-The Obama Administration is advancing a measure initially proposed over two years ago that would enact new federal rules for fracking on public lands. Via FuelFix, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs launched a final interagency review of the rules earlier this week that could take up to 90 days. It is unlikely that a final rule will be published before November’s midterm elections.
-Meanwhile, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will resume leases for fracking on federal lands in California, the Associated Press reports. Fracking has been suspended in California since last year, when a federal judge ruled BLM violated environmental law by allowing fracking on public land in Monterey County. A study released Thursday showed fracking and other well stimulation techniques did not contaminate water supplies or increase the risk of earthquakes in the state.
-Demand for fracking sand in 2016 will be 96% higher than that of last year, according to an analyst at Morgan Stanley. Via Bloomberg, supplies of fracking sand will trail demand by 10% in 2016, and shortages could last years.
-Duke Energy filed a plan with Indiana regulators to modernize its statewide electric grid at a cost of $1.9 billion. The seven-year plan includes upgrading and replacing aging infrastructure, including substations, power lines and transformers. Duke estimates the modernization work would create or support 5,000 jobs over the seven-year period.
-Albermarle entered into a joint venture with Israeli firm ICL to manufacture Albemarle’s GreenCrest polymeric flame retardant and ICL’s FR-122P polymeric flame retardant. The joint venture will operate an existing 2,400-MT-per-year plant in the Netherlands and a 10,000-MT-per-year plant in Israel that will come online this year. Both plants are located at ICL sites.
