**Elk Range Royalties bought 250,000 net royalty acres in the Denver-Julesburg Basin for $905 million from from Occidental Petroleum, which is looking to shed debt after last year’s acquisition of CrownRock, reported Hart Energy. ** Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced plans to reopen 82% of Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve and the 1.56-million-acre Coastal Plain of …
March 2025 archive
Mitchell talks energy with Jerry Bohnen and the White House meeting with oil execs
In this episode we discuss what energy moguls were discussing this week with President Trump at the White House. Plus Williams Co. CEO Alan Armstrong’s take on the negative impact on energy choices being posed by the extreme political left…AND political right.
Northern Arkansas county bans wind and solar farms
Another northern Arkansas county just put a hold on any construction of new wind and solar projects. The action was taken recently by the Carroll County’s Quorum Court which is the elected governing body for the county. The vote came only months after a neighboring county did the same. The Arkansas Times reported a …
Oil prices closed higher on Friday but OK energy stocks suffered
Crude oil prices rose on Friday while Oklahoma energy stocks fell into negative territory. The crude oil gains came after new U.S. sanctions on Iran and its oil program. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 21 cents or 0.3% to close at $68.28 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude gained 16 …
Oklahoma recorded an increase in its oil and gas rig count
Oklahoma saw a gain of two to reach 53 oil and gas rigs operating in the state, according to the latest rig count released by Baker Hughes Co. The increase compares to the 44 active rigs reported one year ago. Baker Hughes reported the nation saw a gain of one to reach 593 rigs. …
$11 million for J-B Hunt’s new CEO
For leading Arkansas-based J.B. Hunt Trucking, Shelley Simpson received more than $11 million total compensation last year. A proxy filed by the J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. revealed the payments to Simpson who served as company president since 2022. She was promoted to CEO on July 1 to replace John Roberts. Click here for …
Drone maker Kratos in development of hypersonic aircraft
The War Zone reported the development stating the company is aiming for the very-high speed uncrewed aircraft to be “orders of magnitude” less expensive than any other comparable design. What was not revealed by Kratos CEO ERric DeMarco in a recent interview with Aviation Week exactly where the development is occurring. It is …
Oil sanctions on Iran sends crude prices higher
The action of the U.S. to issue new Iran-related sanctions combined with rising tensions in the Middle East sent crude oil prices up nearly 2% in Thursday’s trading. Washington’s fourth round of sanctions on Iran’s oil sales since Donald Trump became President targeted for the first time a Chinese “teapot” or independent refinery as …
Expansion of Southwest Power Pool approved by FERC
Southwest Power Pool (SPP) will soon be the first regional transmission organization (RTO) in the U.S. to provide full services in both the Eastern and Western Interconnections of the nation’s power grid. On March 20, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) unanimously approved Southwest Power Pool’s amended tariff that includes provisions enabling Western members …
Greenpeace court decision and the First Amendment
This week’s decision by a North Dakota jury to hold Greenpeace liable for $660 million damages to Energy Transfer’s Dakota Access pipeline during protests several years ago has civil rights attorneys saying it will have a chilling effect on public protest. One attorney said it was a loss for the First Amendment and the …