Archive for May, 2009

By Elizabeth Souder and Dave Michaels, The Dallas Morning News 5/26/2009
DALLAS, TEXAS: The Obama administration’s push to shift the country toward renewable energy and away from fossil fuels puts the Texas economy in the crosshairs.

Hopeful Texas Democrats and entrepreneurs say the change would open opportunities for the state’s energy industry, while cutting the greenhouse gas emissions that are heating the planet. But even as Texas installs more wind power than any other state and boosts incentives for solar energy, fossil fuels reign.

“If the construct is to punish carbon manufacturers, then yes, Texas does suffer,” said John Hofmeister, former president of Houston-based Shell Oil Co.

The conflict between President Barack Obama’s vision and Texas’ reality boils down to a mix of politics and industry. While Obama has staked his economic recovery agenda on creating millions of green jobs, Texas depends on carbon dioxide jobs.

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By ROD WALTON World Staff Writer
Published: 5/26/2009

Well-thumbed, yellowed pieces of Oklahoma’s oil and gas drilling past can play a huge part in pumping up the industry’s high-tech future.

Well logs, handwritten by geologists as the drill bit churned nearly a century ago, are valuable tools that need to be preserved, officials say.

An Energy Libraries Online campaign hopes to raise enough money so that all of these paper records from early 20th-century well sites can be scanned and available via computer.

Newer wells already have a wealth of digital information, but many producers believe the old holes still trap plenty of oil.

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MAY 26, 2009

By Steve Gelsi

Energy stocks fell Tuesday as Wall Street mulled oil prices below $60 a barrel and more difficult long-term prospects for major oil companies facing pressure to replace aging wells.

OPEC also looms on investors’ collective radar screen this week, with the oil cartel expected to avoid any further cuts in production at a confab this week.

Against this backdrop, the Amex Oil Index (XOI) dropped 1.3% to 919, the Amex Natural Gas Index (XNG) lost 2.2% to 405, and the Philadelphia Oil Service Index (OSXX) declined 0.4% to 161.

While mega-projects such as the Thunder Horse project in the Gulf of Mexico are helping production, oil majors such as BP (BP) continue to be squeezed by maturing fields and capital-spending cutbacks, even while maintaining dividend payments.

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Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, May 24, 2009

RICHMOND — The federal government’s decision to lift its longtime ban on offshore drilling has thrust the hot-button issue of coastal drilling to the forefront of the Virginia governor’s race.

The three Democrats vying for their party’s nomination next month are taking strikingly different positions on whether Virginia should join Alaska, Texas and Louisiana in setting up offshore platforms to drill for oil and natural gas.

Brian Moran, a former delegate from Alexandria, opposes all drilling, a position that is in keeping with his strategy to stake out progressive stances on a variety of issues in the hopes of appealing to the party’s more liberal base.

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Reported by: WPTV staff  5/22/09

WEST PALM BEACH, FL–Just in time for the holiday weekend, local gas prices are on the rise once again.

One Purdue University expert thinks fuel will top off at 3 dollars a gallon.

As you prepare to fill up and hit the road for the Memorial Day weekend, you’ll see that gas prices have jumped 3 cents overnight.

Still, oil prices have been holding steady this week around 62 dollars a barrel.

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By Billy Loftin
Wednesday, May 20, 2009AMARILLO, TEXAS — The Panhandle Producers Royalty Owners Association (PPROA) hosted its 80th annual convention in Amarillo this week to discuss the oil and gas industry, and what challenges and other issues members face.

Hundreds of producers, royalty owners and others interested in the oil and gas industry met Wednesday to listen to Buddy Kleemeier, chairman of the Independent Petroleum Association of America.

Kleemeier deals with Congress and different committees in Washington D.C. He spoke to representatives from Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas about the Obama Administration and what changes may be implemented that effect oil and gas nationwide.

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By ROD WALTON 5/20/2009

Alternative energy is everything.

If any consensus was reached Tuesday during the OSU Energy Conference, it’s that all fuel sources have their place in the American future. That includes standbys like oil, coal and natural gas along with newer technologies involving wind, biofuels and geothermal pumps.

“There’s no question that the opportunities are unlimited,” said former Alaska Gov. Tony Knowles, executive director of the Tulsa-based National Energy Policy Institute.

Hundreds of industry professionals came to the Renaissance Tulsa Hotel and Convention Center to hear experts extol the virtues of almost every conceivable kind of fuel, whether it comes out of the ground, through the air, by splitting an atom or crushing a seed. And, except for two protestors outside dressed in animal costumes and waving signs about fossil fuels killing the planet, those inside the complex were careful to respect every source.

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ABC News’ Jake Tapper and Sunlen Miller report:

Standing with such disparate players as United Auto Workers President Ron Gettlefinger, auto company executives, and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson, President Obama this afternoon announced a new national standard increase gas mileage and decrease greenhouse gas pollution.

“The status quo is no longer acceptable,” The President said, noting that the United States makes up less than 5% of the world population, but provides a quarter of the world’s demand for oil.

The president set the goal of raising the fuel economy standards to an industry average of 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016, which he said would save 1.8 billion barrels of oil over the lifetime of the vehicles sold in the next five years.

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May 19, 2009 (Claremore Daily Progress - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) — County commissioners heard presentations on solar energy and cable safety, and asked Assistant District Attorney Barry Farbro to explore legal options for indigent burial at Monday’s board meeting.

John Miggins of Standard Renewable Energy talked to commissioners about the possibility of supplementing county power needs with solar energy. Miggins said the courthouse roof is a good site for installing solar panels. He said there is also a possibility of installing panels at the jail.

“You buy a lot of power,” said Miggins. He said the county gets a “good deal” on power purchased through Claremore Electric. The city has a 25-year contract with GRDA to supply Claremore Electric’s power.

Solar power would supplement, not replace, electric purchased through the city. The investment comes up front in the purchase of the equipment, then the power generated is free.

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By ROD WALTON World Staff Writer
5/7/2009

Many oil and gas producers fear they may get only pennies on the dollar, if that, for the $400 million and more owed them by bankrupt SemGroup LP. But one of its attorneys remains optimistic about total payback.

“That’s the ballgame,” Tulsa attorney Gary McDonald said Wednesday during the Mid-Con Expo Energy Conference at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City.

“One hundred percent recovery: That’s what the statutes intended,” he added. “I think the prospects for full recovery are very good.”

SemCrude and Eaglwing, two SemGroup subsidiaries caught up in the Tulsa energy company’s July 22, 2008, bankruptcy, owe hundreds of producers for oil and gas bought in the 50 days before the Chapter 11 filing. The producers group also includes thousands more people as operators, working interests and royalty owners, according to reports.

A key battle in Delaware federal bankruptcy court pits the producers against a mammoth group of secured lenders led by Bank of America. Those creditors backed a $2.5 billion credit line and hold secured claims on SemGroup’s assets, according to reports.

Oil and gas producers, McDonald pointed out, also are a large group but tethered to a variety of state laws governing those liens for product sold prior to bankruptcy.

Most of the oil and gas was sold to SemCrude and Eaglwing from Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas and New Mexico. 

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