Archive for the 'Texas' Category

Texas completes $1 billion wind energy complex
By  Candace Lombardi / CNet News

One of the world’s largest wind farms is now operational in the area surrounding Roscoe, Texas, E.ON Climate & Renewables (EC&R) announced Thursday.

The series of 627 wind turbines providing a 781.5-megawatt capacity covers about 100,000 acres and four Texas counties. But it’s not an isolated wind farm per se, nor a uniform series of turbines.

The wind complex is a collaborative wind project with the community that included negotiations with over 300 landowners, and a mix of different turbines made by several companies including Mitsubishi, General Electric, and Siemens.

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After following oil higher, prices for natural gas slide–and take an industry along for the ride.

HOUSTON — As crude oil grabs headlines for trading above $60 a barrel, little brother natural gas seemed to be following. Since the end of April, gas climbed out of its $3.15-per-thousand-cubic-feet ditch to a recent $4.42.

But two bullies in the market–weak demand and unrelenting supply–suffocated a 40% gain this week. Thursday, the Energy Information Administration reported that natural gas inventories continue to climb faster than expected. Supply in storage is a third higher than it was this time last year, 22% above the five-year average. Small exploration and production companies have fallen by the wayside, seeking bankruptcy protection, while others teeter on stock prices measured in nickels and dimes. Gas traded Friday at $3.54, back in the trough where analysts say it belongs.

“Three words: Too. Much. Gas,” says energy analyst David Pursell, of Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co.

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May 26, 2009

HOUSTON (AP) — The number of rigs actively exploring for oil and natural gas in the United States fell by 18 this week to 900, down more than half from a year ago.

Of the rigs running nationwide, 711 were exploring for natural gas and 180 for oil, Houston-based Baker Hughes Inc. reported Friday. Nine were listed as miscellaneous.

A year ago, the rig count stood at 1,889. The U.S. count is down 56 percent since the end of August as weak energy demand has hampered oilfield activity.

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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 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 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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By LYNN COOK Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle

As falling commodity prices and rising debts force asset fire sales and bankruptcies in the energy industry, foreign companies are joining cash-rich American ones in looking for bargains on U.S. infrastructure and reserves.

“There’s interested international money out there still looking to do deep-water deals in the Gulf of Mexico and onshore as well,” said Houston-based Adrian Goodisman, a managing director with Scotia Waterous, the energy investment banking arm of the Bank of Nova Scotia.

Scotia Waterous officials say the firm closed $20 billion in energy deals last year, second only to Goldman Sachs. They weren’t all done before the financial crisis paralyzed Wall Street last fall, but many that came after were backed by foreign capital.

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ARLINGTON, Texas, Jan. 23 – Carrizo Oil & Gas, Inc. CRZO is proud to announce that initial royalty payments totaling more than $675,000 have been dispersed to mineral owners in the City of Arlington who signed agreements associated with the production of natural gas on and around the campus of The University of Texas at Arlington.

Our operations at the University of Texas at Arlington have been an overwhelming success,” Chip Johnson, President and CEO of Carrizo Oil & Gas, Inc. said. “It is exciting to be able to share these successes with our partners.”Among the 120 residents and organizations receiving their first monthly installment of royalty payments are:

• University of Texas at Arlington
• City of Arlington
• First Baptist Church of Arlington
• State of Texas

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by Jamaal E. O’Neal

CARTHAGE — Carthage Economic Development Corp. President Charles Thomas said he’s bullish about gas production in Panola County.

“We’ve seen some rigs pull out, but we’re still bucking the trend, and with the Haynesville Shale, we’re all excited about the area’s future drilling prospects,” Thomas said.

Some oil and gas experts, however, warn that the area could experience a production decline and a rise in unemployment as oil and gas explorers begin to halt drilling projects.

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January 27, 2009

Energy Transfer Partners, a publicly traded partnership that owns and operates energy assets, has signed an agreement with a wholly owned subsidiary of Chesapeake Energy Corp. to build a 178-mile natural gas pipeline near Carthage, Texas, which will extend through the Haynesville Shale, ending up near Delhi, La.

Chesapeake’s subsidiary Chesapeake Energy Marketing Inc. entered the deal with Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners (NYSE: ETP).

Construction of the pipeline is expected to cost somewhere in the $1 billion to $1.2 billion-range, with service to begin in 2011. The pipeline, which will be called the Tiger Pipeline, will allow the energy company to connect seven interstate pipelines at strategic points within Louisiana, Energy Transfer Partners said in a press statement.

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