EPA Fracking Stance Under Election Year Attack

Perhaps sensing the political vulnerability of the Obama administration, fracking industry executives such as Exxon Mobil Chief Exec Rex Tillerson are striking out at what he terms an overly "complicated" and "duplicative" regulatory process that threatens to derail the new boom in oil and natural gas exploration and production.

Tillerson, in a recent address to CERA, an industry conference annually for energy industry execs, lashed out at a regulatory environment wherein many state regulators are hesitant to update drilling rules for fear they will be overruled by new federal laws or regulations, causing industry uncertainty.

Fracking activity is one of the few bright spots in the American economy, adding tens of thousands of new jobs annually and creating boom town conditions in the northern Great Plains states as well as Texas and parts of the Midwest. After initially coming out on the side of critics of the process, the Obama administration has been largely silent as the November election approaches.

Exxon is the largest natural gas producer in the world, and the world's largest publicly-traded oil company, according to the Wall Street Journal.