Oklahoma Corporation Commissioner Bob Anthony was sworn into office Monday morning after winning re-election last November to his sixth consecutive term. Of the 9 statewide offices, Anthony is the longest-serving Oklahoma statewide elected official. It was 30 years ago when he was first sworn into office. Anthony was administered two oaths of office. One …
January 2019 archive
ONEGAS fights passing along federal tax cuts to Kansas consumers
While tens of thousands of customers of one Kansas natural gas service will see a drop in their utility bills over the federal tax reductions approved a year ago, the Oklahoma parent company of another service is fighting such a move. The 37,000 customers of Black Hills Energy in Wichita, Kansas will see about a …
High court case involves wages paid to offshore rig workers
From POLITICO’s Morning Energy Report, word about a case involving wages paid to those who work on offshore oil and gas rigs. “The Supreme Court on Friday said it will decide whether workers on offshore drilling rigs are subject to state wage laws. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco last year ruled …
Tulsa-based coal firm to release 4Q earnings report
Tulsa’s major coal-mining company, Alliance Resource Partners, L.P. plans to make its fourth quarter 2018 financial results available on Monday, Jan. 28, 2019. The release will be made prior to the opening of markets. Alliance management will discuss the results during a conference call at 9 a.m. central time on the same day. The company …
Government shutdown affecting some aspects of Oklahoma’s energy industry
Some energy-related federal agencies in Oklahoma are among those directly affected by the partial-government shutdown. The U.S. Interior Department has 875 employees working in Oklahoma. Its various agencies include the Bureau of Indian Affairs which handles matters related to oil and gas leases on Indian land. Of course, the BIA also funds critical services for the …
Transparency to be part of Byrd’s historic leadership at State Auditor
Oklahoma’s history-making Auditor Cindy Byrd might not have a direct involvement in the state’s energy industry, but her agency monitors the finances of such agencies as the Department of Environmental Quality, the Energy Department and the Corporation Commission. And she intends to make transparency a focus of her agency. She made history on …
Midstream companies nervous in Colorado as Democrats target drilling and pipelines
Not only are midstream companies in Colorado nervous about the goal of Democrats in control of their statehouse,but so are some in Oklahoma. That’s because the pipelines that could be targeted by anti-fossil fuel legislators carry oil from Colorado to Cushing, Oklahoma, the oil hub where crude prices are set. The oil and gas …
EPIC vows to have Permian Basin pipeline operational by summer
A San Antonio, Texas company promises to have a new oil pipeline operational out of the Permian Basin by the third quarter of the year. The lack of pipelines in the Basin has been considered a holdup in some oil production in the prolific region of Texas and New Mexico. The vow comes from EPIC …
Halliburton names new Western Hemisphere president
Halliburton Company, the firm founded decades ago in Duncan, Oklahoma has a new president of its Western Hemisphere operations. The company announced that Mark Richard, the current senior vice president of the Northern Region was promoted to succeed Jim Brown as president of the Western Hemisphere. The promotion will be effective Feb. 1, 2019. “Mark’s …
Boil order lifted in Pushmataha County
State regulators have lifted the boil order they had issued last week for residents who use water from Sardis Lake in southeast Oklahoma. The Department of Environmental Quality said the water from the lake in Pushmataha County is now safe for human consumption. The original boil order was issued because of “high turbidity in the …