June 2020 archive

House to deal with another COVID-19 stimulus package

  Oklahoma’s US House delegation is back in Washington this week preparing for a full legislative session and one of the House goals is to build support for infrastructure and pandemic stimulus legislation. Some attended President Trump’s Saturday night rally in Tulsa and now prepare to debate the infrastructure package which includes a House Select …

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How one Oklahoma company took advantage of a price-fixing law

  Oklahoma City’s Chesapeake Energy is among those firms mentioned in a report about the weekend expiration of the U.S. Antitrust Criminal Penalty Enhancement and Reform Act. The law lengthened criminal antitrust penalties and also offered companies such as Chesapeake to report price-fixing. The law was enacted in 2004 and Chesapeake Energy is among those who …

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Kansas regulators start probe of Evergy’s agreement with investor

    The Kansas Corporation Commission has opened an investigation into an agreement between Evergy Inc. and investor Elliott International. According to a news release from KCC spokeswoman Linda Berry, there are concerns about how the agreement could negatively affect Kansas electric customers. Evergy and Elliott came to an agreement in March after months of …

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Kansas judge rules against NextEra in wind farm fight

  A district court judge in Hutchinson, Kansas has ruled against NextEra Energy in its fight to begin building a new wind farm to be located between Hutchinson and Wichita. The Reno County judge recently ruled on a key element in a lawsuit filed by NextEra Energy over the denial of a permit for its …

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EPA reopens Washington headquarters after COVID-19 pandemic

  The EPA is reopening its Washington headquarters on June 23, according to an internal email sent Thursday night. Employees will “have the option to return to the office,” wrote Donna Vizian, the Environmental Protection Agency’s principal deputy assistant administrator for the Office of Mission Support. The reopening also applies to the EPA’s satellite office …

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Energy news in brief

** Houston pipeline operator Enterprise Products Partners will have to renegotiate with a Brazoria County landowner after a Texas appeals court ruled it couldn’t use eminent domain to cheaply acquire land for a planned pipeline. ** Enbridge has partially reopened the Line 5 pipeline in the Straits of Mackinac after shutting it down due to “significant damage” to an anchor support. …

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The new WOTUS takes effect

  Millions of acres of wetlands and hundreds of thousands of stream miles that have been regulated by the federal government for more than four decades are as of Monday officially outside the scope of federal reach as the Trump administration’s new definition of Waters of the U.S. takes effect in 49 states. In an …

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Fight underway over alleged illegal water dumping in New Mexico

  A Lovington trucking company planned to appeal fines it was issued by New Mexico’s Oil Conservation Division (OCD) after allegations that the company dumped produced water from a truck onto State Trust land in a remote area of Lea County. The civil penalty marked the first issued by the State after the OCD was granted …

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Write-downs expected to swell in energy industry

  We’ve already seen oil and gas companies writing down millions of dollars on their assets as they continue to be hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and now a new analysis suggests those write-downs will grow into hundreds of billions of dollars. It’s what a new Deloitte analysis suggests as the shale sector enters what …

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Pipeline cases await more court decisions

  The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to hear another pipeline legal fight this week, days after it came out with a ruling in support of a 600-mile natural gas line under the Appalachian Trail in Virginia. On Thursday, the justices will consider whether to grant or deny review or seek input of the Justice …

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