The Texas Railroad Commission (RRC), the state agency responsible for the regulation of the oil and gas industry in Texas, announced that it will hire an in-house seismologist in response to a series of earthquakes in the small town of Azle, Texas.

The southernmost portion of the TransCanada Corporation owned Keystone XL pipeline began transporting crude oil from Cushing, Oklahoma, to Nederland, Texas, on January 22.

On January 10, the House Committee on Natural Resources, Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources held a hearing to discuss seismic exploration on the Mid- and South Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf (OCS).

The production tax credit (PTC) for renewable energy, a corporate tax credit available to businesses producing renewable energy through a number of green technologies, expired at the end of 2013.

The Senate Finance Committee recently released a new proposal to overhaul some energy provisions in the tax code in the United States.

On November 20, the House of Representatives passed legislation limiting federal regulations on hydraulic fracturing in states where regulations already exist.

Witnesses: 
Allison Macfarlane
Chairman, Nuclear Regulatory Commission 
Peter Lyons
Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy, Department of Energy 

Committee Members Present:

Witnesses
Ernest Moniz
Nominee for Secretary of Energy

Committee Members
Ron Wyden (D-OR), Chairman
Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Ranking Member
Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)
Dean Heller (R-NV)
Martin Heinrich (D-NM)
John Barrasso (R-WY)
Al Franken (D-MN)
Tim Scott (R-SC)
Brian Schatz (D-HA)
Mike Lee (R-UT)

Witnesses
Cory Kief
Director of Business Development, Crosby Tugs, LLC
Chett Chiasson
Executive Director, Greater Lafourche Port Commission
Brian Kroll
Senior Economist, Virginia Economic Development Partnership
Bob Mitchell
Chief Executive Officer, Atlantic Wind Connection