During the past 18 months, this editor has worked to become more knowledgeable about induced seismicity as it relates to earthquake swarms. A swarm involves numerous earthquakes happening in a local area in a relatively short period although a swarm’s duration can vary from days to weeks. Source: News

With arguments crumbling for governmental support of ethanol, politicians have joined lobbyists to slay the “big-oil” dragon. Source: News

Gas-directed rigs represented most of the decline in the US rig count for the second consecutive week, giving up 8 of the 13 total units to go offline during the week ended Jan. 22, according to Baker Hughes Inc. data. Source: News

The US Department of the Interior proposed regulations aimed at reducing methane emissions from oil and gas operations on public and tribal lands. Three leading industry associations immediately said the proposed rules are unnecessary because operators already are curbing methane releases voluntarily. Source: News

Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. (NNPC) has stopped production at two of its three major refineries amid disruptions to feedstock availability following mid-January attacks by Nigerian militants on crude oil pipelines that supply the processing sites. Source: News

US oil and gas well completions in the fourth quarter of 2015 fell 51% from the total of the comparable quarter a year earlier, reports American Petroleum Institute. Source: News