White House Meets With Industry & Green Groups on Fracking

The White House review of delayed federal rules for oil-and-gas "fracking" is drawing plenty of interest from energy companies and green groups.  Representatives from the biggest oil-and-gas companies — including Exxon, Shell and BP — met Feb. 21 with aides from the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to discuss the rules.

The newly listed record of the Feb. 21 meeting also shows participation from drilling services giant Halliburton, ConocoPhillips, Exxon, Shell, BP, big gas producer Devon Energy, American Petroleum Institute and others.

The White House’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), which serves as the gatekeeper for regulations, held three meetings the second week of February on fracking with groups and companies including Anadarko Petroleum, the League of Conservation Voters, Apache Corp., America's Natural Gas Alliance, the Sierra Club, Environment America, Devon Energy, the Center for Effective Government and the Natural Resources Defense Council, among others.

Fracking forces millions of gallons of water, sand and chemical additives into deep layers of the earth to create cracks through which oil and gas can flow. Green groups say the fracking process risks heavy damage to the environment and the water supply, and are demanding stronger federal oversight. The industry promotes less federal regulation, arguing state-level oversight will be sufficient to protect public safety. (The Hill, 2/25/2013, The Hill, 2/13/2013)