February 22, 2019 archive

Concho Resources surpasses Continental Resources in value

    Not that Oklahoma oilman Harold Hamm, founder of Continental Resources, is in competition with any company to see who’s the biggest. But Bloomberg reports that Concho Resources Inc., headquartered in Midland, Texas is now bigger than Continental and Hess Corp. The proclamation came after Concho made its richest-ever acquisition. Here’s how Bloomberg reported …

Continue reading »

New Mexico governor wants to give regulators the ability to fine well operators

New Mexico’s Gov. Michelle Lujan Grishman wants to restore the ability of the state’s oilfield regulators to directly fine well operators who don’t properly maintain equipment or spill waste. Her bill, authored by Democratic state Sen. Richard Martinez passed out of its first legislative committee this past week even though Republicans fought it. The collection …

Continue reading »

Record levels of crude by rail reported in Canada

  Canada is moving more oil by rail than ever before according to the country’s National Energy Board which reported a record high in December. The Board indicated Canada exported 354,000 barrels per day of oil which was 7 percent higher than the November total of 330,400 bpd.  It was nearly twice as much as …

Continue reading »

Former Enron CEO now a free man

After 12 years in prison over the infamous Enron fraud scandal, the company’s former CEO Jeffrey K. Skilling is a free man. He was released Thursday after locating last August at a halfway house at an undisclosed site from a minimum security federal prison camp in Alabama. Skilling was sentenced to 24 years in prison …

Continue reading »

Evergy reports large increase in 2018 earnings

Evergy, Inc., the new firm created as a result of the merger of Westar Energy and Great Plains Energy reported full 2018 earnings of $536 million or $2.50 per share an increase over a year earlier. The Kansas City-based company said it compared with earnings of $324 million or $2.27 a share for all of …

Continue reading »

Law judge won’t delay OGE’s $78 million rate hike request opposed by Sierra Club

An administrative law judge at the Oklahoma Corporation Commission has refused to delay Oklahoma Gas and Electric’s request for a nearly $78 million rate hike. The Sierra Club wanted the judge to require OGE to prove its 2016 decision to install scrubbers at the firm’s Sooner Plant coal-fired units were the right decision. The Club …

Continue reading »

Trains and blocked intersections are nothing new in Oklahoma

The issue of trains blocking street intersections in Oklahoma isn’t new to the state. Check the history books. While the Oklahoma House approved a bill this week creating a $10,000 fine for railways that block intersections for more than 10 minutes, it was actually an issue in the state going back to 1911. The State …

Continue reading »

Energy-related state agencies would be included in a financial transparency bill in the legislature

    A bill requiring more transparency of state agencies, including those directly dealing with energy in Oklahoma has won approval in a State Senate committee. The Senate General Government Committee okayed Senate Bill 177 by Sen. Ron Sharp (R-Shawnee) which will require state agencies to provide on their website certain financial information as prescribed …

Continue reading »