While petroleum engineer might be the best job in Oklahoma, it’s not the industry’s fastest growing. While jobs typically associated with oil and gas operations — engineers, extractors, geoscientists and equipment operators — enjoyed robust expansion in recent years, the most growth has less to do with drilling and more to do with regulation, according […] Continue reading →

OAKLAND -- A local television news reporter and her photographer had their video camera and tripod stolen in a brazen daylight theft as they were doing a story on San Pablo Avenue on Monday afternoon, but their story still led the 5 p.m. broadcast."We're OK, we're just rattled," said NBC Bay Area reporter Jodi Hernandez.They called 911 to report the 3 p.m. theft and police are investigating.Hernandez and cameraman Rich Goudeau were in front of the Alameda County Social Services building at 2000 San Pablo Ave. at 21st Avenue in Oakland preparing to conduct interviews and gathering footage for a story on state budget cuts when a man ran up to the photographer from behind and swiped equipment before jumping into a car. Hernandez was ... Continue reading →

Three donors the latest in a rush of companies to distance themselves from Heartland after an ad campaign featuring Unabomber Ted Kaczynski. Photograph: The Heartland Institute Heartland Institute was cut off by three more corporate donors on Monday, further isolating the ultra-conservative thinktank from the mainstream business world.The defections reinforce the sense of Heartland's isolation, ahead of its major climate contrarian conference in Chicago next week. A number of prominent speakers also pulled out of the conference after Heartland put up a billboard on a Chicago expressway suggesting believers in climate change were akin to serial killers.In statements to advocacy groups, pharmaceutical giant Eli Llily, BB&T bank and PepsiCo confirmed they would not fund Heartland in 2012 – dealing a blow to the thinktank's plans ... Continue reading →

SandRidge Energy’s Tom Ward addresses hedge fund in earnings call By Sarah Terry-Cobo Oklahoma City energy reporter; 405-278-2849; sarah.terry-cobo@journalrecord.com; @JRSarahTC Posted: 08:42 AM Friday, May 4, 2012 OKLAHOMA CITY - In a morning earnings call, SandRidge Energy's chief executive officer Tom Ward briefly addressed a controversial hedge fund reported by Reuters on Wednesday. The news agency reported that Ward and Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McClendon ran a private hedge fund that also traded in natural gas. "The fund managed many commodities and was ... Login required close window [x] One Year$142A Great Value! Full online access to journalrecord.com including twelve years of archivesSummaries of breaking stories and 24/7 online updatesIn-depth news covering Oklahoma’s most important industry segmentsSign me up! close window [x] One Year$189A Great ... Continue reading →

Aubrey McClendon resigns as Chesapeake Chairman By Sarah Terry-Cobo Oklahoma City energy reporter; 405-278-2849; sarah.terry-cobo@journalrecord.com; @JRSarahTC Posted: 09:53 AM Tuesday, May 1, 2012 OKLAHOMA CITY - Chesapeake's Chairman, Aubrey McClendon, will step down from that post, according to a press release issued by the company. McClendon will remain as Chief Executive Officer. In morning trading, shares of the company's stock rose as much as 10 percent, to $20.63. The company also announced it will end its Founders Well Participation ... Login required close window [x] One Year$142A Great Value! Full online access to journalrecord.com including twelve years of archivesSummaries of breaking stories and 24/7 online updatesIn-depth news covering Oklahoma’s most important industry segmentsSign me up! close window [x] One Year$189A Great Value! Full online access ... Continue reading →

by Elizabeth Shogren | April 18, 2012 — 2:13 PM The Environmental Protection Agency announced new rules Wednesday to control the problem of air pollution coming from wells being drilled by the booming oil and natural gas drilling industry. Currently, waste products from the drilling operations, which include a mix of chemicals, sand and water, can be pumped into open enclosures or pits, where toxic substances can make their way into the air. The new rules will require this fluid to be captured by 2015, and flared — or burned off — in the meantime. Some states, including Colorado, already require companies to do what the EPA will soon require everywhere. Mark Balderston, who started working in the oil and gas industry 40 years ago, ... Continue reading →

BILAL QABALAN/AFP/Getty Images Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdel Aziz inaugurates the Al-Qatif new oil production plant. In his latest column for the New York Times Magazine, Adam Davidson cites Gal Luft, an oil expert who dismisses political proposals from the left and the right to lower the price of gas. We asked him to elaborate in the following post. When in December 2008, 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl asked Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi how much it cost Saudi Arabia to produce one barrel of oil, he didn't blink: "Probably less than $2 to produce a barrel." If it costs only $2 to produce a barrel of oil, then why do we pay over $105 a barrel? Wall Street, Big Oil, President Obama, the ... Continue reading →

"Journalism Innovation," Winner Society of Professional Journalists, 2011 "Explanatory Journalism," Winner Society of Professional Journalists, 2011 "Best Online-Only Website,” Winner National Headliner Award, 2011 "Investigative Reporting," Winner Society of Professional Journalists, 2010 Continue reading →