February 2018 archive

Chesapeake Pushes Ahead With Plans to Unload Debt

Trying to reduce its debt load, Chesapeake Energy in  Oklahoma City is moving ahead with two more of the sales agreements announced in late 2017. It’s what the company indicated Tuesday in an update to its operational results for thel 2017 fourth quarter. Three separate sales agreements were signed then and in the first quarter …

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Wind Power Spokesman Learns Hard Lesson of Politics at State Capitol

Mark  Yates, the director of OK WindPower is no stranger to politics.  But as he held a Tuesday state capitol news conference where he lamented the anti-wind rhetoric had created a climate of volatility at the capitol, real politics stepped up and put an end to his scheduled event. It was in the House Lounge …

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Gasoline Prices Shoot Up Nationally but Hold Steady in Oklahoma

Gasoline prices shot up 18 cents a gallon across the country in the past week, reaching a new national average of $2.61 a gallon.  Prices in Oklahoma average $2.42 a gallon this week, same as last week but still 17 cents higher than a month ago, according to AAA Oklahoma. Despite the 17-cent jump in …

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President Yanks Controversial Environmental Nomination

President Trump has decided to withdraw at least one of his controversial nominations. While Oklahoma congressman Jim Bridenstine’s nomination to become Administrator at NASA is on hold because of opposition by Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, the White House has decided there’s too much opposition for Kathleen Harnett White to become chair of the White House …

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Claremore Office Opened by Rep. Mullins

Oklahoma Congressman Markwayne Mullin’s opened another district office in eastern Oklahoma. The new office is in Claremore and will be the site of an open house Feb. 12 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. “In order to best serve my constituents in northeast Oklahoma, I have opened a Claremore office at the courthouse in Rogers …

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$1 billion in Commitments for Double Eagle’s Permian Basin Pursuits

Double Eagle Energy Holdings III, one of the companies focused on acquiring and developing oil and gas assets in the Permian Basin announced it has secured $1 billion in equity commitments. The commitments are anchored from funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management LLC. Company leaders hope the commitments will help the company forward …

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Midstates Petroleum Proposes Merger With SandRidge Energy

  After activist investor Carl Icahn rattled the cages at Oklahoma City’s SandRidge Energy and forced the company to scrap a $750 million takeover of a Colorado company, now a Tulsa company is wanting to merge with SandRidge. Midstates Petroleum Company, Inc has proposed a move to combine with SandRidge energy in an all-stock merger …

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Governor Pushes Fuel Taxes to Fund Roads and Bridges

O Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin again laid out her plan to get the state out of its budget crisis, blaming in part what she called the dramatic downturn in the state’s energy sector. She also was targeted by protesters in the gallery. In her 8th and final state of the state address delivered to the …

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Republicans and Democrats Join Forces to Fix Water Problems

We hear so much about the partisan bickering in Washington but Oklahoma U.S.  Sen. Jim Inhofe and others showed this week that Democrats and Republicans can work together when they want. Inhofe joined Sens. John Boozman, Republican from Arkansas; Cory Booker, Democrat from  New Jersey and Dianne Feinstein, Democrat from California in introducing legislation to …

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Judge Dismisses Lawsuits Against Some State Agencies in an Energy Lawsuit

The Oklahoma City energy consulting firm that sued 66 state agencies over an alleged breach of contract has already dropped some of the agencies as defendants. Filed in December,the lawsuit by Engineered Systems and Energy Solutions Inc. claimed the state cancelled its contract after two years. The firm had been hired to assist the state …

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