January 3, 2019 archive

Chinese national accused of stealing trade secrets from ConocoPhillips at Bartlesville

From the Tulsa World: A judge on Thursday ordered a legal U.S. resident and Chinese national accused of stealing trade secrets from Phillips 66 to continue to be held without bail pending the filing of formal charges. U.S. Magistrate Jodi Jayne found following a preliminary hearing held in Tulsa federal court that there was probable …

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Snow storm forces Oklahoma Corporation Commission to close all day on Thursday

The storm that brought ice and snow to Oklahoma on Thursday resulted in a complete shutdown of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission. It initially announced business wouldn’t occur until 10 a.m. then the OCC announced through its website that the Jim Thorpe building would be closed for the entire day. With the storm expected to be …

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Nervous leadership at Chesapeake Energy?

While Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake Energy awaits a shareholder vote on a proposed $4 billion takeover of WildHorse Resources, its recent commitment to oil rather than natural gas is raising some concerns. After all, oil prices have fallen despite Chesapeake’s intention to expand oil-drilling in the Powder River Basin of eastern Wyoming. Those concerns even prompted …

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Study contends shale boom overforecast oil and gas production

A review of production of shale wells in the U.S. shows many of the wells are not doing as well as drillers and owners had hoped. It even raises the question of the profitability of the fracking boom according to one published report. The Wall Street Journal compared the well-productivity estimates that top shale-oil companies …

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Oklahoma begins New Year with minor earthquakes

Two relatively weak earthquakes were recorded this week including one close to Hennessey in the northwestern part of Oklahoma. The 2.6 magnitude quake recorded Wednesday morning had an epicenter only about one mile southeast of Hennessey and at a depth of about 3 miles. It shook the area around 12:40 in the morning. The first …

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Ice takes toll on rural power lines

Thursday’s winter storm produced power outages for rural electric cooperatives in the central part of Oklahoma. By 8 a-m, the number totaled more than 2,900 customers. The largest outage was reported by the Canadian Valley Electric Cooperative with 2,914 customers without power including more than 1,600 in Lincoln County. The Cooperative serves Lincoln, Oklahoma and …

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Retirement of Halliburton Chairman came amid a federal investigation

This week’s retirement of Halliburton Co. chairman David Lesar is now believed connected to a federal investigation into a land deal he negotiated with outgoing-Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. His retirement wasn’t a surprise since the company knew about it since May 2017.  Reports indicate Lesar is not implicated in the federal probe by the Interior …

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Appeals Court reverses lawsuit against Anadarko Petroleum

The Denver Federal Appeals court has reversed a lower court ruling which originally said Anadarko E and P Onshore did not trespass when it drilled several wells on a Colorado farmer’s land. In effect, the court ruled the Houston-based company did in fact trespass on farmland owned by Marvin and Mildred Bay in Weld County, …

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Volatility forces oil prices to fall again

  The oil and gas industry is left again wondering how the markets will treat oil prices as they fell early Thursday due to volatile stock markets on top of worries about an economic slowdown in 2019. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures dropped 75 cents to $45.79 a barrel in early trading. International …

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Oklahoma gets new state treasurer

Randy McDaniel has become Oklahoma’s 19th state treasurer. During a ceremony attended by family and friends, McDaniel was administered the oath of office by State Supreme Court Justice James Winchester on Wednesday morning at the State Capitol Building. McDaniel has 24 years of private sector experience as a successful financial advisor and banker. He also served …

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