Author's posts
Rig Numbers Soar Nationally but Slip in Oklahoma
National rig counts soared in the past week, climbing by 27 while the number of active oil and gas rigs in Oklahoma slipped by one, according to the last information from Houston-based Baker Hughes Company. The national count swelled to 624 including 21 more oil rigs to reach a total of 498. The number of …
US House Passes Water Bill that Includes Settlement of Oklahoma Water Fight
The Water Bill passed Thursday by the U.S. House included the Oklahoma Water Rights Settlement between Oklahoma City, the state of Oklahoma, the Chickasaw Nation and the Choctaw Nation. It was a deal reached earlier in the year and announced by Gov. Mary Fallin. The measure, formally known as the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation …
Pruitt Faces a Tough and Likely Dirty Battle Ahead to Be Confirmed as EPA Chief
“A full-fledged environmental emergency.” “A professional climate denier.” “This is a four-alarm fire.” Those are comments from Democrats in the U.S. Senate in describing Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt and his nomination to be the new administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. But as E and E News reported in its recent Climate Wire, Republicans …
No Letup in Drilling Requests for Oklahoma’s STACK
Interest has yet to wane in Oklahoma’s STACK as the number of requests for permits to drill in the three-county area totaled 30 over the past week. A review of the permits as published by OK Energy Today shows the heaviest interest is in Kingfisher county where 14 permits were requested of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission in the …
Pruitt Promises Rule of Law to be Respected Under a new EPA
Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt’s already giving an indication of the changes coming at the Environmental Protection Agency if and when he is confirmed to be the new chief administrator. In a Thursday morning interview with Radio Oklahoma Network affiliate KWON, Pruitt explained his fight with the EPA is based on overreach. “It’s this view …
Pruitt’s Selection to Head EPA Angers Environmentalists but is Applauded by Energy Groups
Oil and gas groups in Oklahoma came out Wednesday applauding Donald Trump’s selection of State Attorney General Scott Pruitt to run the Environmental Protection Agency. As for environmentalists—-that’s another story. “For the past eight years, we’ve seen executive overreach put increased unnecessary and burdensome place to the detriment of not just Oklahoma’s oil and …
Pruitt Picked to be New EPA Administrator
If Donald Trump’s announcement of picking Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to be the new leader of the Environmental Protection Agency, it is a sign that the direction of the giant agency and what Pruitt and others have called “over-regulation by the EPA” will change drastically. The 48-year old Pruitt will have to be …
Energy Sector Slowly Improving in Oklahoma But Rest of State is Lagging
Another sign of a slowly improving energy sector in Oklahoma as November tax collections were up compared to a year ago. State Treasurer Ken Miller says it’s the second month of improvements as he released the monthly Gross Receipts to the Treasury Report. The November gross production taxes generated $34.1 million which was an increase …
Publisher Leads Way in Latest Earthquake Lawsuit
The latest class-action lawsuit filed over earthquakes in Oklahoma has a familiar name—-Scott Poynter. He’s filed previous lawsuits over damaging earthquakes in Prague then in Pawnee and now in Cushing following the 5.0 magnitude quake in early November. “What we’re wanting the oil and gas industry to be is good neighbors,” he told …
Energy Growth Predicted for Oklahoma in the Coming Year
Economists at this week’s 2017 Oklahoma Economic Outlook Conference held by Oklahoma State University in Oklahoma City offered optimism about the future of the state’s energy industry. They indicated the recent increase in energy prices should lead employment in the energy sector to stabilize and increase slightly in the coming year. “Oil prices have …