The world’s Arctic nations formally agreed to cooperate on marine oil pollution preparedness and response at the Arctic Council’s May 15 meeting in Kiruna, Sweden.

The US Department of the Interior released a revised proposal to regulate hydraulic fracturing on public and Indian lands that it said would maintain important safety standards, improve integration with existing state and tribal rules, and increase flexibility for oil and gas producers.

The US Bureau of Land Management’s Rock Springs, Wyo., field office began a 30-day public scoping period on May 6 before it prepares an environmental assessment of Devon Energy Production Co. LP’s proposal to develop up to 20 new oil and gas wells within the Horseshoe basin unit.

The US Bureau of Land Management’s Anchorage, Alas., office released a draft plan listing near-term priorities and actions to plug and clean up legacy wells in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, but the draft quickly drew fire from the state’s senior US senator.

Canada’s minister of natural resources has warned officials of the European Union against “discriminatory treatment” of fuels made from products of Canadian oil sands.

A test deployment of well control equipment was completed by the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), Noble Energy Inc., and the Helix Well Containment Group (HWCG) to assess Noble’s ability to respond to a potential subsea blowout in the Gulf of Mexico.

Safety was a priority for engineers planning the first floating production, storage, and offloading vessel installed in the Gulf of Mexico, Petrobras America Inc. executives told a May 6 technical session of the Offshore Technology Conference in Houston.

Oklahoma Atty. Gen. E. Scott Pruitt (R) and 12 more attorneys general from producing states urged the US Environmental Protection Agency to resist a threat by seven northeastern states to sue if EPA does not impose methane emissions limits under the federal Clean Air Act.

Advances in deepwater technology require financial commitment by oil companies and a willingness to form partnerships with vendors and regulators, panelists discussing the DeepStar research and development collaboration told an opening session of the Offshore Technology Conference in Houston.

Four oil and gas associations—American Petroleum Institute, American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, Independent Petroleum Association of America, and Western States Petroleum Association—joined 20 other business groups on Apr. 18 in asking the US Supreme Court to review the US Environmental Protection Agency’s regulation of greenhouse gases.

Calls for the Obama administration to authorize construction of the Keystone XL crude oil pipeline’s final segment increased as the US Department of State began hearings on the project in Grand Island, Neb., on Apr. 18.

Concerned about rising domestic oil consumption, the new minister of energy of the United Arab Emirates has called for national-level improvements in energy-use efficiency.