Governor Kevin Stitt on Monday plans to announce his selection for a new Oklahoma Secretary of Energy and Environment after Ken Wagner said he plans to leave the office effective September 3. The governor announced Wagner’s resignation on Friday and said he would have a new appointment by Monday. “Ken has been an invaluable …
Category: General
Wyoming pipeline break spills diesel fuel
In eastern Wyoming, cleanup work is still underway from a late-July diesel pipeline break that resulted in more than 45,000 gallons of fuel spilled onto the land. The Associated Press reports the line is owned by a company that is being sued by federal prosecutors over previous spills in two other states. Click here …
BLM pauses Colorado oil and gas leases to protect grouse
In order to protect an endangered species of sage grouse in southwestern Colorado, the government is pausing oil and gas leasing on more than 2 million acres of public land. Reuters reported the decision by the Bureau of Land Management came after environmental groups claimed the current management plan failed to consider climate impacts. …
Another earthquake strikes Permian Basin
The latest West Texas and southeast New Mexico earthquakes linked to deep wastewater wells were in the strong 4-plus magnitude range. It was last Thursday when a 4.7 magnitude quake was recorded by the U.S. Geological Survey about 34 miles south of Whites City in New Mexico. More than a thousand earthquakes have been …
Report claims New Mexico’s oil region leads nation in low-producing and high polluting wells
New Mexico might be one of the highest-oil producing states in the country, behind Texas, but a new report says its share of the Permian Basin also contains the most marginal or “stripper” wells. They also produce some of the highest amounts of pollution. Click here for Carlsbad Current-Argus
Biden reverses yet another Trump era ruling in pipeline fight
A victory for grizzly bears. That’s how one environmental group described a Biden administration decision to reverse a Trump-era approval and carry out more environmental reviews of a proposed Wyoming to Idaho natural gas pipeline. The Associated Press reported it means U.S. officials won’t approve the pipeline until additional environmental studies are completed. …
Corporation Commissioner at odds with OGE and the utility responded
Oklahoma Corporation Commissioner Bob Anthony’s claim that millions of dollars in OG&E ratepayer-backed bonds resulted in a substantial short-term profit for some bond buyers drew a sharp rebuke Friday from former State Treasurer Ken Miller who is now OGE’s vice president of Public and Regulatory Affairs. “Oklahoma Corporation Commissioner Bob Anthony said it best …
Nation’s rig count slips while Oklahoma adds
The latest Baker Hughes rig count showed a growth of one rig in Oklahoma with a new total of 65 oil and gas rigs active in the state. A year ago, Oklahoma had only 30 working rigs in the state. The U.S. count, reported Baker Hughes dropped by one in the past week to …
Crude oil dropped Friday while OK energy stocks held their ground
After a Thursday rebound, crude oil prices plunged nearly 2% on Friday, leaving investors hopeful of a rebound on Monday’s round of trading. Oklahoma energy stocks made only moderate gains for the most part. Analysts blamed the Friday drop on expectations that supply disruptions in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico would be short-term. At …
Energy headlines from the U.S. and the world
** A federal judge on Friday reinstated a moratorium on coal leasing from federal lands that was imposed under former President Barack Obama and then scuttled under former President Donald Trump. ** A Nevada electric vehicle battery recycling firm says Tesla’s Gigafactory will be one of its first customers for copper foil anodes. ** An environmental group petitions federal regulators to …