Thursday, July 26, 2012

How many oil and gas inspectors per well does your state have? it may be hard to tell

The protection of property and the environment from damage by oil and gas operations depends greatly on the strength and attitude of state regulatory agencies, but their relative strength in personnel terms can be hard to calculate, Ellen Gilmer of Environment & Energy News reports.

"A recent overview of state shale gas regulations showcases major gaps in data available to compare, state by state, the force of oil and gas agencies," Gillmer writes. "Oklahoma, for one, doesn't know how many producing wells it has. . . . This lack of data comes at a time when understanding the workload of state inspectors has become crucial as states grapple with booming shale development and often shriveling budgets."

The analysis by the environmental think tank Resources for the Future uses maps to illustrate state  regulation. We reported on it here.

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