November 6, 2017 archive

Senate Advances Budget Deal With Cigarette, Beer, Fuel and GPT Tax Hike

The Oklahoma Senate passed a bill late Monday afternoon to plug the state’s $215-million budget deficit, according to a news report by Aaron Brilbeck of News9. Senate legislators agreed to set aside partisan politics and advance a measure that would raise the cigarette tax by $1.50 per pack, increase the beer tax and raise the …

Continue reading »

Saudi Power Consolidation Looms as WTI, Brent Crude Surge on Monday

Domestic oil futures surged on Monday despite weekend political disruptions in Saudi Arabia where some top officials and royal family members were detained, according to Bloomberg MarketWatch. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, December West Texas Intermediate crude rose $1.71, or 3.1%, to settle at $57.35 a barrel, marking its sharpest daily gain in nearly one …

Continue reading »

State Continues Working on Release of Permits and Completion Reports

Work on obtaining the Daily Permit and Completion reports from the Oklahoma Corporation Commission in light of the recent hacking incident at the OCC is moving ahead. However, as our friends at OklahomaWells.com indicate, the state is still finalizing some of its repair work following the hacking incident two weeks ago. The OCC is the …

Continue reading »

Congress Tackles Ceiling Fans

Oklahoma Congressman Markwayne Mullin and others on the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee take up the issue of ceiling fans and how new energy rules apply to them during a Tuesday hearing on capitol hill. The focus of the hearing will also be on the Energy Star program, a voluntary system that identifies the …

Continue reading »

Oklahoma’s Getting Only One More Tesla Supercharger

As Tesla moves ahead with plans to have nearly 10,000 high-speed Supercharger electric car chargers in place across the U.S. by the end of the year, it’s only adding one more to those existing in Oklahoma. Henryetta is to get one according to the Tesla website while the state has only five others that already …

Continue reading »

House Democrats Accuse Pruitt of Rewarding Polluters With His New EPA Order

  EPA Chief Scott Pruitt’s latest fight with Democrats in the U.S. Senate and House concerns his recent edict that bans scientists who get EPA grants from serving on the agency’s scientific advisory panels. Six senior House Democrats who sit on the Science and Energy and Commerce Committee wrote him a letter in recent days, …

Continue reading »

Still Fighting Over Dakota Access Oil Pipeline

The Native Americans who put up a fight against construction of the Dakota Access oil pipeline in North Dakota aren’t giving up and neither is the builder of the line. Energy Transfer Partners based in Dallas and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have filed separate documents in Washington, D.C. federal court opposing plans by …

Continue reading »

Indicted Texas Oilman Was a No-Show in Kansas Lawsuit

When Texas oilman Stan Bates failed to show for a court case in Overland Park, Kansas in the past week, the Judge entered a nearly $650,000 against his Bates Energy Oil and Gas Company that had been sued in a breach of lease contract. Bates, indicated earlier in the year along with Texas state Sen. …

Continue reading »

Rep. Mullin says Relief from Burdensome Tax Code is On the Way

Here is how Oklahoma U.S. Rep. Markwayne Mullin looks at the tax reform plan put forth by President Trump and the GOP leadership.     By Congressman Markwayne Mullin I remember what it was like to earn my first paycheck.  I spent all month putting in hours to earn a decent wage.  When pay day …

Continue reading »

Oil and Gas Tax Revenue Increased Again in October

With revenue from gross production taxes on oil and natural gas totaling $52 million in October, state receipts to the Oklahoma Treasury were up more than 10 percent compared to October 2016. Treasurer Ken Miller says it was the first double-digit growth in four and a half years and marks the ninth time since the …

Continue reading »