The same day a second Norfolk Southern train derailed in Ohio, 18 cars of a Union Pacific freight train jumped the tracks just across the Oklahoma state line near Wellington, Kansas. Happened Saturday evening around 5 o’clock according to Union Pacific. There were no injuries and no hazardous materials involved. The 18 cars were …
US House hearing to explore research at FAA
A subcommittee of a House committee chaired by U.S. Rep. Frank Lucas intends to hold a hearing this week exploring the Federal Aviation Administration’s research and development, some of which is carried on at the FAA’s Mike Monroney Center in Oklahoma City. The Space and Aeronautics subcommittee chaired by Rep. Brian Babin has jurisdiction …
Guy embezzled $9 million in cow poop to green energy scheme
A California man faces charges of embezzling nearly $9 million from investors in a cow poop to green energy scheme. Prosecutors say Raymond Brewer, 66, convinced investors he was turning cow poop into the green energy and then not building any of the anaerobic digesters to convert the manure to methane gas reported GIZMODO. …
XTO operation in New Mexico faces challenge from enviros
Environmental group WildEarth Guardians went after XTO Energy and its Permian Basin operations in southeast New Mexico. It filed a petition asking the federal government to object to a New Mexico state permit for emissions of potential air pollutants from the XTO Energy’s Wildcat Compressor Station according to the Carlsbad Current-Argus. WildEarth Guardians argued …
Bill to put more restrictions on oil and gas wins early approval in New Mexico legislature
A bill the oil and gas industry says would increase their costs and at the same time harm the revenue the industry provides to New Mexico, won an early approval in a legislative committee. Supporters claim the bill would reform the state’s oil and gas regulations. It would also make multiple amendments to New …
Electricity deregulation bill dies without a vote in Oklahoma legislature
Those opposed to proposed electricity deregulation in Oklahoma celebrated the death of a bill in the Oklahoma legislature. “Oklahoma lawmakers recognized that HB 1602, the electric deregulation bill that died in committee Thursday, would dismantle our state’s cost and reliability protections for Oklahoma electricity consumers, who largely oppose restructuring,” said Jeff Cloud, Executive Director …
Another round in fight against ESG investment begins in Texas
First Texas enacted a law targeting investment firms that discriminated against oil and gas operations, then Oklahoma followed suit with its Energy Discrimination Elimination Act. Similar efforts followed in West Virginia and Idaho. Now another effort is underway in Texas, this time involved a proposed law to fight against those ESG policies that could …
Strong gains for crude oil and OK energy stocks on Friday
Will the strong gains recorded Friday by crude oil prices and Oklahoma energy stocks continue through Monday? It’s the question investors want to know. Crude gained more than $1 a barrel while Oklahoma energy stocks made strong increases with some firms seeing 5% and 6% gains. What drove the gains? Renewed optimism over increased …
Rig counts fell last week in Oklahoma and across the U.S.
Oklahoma and the nation saw another decline in the past week of active oil and gas rigs, according to figures released by Baker Hughes Co. Oklahoma’s count dropped one to 61 rigs. A year ago, the state had 49 active rigs. Nationally, the count dropped by 4 to 749. The decline came as the …
Texas governor says solar and wind projects need not apply for state tax breaks
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is 100% behind a new state program to give tax breaks to businesses but not for wind and solar energy projects. “I support [the program] not providing economic incentives for renewables,” Abbott said during a news conference in Austin. “There’s already federal incentives for renewable projects, and those will continue …
