March 13, 2019 archive

Hiett takes over as chair of OCC

Todd Hiett has been picked to be the new chairman of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission. He was chosen in a unanimous vote on Wednesday to succeed Dana Murphy.  Hiett, a former Speaker of the House has been on the commission since 2015. Commissioners also  chose Bob Anthony to serve as vice chairman.

Ethanol isn’t going away

Corn farmers in Iowa and other states have to be smiling after President Trump pushed a plan this week to expand the use of ethanol in gasoline. The President’s plan pushes a proposal to allow year-round sales of gasoline blended with up to 15 percent ethanol, known as E15. E15 had previously been restricted under …

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Record oil production reported for 2018 in New Mexico

  When you enter the Permian Basin of southeastern New Mexico, you see mile after mile of pump jacks pulling oil out of the ground. Hundreds of them. There are so many that they have resulted in record oil production for the state of New Mexico in 2018. Southeastern New Mexico is riding a monster …

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Higher tax collections reported in Oklahoma—thanks to oil and gas

Once again, gross production taxes on oil and gas production in Oklahoma helped create a major increase in Oklahoma’s General Revenue Fund collections for the month of February. The Office of Management and Enterprise Services reported the total general revenue fund collections topped $385 million, coming in at $64 million or nearly 20 percent over …

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High speed Hyperloop study announced in Missouri

The state of Missouri has joined with business leaders in launching a study of creating an ultra-high-speed Hyperloop system connecting Kansas City and St. Louis. Costly? You bet. Perhaps up to $27 million a mile to build a tubular track in which passengers would ride in a train-like pod at speeds up to 640 mph. …

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Regulators side with electric cooperative in fight with ONEOK

Mustang’s CKEnergy has won a battle with ONEOK to stop the large corporation from supplying power to a pump station near Binger. ONEOK’s building a pipeline in the territory already served by CKEnergy, a firm created in 2016 following the consolidation of Caddo Electric Cooperative and Kiwash Electric Cooperative. CKEnergy filed a request with the …

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Bill protecting mineral rights owners wins approval in Oklahoma House

Rep. John Pfeiffer’s bill to protect mineral rights owners from cities and municipalities won approval this week in the State House. House Bill 2150 was approved on a 64 to 32 vote and sent to the Senate. Pfeiffer, a Republican from Orlando had earlier seen his bill win overwhelming approval in the House Energy and …

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Oklahoma wind farm operator opens latest venture in Minnesota

EDF Renewables North America, the company with at least four wind and solar projects operational in Oklahoma put another system into operation this week. The company announced its 100 megawatt Stoneray Wind Project in Pipestone and Murray counties in Southwestern Minnesota became fully operational. Its 39 wind turbines are providing power to Southern Minnesota Municipal …

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State Senator attempts to stop what he calls ‘land grab’ by Wildlife Conservation Commission

One State Senator thinks the State Wildlife Conservation Commission is on a “land grab” and his bill to stop it awaits a vote in the full Senate. Sen. Casey Murdock, R-Felt is the principal author of the measure to prevent the Commission from buying more land than it sells each year. “The Wildlife Commission is …

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Republicans and Democrats work together to reintroduce diesel emissions act

Oklahoma U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe joined Democrats and other Republicans this week in launching a move to reauthorize the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act. He and others called it one of the most cost-effective federal clean air programs and their legislation would reauthorize the program through fiscal year 2024 at its current funding levels. It would …

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