “pause” its exploration drilling activity for 2013 in Alaska’s Beaufort and Chukchi seas to prepare equipment and plans for a resumption of activity at a later stage.

US Sec. of the Interior Ken Salazar signed a final plan for managing the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska that he and several environmental organizations called balanced, and the Alaska Oil & Gas Association called needlessly restrictive.