March 7, 2024 archive

Natural gas prices went into the minus column at one trading hub

  Just how much have natural gas prices fallen? According to a weekly update from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the price at the Waha Hub in West Texas dropped 22 cents this week. It fell from 43 cents MMBtu last Wednesday to 21 cents per MMBtu as of Wednesday of this week. The Waha …

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Little change in Thursday’s crude oil prices but natural gas dropped again

  Thursday’s trading brought little price changes for crude oil but natural gas took another big drop. Crude prices stayed mostly the same as new economic data from China was being studied by investors. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 20 cents a barrel and closed at $78.93 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, …

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Corporation Commissioner says House Bill slams lid shut on openness of agency

  Oklahoma Corporation Commissioner Bob Anthony came out this week blasting House Bill 2367 saying Oklahoma needs more transparency and not less in its handling of state business. In an opinion piece, the Commissioner also said the Corporation Commission should fall under more scrutiny for its actions, as displayed for how it handled the bond issues …

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Xcel Energy admits its operations might have caused wildfires in Texas

  A major utility company, Xcel Energy, now admits its operations might have been involved in starting the wildfires in Texas that eventually burned more than 1.3 million acres of land in the Panhandle and in Western Oklahoma. “Xcel Energy has been cooperating with the investigations into the wildfires and has been conducting its own …

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Williams gets nearly $1 million grant to study carbon storage in Wyoming

    Tulsa’s Williams Cos. recently received a $975,000 grant to study carbon capture and storage efforts in Wyoming. The Wyoming Energy Authority, funded by the office of Governor Mark Gordon, awarded Williams the grant to study development of a saline CO2 storage hub near Williams’ Echo Springs gas plant in Wamsutter. The Echo Springs CarbonSAFE …

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Army helps fight out-of-control wildfires in Texas

    With the help of Army helicopters and the weather, firefighters are gaining ground on the wildfires that burned more than 1.3 million acres in western Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle. The Oklahoma Forestry Division reported Thursday that the major wildfires in the state are largely under control—95% of the OK Smokehouse fire in …

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Norman voters again reject 25-year franchise with OGE

    Thirty-three votes. It’s what Oklahoma Gas and Electric Company failed to get for approval of an exclusive franchise agreement in the city of Norman. Voters this week rejected the franchise for another time. A majority of the 17,795 votes were against giving OG&E a franchise to exclusively operate electric infrastructure in Norman for …

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Increased dividend by SandRidge Energy

  Oklahoma City’s SandRidge Energy declared an increased dividend of 11 cents a share after announcing its financial and operational results for the quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 2023. The company had net income of $60.9 million or $1.65 per basic share in 2023 and adjusted net income of $69 million or $1.87 …

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Energy quick reads

** The world’s largest nitrogen fertilizer plant, which would make ammonia out of natural gas, could be headed for a former coal mining site in rural West Virginia. TransGas Development Systems, a New York-based company, is seeking an air quality permit for a facility in Mingo County with six ammonia manufacturing units capable of producing up …

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SEC approves controversial emissions rules on big businesses

  Large companies in Oklahoma and across the U.S. will have to tell investors about greenhouse gas emissions caused by their business under a controversial rule approved Wednesday by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. It’s a rule that was fought by Congressman Frank Lucas who feared it might be harmful for state farmers and …

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