US President Barack Obama has issued an executive order to establish an interagency working group to “facilitate coordinated Administration policy efforts to support safe and responsible unconventional domestic natural gas development.”
The White House said the planned group will provide government oversight of shale drilling for oil and natural gas and of hydraulic fracturing completion methods.
The Obama move is seen as a response to numerous government agencies attempting to establish regulations for unconventional resource drilling and development and to answer demands by environmental and scientific organisations with concerns about potential pollution, environmental damage, and the possibility of fracture operations causing earthquakes.