April 2018 archive

Kansas City Southern Resumes Line Closed After 2005 Hurricane

The Kansas City Southern railway company, whose freight trains pass through eastern Oklahoma and into the central part of the state has announced a new weekly intermodal service between the Port of New Orleans and Wylie, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. The service will begin in May and had been discontinued after Hurricane Katrina in …

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Safety Advocate’s “Dirty Dozen” List of Unsafe Firms Includes Drilling Firm where 5 workers died

A national workplace safety advocacy group has named the drilling company where five workers died in a January explosion in southeast Oklahoma to its so-called “Dirty Dozen” list for unsafe practices. The National Council for Occupational Safety and Health listed Patterson UTI Energy of Houston, Texas because of the 110 reported OSHA violations and the …

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Federal Appeals Court Upholds Dismissal of Lawsuit Against Ponca City Refinery

    A Ponca City woman who blamed her leukemia on chemical emissions from the ConocoPhillips refinery in her hometown has lost her case with the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver. Samantha Hall grew up around the refinery but two decades later developed a form of leukemia and filed suit in 2014.  …

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Federal Judge Rules for Corporation Commission in Lawsuit

An Oklahoma City woman active in civil rights has lost most of her federal lawsuit against the Oklahoma Corporation Commission. U.S. District Judge Vicki Miles-LaGrange has dismissed many of the claims made in a lawsuit filed last year by former commission employee Rosalyn Jacquett. She ruled on a motion by attorneys for the commission. She …

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$9.4 billion Petrochemical Plant to be Built in Louisiana

A nearly $9.5 billion petrochemical plant will be built in Louisiana by a company based in Taiwan. Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards joined Formosa Petrochemical Corp. Executive Vice President Keh-Yen Lin in making the announcement this week. Plans call for the $9.4 billion chemical manufacturing complex to be located on 2,400 acres in St. James …

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State Hearing Date Set on VW Emissions Settlement

After suing Volkswagen over its emissions scandal, the state of Oklahoma now has to go through a comment period in order to receive $21 million in a settlement with the car maker. The Department of Environmental Quality announced this week it plans to hold a May 8 public meeting as part of the development of …

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New York Denies Permit for Expansion of Williams Cos. Pipeline

A setback for Tulsa’s Williams Cos. in its efforts to build a Northeast Supply Enhancement natural gas pipeline project in New York. The state denied the company a key water quality permit in a move similar to the state’s denials of the same permit to two other gas pipelines in recent years. The rejection was …

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PSO and Others Reach Agreement on Panhandle Wind Catcher Project

Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO), Oklahoma Industrial Energy Consumers (OIEC) and Walmart have reached a settlement agreement on PSO’s proposed Wind Catcher Energy Connection project (Wind Catcher). Together, PSO, OIEC and Walmart are requesting the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (Commission) approve the project under the terms of the settlement agreement – terms which collectively result …

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Devon Energy Prepares for Annual Meeting June 6

Devon Energy’s sent its proxy information for its upcoming June 6 annual shareholders meeting to be held at its Oklahoma City headquarters. The mailer, filed this week with the Securities and Exchange Commission notified shareholders how to obtain the annual report and explained methods of voting. Shareholders will have the option of voting in person, …

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Another New Pipeline to Carry Crude Oil Out of Permian Basin

Another big pipeline is being proposed in West Texas in a move that will likely affect the significance of the Cushing crude oil hub. This time, it’s Phillips 66 Partners planning to construction the Gray Oak Pipeline system to provide crude oil transportation from West Texas to destinations in the Corpus Christi and Sweeny/Freeport markets. …

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