September 15, 2016 archive

WTI and Brent Crude Post Slight Gains on Thursday

Oil futures showed a slight increase on Thursday despite weeklong trading volatility and economic data suggesting a possible decline in energy demand, according to Bloomberg MarketWatch. October West Texas Intermediate crude rose 33 cents, or 0.8%, to end trading at $43.91 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. November Brent crude, the global benchmark, added …

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Chesapeake Loses $438 Million Appeal in Bond Dispute

Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake Energy Corporation lost its appeal in a $438 million bond dispute by a unanimous 3-0 vote of the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday. The Manhattan federal appeals court agreed with bond trustee, BONY Mellon, that bondholders were contractually entitled to a special “make-whole” price due to the early redemption. …

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Reporters Barred From State-Funded Earthquake Forum

As Desi always told Lucy on the old I Love Lucy TV show, “you got some splaining to do.”  And that’s clearly the case at the University of Oklahoma and the Oklahoma Geological Survey where state funds were used to hold an earthquake forum from which reporters were given the boot. The story, as laid …

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McClendon’s Wine Collection to Be Sold—-Could Raise $7.5 million

The nearly 4,700 bottles making up the collection of the late energy leader Aubrey McClendon will be sold at auction on Saturday. The auction, expected to raise $7.5 million for the McClendon estate, will begin at 8:30 Oklahoma time as auctioneers at Hart Davis Hart Wine company begin the sale of 1,058 lots containing 4,699 bottles of …

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Oil and Gas Investments Drop—-but Grow in Renewable Energy

  If the International Energy Agency is correct, this current oil bust will be responsible for creating the longest period of declining investment in the energy industry in half a century. Oil and gas investment dropped by 25 percent last year to just $583 billion, according to the report from Fatih Birol, the executive director …

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5,000 Drilled but Uncompleted Wells Nationally

Latest oil production figures from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.   New-well oil production per rig barrels/day New-well gas production per rig thousand cubic feet/day Region September 2016 October 2016 change September 2016 October 2016 change Bakken 875 896 21 1,189 1,228 39 Eagle Ford 1,153 1,170 17 3,335 3,382 47 Haynesville 31 31 – …

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Congressman’s Latest Waste Watch Report Includes Money for Off-Road Trails

  Oklahoma Congressman Steve Russell is out with his latest “Waste Watch” report, one detailing $10 billion in what he calls wasteful government spending including hundreds of thousands spent on off-roading trails in West Virginia. But the Republican Representative (5th Dist. Ok.) led off his list with the U.S. paying $1.7 billion in legal settlement …

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Law Professors tell House Committee It’s on Legal Track to Subpoena Attorneys General in Fraud Probe

The Republicans who issued subpoenas to state Attorneys General and environmental groups investigating Exxon Mobil Corp. received legal advice this week giving them support for what they’re doing. Three of four law professors from schools around the country told Representatives Frank Lucas and James Bridenstine and others on the U.S. House Committee on Science, space …

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Trump to Campaign Saturday in Norman but Not at OU-Ohio State Game

With a massive crowd expected Saturday in Norman for the football game between OU and Ohio State, Donald Trump will bring his Presidential campaign to the city. But OU President David, a longtime Democrat makes it clear, he has not and will not issue a personal invitation to Trump to attend the afternoon game. It’s …

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DC Circuit Court Now Weighing What to do with Dakota Access Pipeline Construction

  While thousands of Indians and environmentalists are camped in North Dakota fighting the Dakota Access oil pipeline, the D.C. Circuit Court in Washington has heard arguments for and against the project. It’s where the Standing Rock Sioux tribe took their case after a North Dakota federal judge last week refused to block the $3.8 …

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