The call by Democrats in the Oklahoma House to raise the gross production tax on oil and gas is affecting nearly every revenue bill being voted on this week. While they helped kill the governor’s bill creating a $1.50-a-pack cigarette tax, they also nearly killed a bill remove the sales tax exemption on wind …
Fresh off Chapter 11 reorganization, Oklahoma City-based Chaparral Energy, Inc. announced Monday a new long-term strategy of transitioning to a pure-play STACK operation. Chaparral announced the elimination of $1.2 billion in debt in the first quarter where the company focused the entirety of its drilling activity in the STACK play. The company said its …
For a third straight week, Oklahoma’s average gasoline prices are the second lowest in the nation. The state’s average this week, according to AAA Oklahoma is $2.07 a gallon, down 12 cents from a month ago. Oklahoma’s average trails only South Carolina’s $2.01 a gallon and is 27 cents below the national average of $2.34. …
How far it might get is one thing, but a Texas energy group wants Google to purge or bury what it considers “fake News” websites that spread misinformation about fracking. Texans for Natural Gas, an industry-funded group has made the request. “We believe many of the most prominent anti-fracking websites have content that is misleading, …
Earthquakes and wastewater injection wells are attracting more criticism and concern. Sounds like Oklahoma but it’s in Kansas where some of the earthquakes in northern Oklahoma have been felt and caused damage. Last fall’s 5.8 magnitude quake in Pawnee was not only felt but caused some damage in Kansas. But now residents of East Central …
Ten months after he was indicted by a multicounty grand jury on charges of embezzling thousands from the Choctaw Electric Cooperative based in Hugo, former CEO and General Manager Terry Matlock has drawn a 10-year suspended prison sentence. Now 54, Matlock, a former state legislator reached the deal last month after pleading Nolo Contendre and …
The merry go-round in leadership at Choctaw Electric Cooperative in Hugo continues with the recent naming of a new CEO and General Manager just a year after the board had hired a new leader. Kooney C. Duncan of Blanchard was named this month to be the new CEO/General Manager. He had been the Commercial and …
Speculation is growing among political observers at the State Capitol that a special session of the legislature is likely because legislators have yet to reach a budget agreement. Political analyst Scott Mitchell is one of them, saying the House is further along than the State Senate. The Tulsa-based Oklahoma Policy Institute also believes lawmakers are …
An interesting story out of North Carolina where Duke Energy, the nation’s largest utility finds itself accused of racism as it tries to force a civil rights museum to cough up more than $18,000 in unpaid electricity bills. The Associated Press reports the utility has already turned off the lights once and is threatening to …
She was the top attorney for the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee when it was chaired by Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe and now Susan Bodine has been tapped by the President to head the EPA’s enforcement division. Bodine was the committee’s top attorney since January 2015. On Friday, President Trump announced her nomination …