On Fracking Rules, It’s States vs. Feds

WILLISTON, N.D.—How can you be in a relationship with someone who doesn't want to be in a relationship with you? That's the challenge facing Interior Secretary Sally Jewell when she recently visited with oil executives here and sought to explain why the federal government thinks it's necessary to regulate drilling operations. "I appreciate what's happening in the Bakken," Jewell told reporters after touring a Continental Resources drilling rig on the Bakken rock-shale formation deep below Williston earlier this month. "I also know my job is overseeing the resources owned by the federal government. I have to develop these resources safely and responsibly in a way that also supports domestic energy production. It's a tricky balance." Call it polite friction. Jewell said the regulations are necessary. The oil executives present said that the regulations are wholly unnecessary. The relationship among the federal government, energy companies, and state regulators is getting more tense as the combination of hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling unleashes one of the world's biggest oil and natural gas booms—and all of the environmental questions that come with it. Indeed, the federal government is writing regulations controlling oil and gas drilling throughout the country even though many states—including North Dakota—already have rules on the books. It's a position that draws criticism from industry officials, and some in the states, who complain that too much red tape will constrain economic benefits...more