December 21, 2020 archive

Quakes shake western Colorado

  Wichita, Kansas wasn’t the only place shaken by weekend earthquakes. So was western Colorado on Saturday night and the several quakes were strong enough to be felt by residents near the town of Nucla. Around 7 o’clock Saturday night, a quake measuring 3.3 magnitude struck and rattled the nearly 700 residents in the small …

Continue reading »

COVID lockdowns spook crude oil traders

  Word of spreading lockdowns by states and countries to prevent the growing spread of COVID-19 caused traders to back off investment in crude oil futures as prices fell. Oil prices fell more than 2% on news of a new coronavirus strain that forced government leaders in effect to cancel Christmas in much of Britain. …

Continue reading »

Flyovers find increased methane leaks from New Mexico’s oil and gas operations

  The EPA and the New Mexico Environment Department say recent helicopter flyovers of the Permian and San Juan Basins documented higher-than-expected emissions and leak rates from oil and gas equipment. The helicopters used forward-looking infrared technology to determine the emissions trends in the oil and gas operations. The FLIR technology makes emissions from the …

Continue reading »

Stillwater to transform former power station into commercial site

    The city of Stillwater has apparently decided the former Boomer Lake power station shut down in 2017 won’t be demolished and instead will become the site of a multi-million dollar project to transform it into a restaurant, retail stores and beach. The Tulsa World reported that the developer Lakeview Landing LLC will get …

Continue reading »

Energy news in brief

** Reuters reported that in a last-minute change, the Trump administration cut about 30 percent of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge territory that it plans to auction off for oil exploration. The decision was announced late Friday by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the agency managing the oil lease sale. ** Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) on Sunday …

Continue reading »

Tribal chief’s COVID exposed Corporation Commission staffers

  The day before Muscogee (Creek) Nation Principal Chief David Hill tested positive for COVID-19, he had been in a select meeting with Oklahoma Corporation Commission staffers and Commission chairman Todd Hiett to discuss the tribe’s possible control over oil and gas issues. The resulting medical issue for Hill and others revealed that the tribe …

Continue reading »

Republicans promise grilling of Biden climate team nominees

  If Democratic New Mexico Congresswoman Deb Haaland is going to become Interior Secretary in a Biden administration, she will have to get by North Dakota Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer. And other Republican senators. Her past support of a federal fracking ban and the green new deal has already attracted criticism from supporters of the …

Continue reading »

Wyoming to get its first new coal mine in decades

  Wyoming is about to get its first new coal mine in decades after an independent regulatory council supported a decision by environmental regulators to grant a mining permit to a coal technology company. The Casper Star-Tribune reported the decision was made after an agriculture and conservation group had challenged the Wyoming Department of Environmental …

Continue reading »

Blueknight unloads some oil and gas operations in $162 million deals

  Tulsa’s Blueknight Energy Partners, L.P. announced Monday the nearly $162 million sale of its crude oil terminalling, pipeline and trucking business segments to two separate buyers. It was a move by Blueknight to no longer be focused on traditional oil and gas operations and instead lean more toward downstream activities. Blueknight’s terminalling segment was …

Continue reading »

NGL cuts deal with bankrupt XOG Energy

      NGL Energy Partners LP and Grand Mesa Pipeline, LLC , a wholly-owned subsidiary of NGL , announced Monday that Grand Mesa has entered into a settlement agreement with Colorado’s Extraction Oil and Gas, Inc. as it relates to XOG’s bankruptcy proceedings. XOG, considered to be one of Colorado’s major producers filed Chapter …

Continue reading »