Category: General

Energy Sector Woes Hit Hard in Oklahoma, Texas and Wyoming

The slump in crude prices is starting to show up as missed payments by consumers in the oil patch, according to a report published in The Wall Street Journal. In states from Oklahoma and Texas to North Dakota and Wyoming, rising unemployment in the energy sector is pushing up loan delinquencies and raising the risk …

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T. Boone Pickens: America’s Oil Industry is ‘Dead in the Water’

Billionaire energy investor T. Boone Pickens said earlier this week that he believes the U.S. oil industry is “dead in the water” as OPEC members continue to pump more crude and U.S. companies curb drilling. Speaking at a dinner hosted by the Committee to Unleash Prosperity, Pickens that he doesn’t expect U.S. drilling operations to pick up again any time …

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Armed Services Committee Votes Against Protection for Greater Sage Grouse

  The U.S. House Armed Services Committee, including Oklahoma Representatives Steve Russell and Jim Bridenstine turned back a move by a Democratic Representative to strip part of a national defense spending bill that included exemption of protection for the greater sage-grouse on military lands. The vote was 27-35 against removing the limits as part of …

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Inhofe says Oklahoma Will Gain from New Water Development Act

  Senator Jim Inhofe says as chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, he’s been able to get a Water Resources Development Act of 2016 approved that will directly benefit Oklahoma. “WRDA 2016 ensures that Oklahoma projects, including the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System and the Tulsa and West Tulsa Levee System, continue …

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Rep. Russell Wages Fight against New Space Rocket Engines

  Before joining others on the U.S. House Armed Services Committee in approving a $610.5 billion National Defense Spending bill this week, U.S. Rep. Steve Russell waged a fight against spending billions on new engines for America’s space rockets. As the Committee hearing seeped into the early morning hours of Thursday, the Congressman said his …

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T. Boone Pickens Endorses Donald Trump for President

Texas energy investor T. Boone Pickens predicts New York business entrepreneur Donald Trump will win the Republican presidential nomination and the White House. The CEO and Chairman of BP Capital Management said in a recent interview that Trump would be the only candidate to push real change in the US. Pickens, an Oklahoma native and …

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Baker Hughes Posts $981 Million Loss in First Quarter

Houston-based Baker Hughes Incorporated posted a $981 million loss in the first quarter of 2016, widening significantly from the same period a year ago, according to the company’s press release. The world’s third largest oilfield services provider reported a bigger quarterly loss on Wednesday, hurt by a continued decline in drilling activity. Baker Hughes attributed …

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Williams Faces Uphill Fight for East Coast Pipeline

A proposed $1.2 billion PennEast Pipeline proposed by Tulsa-based Williams Partners L.P. in conjunction with three other firms faces an uphill road after a regional regulatory agency in Pennsylvania indicated this week it wants to carry out an independent review of the project. Williams is in partnership with Cabot Oil and Gas Corp., Piedmont Natural …

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Worker Embezzled $450,000 from Houston Energy Firm

An 80-year federal prison sentence could be awaiting a former financial employee who embezzled more than $450,000 from the Southwestern Energy Company in Houston, Texas. Kendra Walker, 28 pleaded guilty this week to wire fraud counts and is free on bond waiting to be sentenced.  She worked in the company’s accounts payable department and stole …

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51-week Low for Nation’s Ethanol Production

Another drop in the nation’s ethanol production is reported by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Production averaged 927,000 barrels a day or 38.93 million gallons a day which is a drop of 12,000 barrels daily from the previous week. It also represents a 51-week low for ethanol production in the U.S. the EIA indicated the …

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