June 2020 archive

Rig activity in US is still dismal while Oklahoma sees slight growth

  The nation’s oil and gas rig count slipped only one to 265 rigs in the past week while Oklahoma rebounded by one to reach 10 active rigs. It means more and more oil and gas rigs have been put into storage while exploration and production companies wait for prices to rebound higher. Baker Hughes …

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Oklahoma State Fair becomes a victim of COVID-19 pandemic

    September won’t be the usual time for the Oklahoma State Fair to be held in Oklahoma City because officials of the historic event have canceled the fair due to the COVID-19 health crisis. In making the announcement on Friday, Timothy O’Toole, President and CEO of Oklahoma State Fair, Inc. explained, “The safety and …

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Large layoffs announced at Hitch pork plant in Guymon and Skirvin Hilton in OKC

  Two large layoffs were announced Friday in Oklahoma including 150 workers at the Hitch Pork Processing plant in Guymon and 80 employees of the historic Skirvin Hilton hotel in downtown Oklahoma City. In a notification to County Commissioners in Guymon and the Oklahoma Office of Workforce Development, Hitch Enterprises said it would close its …

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Chinese company’s south Texas wind farm raises security questions

  The wind farm proposed near the largest pilot training base in Texas is being built by a Chinese-owned company, GH America Energy. And the Trump administration has no plans to block it. Foreign Policy reports some lawmakers, including Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas is skeptical of the massive project near Laughlin Air Force …

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Energy news in brief

** Tankers carrying nearly two months worth of Venezuelan oil output are stuck at sea as global refiners shun the nation’s crude to avoid falling foul of U.S. sanctions, according to industry sources, PDVSA documents and shipping data. Washington is tightening sanctions to cut Venezuela’s oil exports and deprive the government of socialist President Nicolas Maduro …

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Senator wants EPA to “trash” requests for biofuel waivers

  The nation’s small refineries seeking waivers for biofuel mandates aren’t highly thought of by Iowa U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst who recently urged the Environmental Protection Agency to “just trash” their requests. It’s what she said about the 52 small refinery waivers being considered by the agency. The Wynnewood refinery in southern Oklahoma has been …

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New Mexico Democrats want federal help in plugging abandoned wells

  Members of New Mexico’s Congressional delegation want the federal government to fund the plugging of the state’s abandoned oil and gas wells as numbers grew due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its negative impact on the oil and gas industry. Democrat U.S. Reps. Xochitl Torres Small and Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM) of New Mexico …

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Group plans renewed anti-fracking push in Colorado

  Environmentalists in Colorado aren’t giving up on their plans to stop fracking by oil and gas explorers. One environmental group has vowed to get a push started again to put the issue on the state’s ballot in November. Reuters reports the latest try comes just two weeks after another sponsor stopped its efforts because …

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Roofing contractor hit with fraud charges

Attorney General Mike Hunter announced his office has charged a contractor in Noble who received thousands of dollars from Oklahomans in exchange for roofing repairs he never completed. The four felony counts against Chad Davis, 38, come after the Attorney General’s Office filed three prior felony charges against him in February. In all seven charges, …

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Renewables to get help in latest Democratic assistance plan

  Democratic lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives this week introduced several pieces of legislation that could buoy renewables as part of a larger infrastructure package. The Moving Forward Act, the text of which was released Monday, includes extensions of both the production tax credit and the investment tax credit to 2025 as part …

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