Author's posts
Williams and ETE Continue Their Squabble Over Shotgun Marriage
Some say the proposed contentious merger between Tulsa’s Williams Companies and Energy Transfer Equity of Dallas is more like a shotgun marriage. Williams wants to force the deal by suing ETE while ETE wants to dump Williams on the altar. Now days before a lawsuit by Williams Companies against Energy Transfer Equity goes to trial …
Report Claims 40 Counties in Oklahoma at High Cancer Risk from Oil and Gas Industry Fumes
Oklahoma is considered among a handful of states with the greatest cancer risk to oil and gas workers from methane and air toxics emissions in the industry, according to a new report from the Clean Air Task Force. The study found that areas with the greatest health risk are generally located in states with the …
Former Corporation Commissioner Lands $250,000 State Job
As the old Frank Sinatra song goes, “Nice work if you can get it, you can get it if you try.” It’s what some state legislators are saying about the $250,000 job just landed by former Oklahoma Corporation Commissioner Patrice Douglas. She was named the new Chief Executive Officer of the Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment …
Scientists Worry Massive West Texas Sinkholes Will Grow
A new study by geophysicists at Southern Methodist University in Dallas shows two giant sinkholes near the small West Texas towns of Wink and Kermit have grown unstable and could increase in size. The sinkholes are a mile apart and satellite radar indicates they appear to be expanding and according to the researchers, …
Supreme Court Won’t Consider States’ Challenge to Mercury Rule
Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin and State Attorney General Scott Pruitt have not commented about a U.S. Supreme Court decision this week to review the D.C. Circuit’s decision not to vacate the EPA’s air quality rule challenged by Oklahoma and nearly two dozen other states. Oklahoma was among 25 states and state agencies that …
Chesapeake Energy Carries Out Court Battle in New York
Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake Energy Corp. was back in a New York federal court this week fighting with bond trustee Bank of New York Mellon Corp. over hundreds of millions of dollars in contract damages stemming from what was described as a botched bond buyback. The fight is over a reversed May 2013 order by Manhattan …
Rep. Russell and Others on House Committee Demand More Keystone Documents from Secretary of State
Oklahoma congressman Steve Russell and other members of the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform await a response from Secretary of State John Kerry after issuing a second subpoena against his Department in its probe of the Keystone XL pipeline issue. The GOP-controlled Committee issued the subpoena last week to force the …
Summer Driving Demand Still Causing Little Effect on Oklahoma Gasoline Prices
While the nation’s average gasoline price increased seven cents a gallon in the past two weeks, the average in Oklahoma rose just two cents, hitting a statewide average of $2.15 a gallon, according to the latest Fuel Gauge Report from AAA Oklahoma. The nation’s average is up to $2.38 a gallon, the most expensive average …
Gas Flaring Practice Plunges in North Dakota
While the federal government’s targeting natural gas flaring on federal lands, the practice in the state where the highest amount has been carried out has fallen sharply since 2014. North Dakota’s flaring as of March 2016 was down to 10%, less than a third of the January 2014 flaring rate of 36%, according to figures …
$7 million in Fines Against UP Railroad in Two Years
After looking into federal records following a June 3-firey crude oil train derailment in Oregon, reporters for The Oregonian and OregonLive have discovered the Union Pacific railroad has been fined more than $7 million in a two-year period. The fines were for safety violations from 2014 through 2015. An Oregon Department of Transportation Inspection found …
