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SandRidge Energy Hit with $1.4 Million Fine by SEC
Oklahoma City-based SandRidge Energy has been hit with a $1.4 million fine by the Securities and Exchange Commission for retaliating against a whistleblower and forcing hundreds of laid-off workers to sign confidentiality agreements. The SEC announced the action this week, explaining that SandRidge violated SEC laws beginning in the summer of 2011 when it forced …
No Complaints from Oil and Gas Group About New Earthquake Rules
The significance of this week’s new earthquake rules announced by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission is not lost on Chad Warmington, head of the Oklahoma Oil and Gas Association. For the first time, state regulators are linking earthquakes to fracking, not wastewater injection wells. Consider it a preventive step by the Commission as it attempts to …
Oil and Gas Association Vows to Help Implement New Earthquake Rules for SCOOP and STACK
One oil and gas group in Oklahoma said its member companies are ready to immediately implement the new earthquake rules announced Tuesday by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission. The rules were prompted by concerns that hydraulic fracturing operations in the highly popular STACK and SCOOP oil plays in the state would trigger an increase in …
Fracking Prompts State to Issue New Earthquake Prevention Rules for SCOOP and STACK
As Oklahoma’s two popular and fast-growing oil plays, the STACK and the SCOOP generate high interest in the oil and gas industry, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission announced Tuesday new seismicity rules that will apply to the region…..rules aimed at preventing a sudden growth in earthquakes. And this time, state regulators are linking possible earthquake activity …
OERB Staff Grows by Three
The Oklahoma Energy Resources Board announced the addition of three new staff members. Viji Ayyaru joined the OERB as the controller. In this role, she is responsible for oversight of all finance, accounting and reporting activities. Ayyaru previously worked for the Homeland Acquisition Corporation as an accounts payable supervisor. She holds a degree in …
What Might an EPA Under Scott Pruitt Bring?
Donald Trump supporters and environmentalists alike have a good idea of what Scott Pruitt will do as the new administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Of course, each side has a different point of view. Trump supporters believe Pruitt will remove some of what they think are unnecessary environmental regulations that strap the oil …
How One Network Covered EPA Fracking Study
A report by CBS news on an EPA fracking study and drinking water chose to lead with non-scientific claims of residents who contend nearby fracking affected their drinking water in west Texas. Even though the residents admitted they had no scientific proof to document their claims. CBS News correspondent Manuel Bojorquez’s report aired Tuesday and …
EPA’s Six-Year $29 million Study of Fracking and Drinking Water
Six years and $29 million later, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says it is unclear whether hydraulic fracturing truly contaminates drinking water as some environmentalists and residents claim. The EPA recently released its six-year long study, stating that in some circumstances, fracking does present a risk to drinking water. But the giant agency also said there …
President Signs Act Formally Adopting Settlement of Water Fight in Oklahoma
When President Obama recently put his name to the WIIN Act, he also formally signed into law the historic water agreement that allows Oklahoma City to have legal access to Sardis Lake for drinking water from the Chickasaw and Choctaw tribes. Although the agreement was reached last summer and announced by Gov. Mary Fallin, it …
OIPA Names Executive Vice President
Tim Wigley has been named executive vice president of the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association. In the position, Wigley will direct the association’s legislative outreach efforts at the state and federal level on behalf of Oklahoma’s independent oil and natural gas industry. Following the 2017 retirement of current OIPA President Mike Terry, Wigley will assume the …