** Exploratory drilling began this week for an offshore oil well just 150 miles from South Florida, prompting a warning from 18 members of Congress, including the entire South Florida delegation, of the potential for “severe, even catastrophic, impact” if a spill occurs according to the South Florida Sun Sentinel. ** Midland, Texas based Ring Energy, Inc. …
Cookies for Christmas to volunteer first responders
Oklahoma City’s Devon Energy wanted to show its appreciation to first responders in western Oklahoma. So it handed out cookies at Christmas to members of at lest 13 first responder groups, including the Greenfield volunteer fire department pictured above.
Enbridge’s $132 million Blueknight Energy deal is a major acquisition in Cushing
The $132 million sale of Blueknight Energy Partners holdings in the Cushing crude oil storage facility is no small deal for Canadian buyer Enbridge Inc. It turns Enbridge into an even stronger crude oil delivery company in the world. Enbridge just acquired 34 of those massive storage tanks and soon its name will be …
Fiery crude oil train derailment in Washington state
The investigation of a fiery derailment of seven BNSF train cars carrying crude oil from North Dakota to a refinery in Washington state is underway in Custer, Washington, 100 miles north of Seattle. The Associated Press reported that the fire closed nearby streets in Custer and two people on board the train escaped injury. …
Crude oil and energy stocks suffered more losses in Tuesday’s trading
First it was news of a fast-spreading new coronavirus strain in Britain that apparently resulted in falling oil prices in Monday’s trading. Then came news of a similar mutated strain in South Africa and on Tuesday, energy stocks suffered even more losses. West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery fell 5 cents to $47.02 …
Billions in environmental efforts included in efforts by Congress to get out of town by Christmas
Democrats and Republicans Congress might have a different reason for cheering about the nearly 5,600 page COVID-19 relief and omnibus spending package passed this week. While working under the headline of finally reaching agreement on $900 billion pandemic relief bill, both parties also came up with a $1.4 trillion spending package to fund the …
Arkansas to get new solar park
Arkansas is getting a new major solar power park, one that will supply sun power to schools, the city of Springdale and OzarksGo LLC. The park is the result of a partnership between Ozarks Electric Cooperative of Fayetteville and Today’s Power Inc of North Little Rock. Arkansas Business reported that Today’s Power, a wholly owned …
Houston ship channel expansion authorized by Congress
The Houston Ship Channel will be expanded under the 2020 Water Resources Development Act passed this week by Congress. Ranked as the #1 U.S. Port the channel is the busiest waterway in the nation average 50 deep-draft vessel transits a day. “Today’s announcement is BIG. The authorization to widen and deepen the Houston Ship …
Energy news in brief
** Published reports indicate China is facing power cuts because of its ban on Australian coal. Local authorities reportedly cannot keep street lights on and factories have been forced to close. ** Royal Dutch Shell on Monday said it will write down the value of oil and gas assets by $3.5 billion to $4.5 billion following …
National Oilwell Varco makes name change
Get used to seeing “NOV Inc.” instead of National Oilwell Varco, Inc. for the Texas based company that is also well known for its Oklahoma explorations. The company announced this week it is formally changing its corporate name to NOV Inc and the move will be effective Jan. 1, 2020. But its ticker symbol, …
