Author's posts
Construction Starts on Largest Solar Energy Project in Midwest
Oklahoma has yet to get a commercial solar operation but solar remains of high interest in the Midwest. Now construction has started on the largest solar energy project in the Midwest is underway in Chisago County, Minnesota. There, D.E. Shaw Renewable Investments, LLC acquired the 100 MW North Star Solar Project from Community Energy, Inc. …
Indian Energy Focus of Summit in Tulsa
National U.S. Energy Department officials are gathered this week in Tulsa for a summit on Indian Energy. The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Indian Energy is hosting the session entitled “Tribal Energy: Strategic Roadmap 2015” at the Reservation Economic Summit. It will continue through July 14. The last such National Tribal Energy Summit was …
One Bankrupt Company Fighting Another Bankrupt Company
Oklahoma City-based SandRidge Energy Inc. finds itself in a legal battle with a geologic information company that filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the federal courts in Houston, Texas. It’s a case of one bankrupt company doing battle with another bankrupt company over a contract. WesternGeco LLC is asking a bankruptcy judge to allow the firm …
Senators Contend Future is Bright for Nuclear Energy
Writing in the U.S. News and World Report recently, Oklahoma U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe and three others boasted of a new nuclear renaissance, stating that the “future of nuclear energy in the U.S. is bright.” Inhofe was joined by Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, Republican Sen. Mike Crapo of Idaho and Sen. Cory …
Oklahoma Has 2nd Cheapest Gasoline Prices in U.S.
Oklahoma gasoline prices are down to a new statewide average of $2.02 a gallon, a drop of nearly 5 cents in the past week, according to AAA Oklahoma. It means Oklahoma has some of the cheapest gasoline in the country. Nationally, prices are at their lowest mark for the date since 2004, coming in …
Small Business Operators Showing No Enthusiasm for Expansion
As energy companies struggle in Oklahoma, a survey by the National Federation of Independent Business shows only a slight increase in business optimism across the state and the country. A “negligible increase showing no real enthusiasm for making capital outlays, increasing inventories or expanding,” is how the NFIB’s Small Business Optimism Index put it. The …
Pratt, Kansas Wind Farm Has Second Work Accident
The feds are investigating a wind farm operation near Pratt, Kansas where two workplace incidents have occurred in recent weeks including one where a worker fell 120 feet from a turbine and survived. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has started a probe at the Ninnescah Wind Farm in south central Kansas’ Pratt county. The …
$61 billion in Bankrupt Oil and Gas Firms……More to come?
Oil and gas company bankruptcies as of June 30, 2016 have reached more than $61 billion in debt, according to an update from the bankruptcy law firm of Haynes and Boones in Texas and its Oil Patch Bankruptcy Monitor. The count still stands at 85 bankrupt North American oil and gas producers since early 2015 and …
Oh Oh! Researcher Admits Mistake in Fracking Study Claims
Big mea culpas are coming from some scientists after admitting they made major mistakes, especially in the case of an Oregon State University researcher who claimed to have found environmentally harmful effects from fracking. Retraction Watch, a group devoted to such scientific mistakes is reporting major retractions on the part of the authors of two …
House Interim Studies to Include Focus on Oil and Gas Drilling and Wastewater Options
Oklahoma House Speaker Jeff Hickman on Monday approved 71 interim studies requested by State Representatives. He chose to combine 32 of the 71 requested studies to make 13 individual studies, setting the state for 52 difference hearings if all of the interim study requests are heard. Two requests focus on oil and gas drilling and …
