October 26, 2023 archive

Michelin to close its Ardmore tire plant affecting 1,400 workers and southern Oklahoma economy

  After half a century of making tires in Oklahoma, the Ardmore tire plant is closing. Michelin announced it plans to close its tire plant in Ardmore, putting nearly 1,400 employees on the unemployment line. It is the city’s largest employer and the shutdown could mean a rocky and rough economic road for southern Oklahoma. …

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Crude oil dropped 2% in Thursday’s trading while OK energy stocks recorded minor gains

  Thursday brought another day of losses for crude oil prices while Oklahoma energy stocks eaked out some minor gains. Crude was down to its lowest prices in two weeks as Israel agreed to delay a possible ground invasion of Gaza until later in the week. Both WTI and Brent crude fell more than 2% …

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Iron Dome missiles to be built in Southwest Arkansas

  A missile plant is about to go up just across the Oklahoma state line with Arkansas. Raytheon, an RTX business, in partnership with Rafael Advanced Defense Systems announced plans to build a manufacturing plant in East Camden, Arkansas. It plans to produce the Tamir missile for the Iron Dome Weapon System and its U.S. …

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Edmond considers joining $11 billion in class action settlements over PFAS chemicals

  The city council in Edmond voted this week to prepare in the event it might join a class action lawsuit alleging water contamination. Whether Edmond will join in the nearly $11 billion in settlements of lawsuits depends on the level of PFAS or “forever” chemicals in the city’s drinking water. Fox 25 News reported …

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Congressional coalition blasts administration for suspending LNG shipments by rail

  Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Missouri Rep. Sam Graves led a coalition of 25 other federal lawmakers in calling on the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration to reverse its suspension of rules allowing shipments of LNG by rail. No Oklahoma Senators or Representatives were part of the effort that sent a letter to …

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Illinois legislators won’t fight Governor’s veto of a ROFR bill

  ROFR or Right of First Refusal is dead for now in Illinois where legislative leaders have decided they won’t attempt to override the governor’s veto of a bill aimed at giving existing utilities the ROFR power for transmission lines. Democratic Rep. Larry Walsh announced this week he won’t make the attempt to over Gov. …

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Texas ROFR or transmission law before Supreme Court

  Texas faces a legal challenge to its law that bans such companies as NextEra Energy, LS Power and Grid United from building transmission in the state because they are considered to be “non-incumbent” companies. In other word, the state’s ROFR law is at stake. It could be watched closely by Oklahoma legislators who this …

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PSO honored for hiring of military veterans

  Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO) was one of 27 companies recognized Wednesday for hiring and supporting U.S. military veterans. The recognition came during a ceremony held at Lemley Campus of Tulsa Tech Center. For the fifth consecutive year, the Oklahoma Veteran Alliance (OVA) recognized PSO as a Veteran Employer Champion. The OVA is …

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Slight gains in crude oil stocks across U.S. and at Cushing Hub

  Both the U.S. and the Cushing Hub saw slight gains in the amount of crude oil in storage in the past week, an improvement from recent declines that resulted in changes in the market. The U.S. recorded a gain of 1.4 million barrels of oil from the 419.7 million barrels reported as of October …

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New House Speaker is friendly with oil and gas industry

  If there is one thing that newly-elected House Speaker Mike Johnson brings with him in his new leadership capacity, it is that he is a longtime ally of the oil and gas industry. Plus, he has the support of Oklahoma’s delegation in the House. Afterall, he comes from Louisiana, home to the Haynesville play …

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