A Choctaw man charged with embezzlement is wanted after he skipped a federal plea hearing on Wednesday, according to a report in The Oklahoman. Rodney Alan Hager is accused of transferring over $7 million from his family’s business, J&B Pipe Supply Company, to Mall Concepts of Oklahoma, Inc. Hager is a former bookkeeper employed by …
Noted Oklahoma Oilman Dead at 92
Oklahoma oilman Robert L. Parker Sr. was buried this week. He died July 9 at the age of 92 and for many years, led the company known as Parker Drilling Co. Over the course of his career in energy, he was named by President Ronald Reagan in 1981 to be chairman of the U.S. Energy …
Chesapeake Reaches $51 million Settlement of Hundreds of Royalty Lawsuits in Fort Worth
Oklahoma City’s Chesapeake Energy has agreed to pay nearly $51 million to settle hundreds of lawsuits filed over royalty fights around Fort Worth, Texas. The company had been accused of cheating property owners out of millions of dollars in natural gas royalties. Attorneys at a Fort Worth law firm announced this week that 91 percent …
House Committee Follows through with Subpoena Threat of Attorneys General
A U.S. House Committee whose members include Oklahoma Congressmen Frank Lucas and Jim Bridenstine has followed through with a threat to subpoena attorneys general in two states and environmental groups in their climate change probe of Exxon. Science, Space, and Technology Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) issued the subpoenas to New York Attorney General Eric …
States Continue Challenge of EPA’s Clean Water Act
Oklahoma is among nearly 30 states urging the Denver Federal Appeals Court to revive the U.S. Chamber of Commerce challenge to the federal clean water rule. In filings, the states say the court is not bound by a Sixth Circuit ruling that circuit courts hold jurisdiction over the claims. The states also want the 10th …
Blanchard’s Shake, Rattle and Roll Under Investigation by Oklahoma Corporation Commission
Three earthquakes with a magnitude of 3.0 or greater are the impetus of an Oklahoma Corporation Commission investigation into the McClain County tremblors, according to a news report published by The Oklahoman. The town of Blanchard falls outside the 15,000 square mile area of interest associated with the Arbuckle formation where a total of nine …
Boeing to Dedicate New $80 million Plant Next to Tinker Air Force Base
A year after breaking ground, Boeing’s getting ready for a ceremonial ribbon cutting at its new $80,000,000 facility in Oklahoma City. Governor Mary Fallin will help take part in Friday morning’s event dedicating Boeing’s new engineering, research and development lab. Building 84-301 is located at 6811 SE 59th street and the ceremony will begin at …
House Rushes to Finish $32 billion EPA Spending Bill
It was a late Tuesday night for U.S. Representatives as they worked on the $32 billion Interior-EPA spending bill. Forty-five amendments were handled by the time the gavel was sounded, according to a report from Politico’s Morning Energy Report. One item that did pass was a move to clamp down on monitoring water quality in …
How a Businessman Man Conned U.S. Out of Millions in a Phony Biodiesel Operation
How did a Guatamalen-born businessman swindle the U.S. out of millions of dollars under a government program aimed at increasing the production of biodiesel fuel? Bloomberg reports how Philip Rivkin, founder of a phony company named Green Diesel was able to do it, and now sits in a U.S. prison in Texas where he’s serving …
Trump Endorsed by American Energy Alliance
The American-Energy Alliance is doing a first—its first ever endorsement of a political candidate. It’s endorsing Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. The AEA is the advocacy arm of the conservative Institute for Energy Research and proclaimed that if Trump were to win the White House he would undo President Obama’s policies that have …