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Agreement Puts Colorado’s Roan Plateau off-limits to Drilling
Western Colorado’s wild Roan Plateau is the focus of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management as the federal agency moves to protect it from more natural gas drilling. The BLM approved plans this week to put provisions in place in a 2014 compromise among conservation groups and natural gas producer Bill Barrett Corp. Barrett surrendered …
Alaska’s Yearly Checks to Residents at Risk Over Low Oil Prices
Those oil fund wealth checks that Alaskans have been getting for more than 30 years could be ending as Alaska struggles with budget shortages. Declining production and the drop in oil prices have hit the state just as they have others like Oklahoma and Texas. “At this point, all options are on the table,” said …
Illinois River Cleaned up as Scenic Rivers Commission No Longer Exists
Compared to years ago, the Illinois River in eastern Oklahoma is cleaner these days, thanks to the work of Ed Fite and the Oklahoma Scenic Rivers Commission. As of Friday, the Commission will no longer exist and Fite will instead become an employee of the Grand River Dam Authority. Ron Hays at the Oklahoma Farm …
Environmentalists Challenge Wyoming Judge’s Frack Ruling
We haven’t seen the last of the recent federal judge’s ruling in Wyoming that struck down the Obama administration’s attempts at regulating fracking on federal and Native American lands. Environmental groups including Earthjustice and the Sierra Club asked the Denver federal appeals court this week to revive the rule. Their notice of appeal is a …
Oakland Says Not in Our Backyard to Coal Shipments
Things just became more challenging for Utah coal companies planning to ship their coal of Oakland, California’s shipping terminals and send it to Asia. The Oakland City Council voted unanimously this week to kill a plan to use a proposed marine terminal for coal shipments, calling them public health and safety hazards. Environmental activists broke …
Tesoro Picks up Another Refinery in North Dakota
Texas-based Tesoro Corporation picks up another oil refinery, this time in southwestern North Dakota. Headquartered in San Antonio and with more than 6,000 employees, the company acquired the refinery in Dickinson. The operation started selling fuel last year but lost more than $7 million in the first three months of the year. It was owned …
Brace for More I-35 Traffic Slowdowns in southern Oklahoma
It’s an announcement that oil and gas haulers on I-35 didn’t want to hear. But traffic tie-ups will be a daily occurrence on the interstate in southern Oklahoma, according to the Department of Transportation. I-35 will be narrowed to one lane in each direction at Ruppe Rd. (mile marker 60) between Davis and Wynnewood in …
Tulsa Oilman Fails in Bid to Unseat Congressman Bridenstine
While some political observers speculated that Oklahoma oilman Tom Atkinson might be able to pull off an upset of U.S. Rep. Jim Bridenstine in Tuesday’s primary elections, it did not happen. Instead, Bridenstine easily defeated Atkinson and Eveylyn L. Rogers and was automatically re-elected to a third term because there is no Democratic candidate …
ETE Backs Out of Messy Merger With Williams Companies
The proposed merger between Williams Cos. and Energy Transfer Equity won’t happen. The announcement came shortly after midnight and on the last day that Energy Transfer Equity of Dallas had under an agreement to merge with Tulsa-based Williams Cos…..it’s backed out! ETE explained it had the right to terminate the merger because of a Delaware …
Fiery Head-On Train Crash near Amarillo
Federal investigators were on the scene Tuesday of the fiery head-on collision of two Burlington Northern Santa Fe freight trains in the Texas Panhandle. An unknown number of people were injured in the collision that happened near the town of Panhandle about 25 miles northeast of Amarillo. Nearby residents were evacuated after the collision that happened …