CHIPS Act-backed deal accelerates rare earth supply chain Stillwater-based USA Rare Earth, Inc. is giving up a potential 8% to 16% ownership stake in exchange for more than $1 billion in federal funding and loans, a move aimed at accelerating domestic production of rare earth minerals critical to semiconductors, permanent magnets, defense systems, and advanced …
GM to end EV car production at Kansas City plant
Production shift away from electric vehicles General Motors will end production of its Chevrolet Bolt EV at the Fairfax Assembly Plant in Kansas, replacing the electric vehicle with gas-powered models as part of a broader restructuring of its North American manufacturing footprint. The company confirmed to TechCrunch that production of the 2027 Chevy Bolt EV …
Energy briefs
** Winter Storm Fern knocks out power to more than 1 million customers across the U.S., with outages concentrated in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee. The ongoing storm causes a surge in natural gas power plant outages and restricted gas supplies in the mid-Atlantic, and has New England leaning heavily on oil-fired power plants to meet …
Oklahoma avoided ice storm—other states did not
Oklahoma escaped extreme damage including power outages from Winter Storm Fern who raced across the state and left behind up to 12 inches of snow as a calling card. Residents were luckier than those in Texas and several other states where power outages affected more than 1,000,000 customers following the arrival of sleet, freezing …
Energy briefs
** A major winter storm has left more than 1,000,000 customers without power and resulted in the cancellation of more than 16,000 flights, as heavy snow, sleet, freezing rain and frigid temperatures hit a massive swath of the U.S. this weekend. ** Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is suing some of the world’s largest oil companies, accusing them …
Others join Continental Resources in oil drilling pause in North Dakota
Continental Resources, the largest lease holder in the Bakken shale of North Dakota and Montana, might not be the only oil and gas exploration company to cut back on its drilling in North Dakota because of current price conditions. The company’s revelation was what a spokesman at the North Dakota Mineral Resources Department called …
Nation’s drilling activity remained firm in past week
While Continental Resources of Oklahoma has decided to stall its three drilling rigs in North Dakota because of an oversupplied oil market, the nation’s total rig count saw a gain of one, reaching 544 total oil and gas rigs. Baker Hughes reported Friday that Oklahoma’s count of 43 rigs was the same as the prior …
New sanctions on Iran’s tanker fleet sent crude oil prices up on Friday
Crude oil prices on Friday shot up nearly 3% after President Trump increased his pressure on Iran through sanctions on vessels transporting its oil and a threat of a Naval block of oil imports to Cuba. Energy prices reached their highest level for the week after the administration announced an “armada” was heading to …
Cattlemen’s Association backtracks on AG endorsement
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond’s weighty push against the poultry industry over pollution of the Illinois River Watershed just came back to affect his campaign for Governor. After endorsing Drummond a year ago, the Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association did a reversal this past week, rescinding its support for him, even though he is also a …
Winter Storm Uri lawsuit drags on in court
Five years after Winter Storm Uri pounded Oklahoma and froze the ability of some utilities to transport natural gas for their power generators, the state attorney general’s efforts to recover billions of dollars in what he alleged to be “price manipulation” is dragging on in a court in Pawhuska. It is there that Gentner Drummond …