January 2020 archive

Federal mining agency to assist in search for missing Welch girls

The U.S. Department of Interior’s Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement plans to take part this week in a two-day meeting in a search for two young northeast Oklahoma girls who disappeared in December 1999. It will be the first time the federal agency will assist in searching hundreds of mines where law enforcement …

Continue reading »

OKC continues to work with Denver lawyer on state’s water issues

Denver, Colorado attorney Brian Nazarenus will continue to represent Oklahoma City in its water battles in 2020. As the Oklahoman’s William Crum reported this week, Nazarenus recently created a new law firm, Nazarenus, Stack and Wombacher LLC and the city continued with its agreement with him. It was last month when the city agreed to …

Continue reading »

Number of strong earthquakes continues to drop in Oklahoma

Oklahoma is no longer experiencing as many of the strong earthquakes it once did. A review of data from the Oklahoma Geological Survey showed a drop in the number of earthquakes stronger than 3.0 magnitude in 2019 for a fourth consecutive year. The survey recorded 62 such strong quakes last year, far below the 203 …

Continue reading »

Argument made to increase Oklahoma’s minimum wage

Legislators in Oklahoma are under growing pressure to increase the state’s minimum wage. The latest cry came from Tulsa World Editor Wayne Green who argued Oklahoma’s minimum wage is now less than the minimum wage paid in Arkansas. Click here to read his column.

Gross production tax collections on Oklahoma oil and gas dropped in December

Oklahoma Gross Receipts to the Treasury for calendar year 2019 paint the picture of a sound, but slowing state economy, State Treasurer Randy McDaniel announced Monday. And much of it can be attributed to dropping revenue from oil and gas gross production taxes. Gross receipts during all of 2019 are 5.7 percent more than during …

Continue reading »

Acquisition targets in 2020?

Enverus, an oil and gas data analytics company says several oil and gas firms active in the Permian Basin could be ripe for acquisition in 2020, including a handful of Oklahoma-based firms. The Austin, Texas based company released its summary of 2019 deal activity and outlook for 2020, suggesting the trend of buying small and …

Continue reading »

Dallas company hit with $30 million fine in Pennsylvania

Dallas-based Energy Transfer has been hit with a $30 million fine for violating numerous environmental regulations during construction of the firm’s Revolution pipeline in Western Pennsylvania. The fine was levied by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and was one of the agency’s largest-ever civil penalties according to the Dallas Morning News. The state Department …

Continue reading »

Energy news in brief

** National NAACP leaders tell local and state chapters to not accept money from utilities that put up barriers to clean energy policies. ** A Missouri lawmaker proposes a bill that would allow companies to add the cost of new nuclear or renewable generation to customer rates while the projects are under construction.  ** The Trump administration’s plan to remove climate change considerations from …

Continue reading »

Suncor to restart Colorado refinery

Suncor Energy plans to restart equipment this week at its oil refinery in Commerce City, Colorado following an incident last week where the plant spewed smoke and ash and released a clay-like substance. A statement by Suncor on its Facebook page said it expects the process of restarting the fluidized catalytic cracker unit to take …

Continue reading »

Perry rejoins Energy Transfer’s board of directors

Weeks after resigning as Secretary of Energy, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry has rejoined the board of directors overseeing the Dallas pipeline company Energy Transfer. In a Friday filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Energy Transfer reported that Perry had joined the board of directors for LE GP LLC, a company that owns and oversees …

Continue reading »