Latest Energy Headlines
All the headlines from our Energy Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Researchers Say Rise in Foreclosures Tracks with Spike in Oklahoma Earthquakes
Oct 10 2016 // Contrary to the trend in most of the nation, home foreclosure rates in Oklahoma have risen over the past two years, and some researchers say increased earthquake activity in the state may be a factor. California-based...
Pennsylvania Adopts New Fracking Regulations
Oct 10 2016 // New regulations governing the extraction of natural gas through fracking went into effect on Saturday in Pennsylvania, the first overhaul since the industry took off in the state more than 10 years ago. The new rules allow...
Regulators Say South Carolina Nuclear Fuel Plant Put Workers at ‘Substantial’ Risk
Sep 29 2016 // Federal regulators say they’ve found there was a “substantial potential” for an accident that could have injured workers at the Westinghouse nuclear fuel plant near Columbia. Media outlets report the...
Exxon to Pay $12M to Settle over Yellowstone Oil Spill
Sep 23 2016 // Exxon Mobil Corp. will pay $12 million for environmental damages caused by a pipeline break that spilled 63,000 gallons (238,474 liters) of crude into Montana’s Yellowstone River and prompted a national debate over...
September Earthquake Deemed Oklahoma’s Strongest on Record; Insured Costs Uncertain
Sep 19 2016 // An earthquake that hit Pawnee, Okla., in the north central part of the state on Sept. 3 was upgraded on Sept. 7 from the preliminary 5.6 magnitude estimate to a 5.8 magnitude temblor by the U.S. Geological Survey, making...
Oklahoma, EPA Shut Down 32 Wells Near Newly Discovered Fault Line
Sep 14 2016 // A 5.8-magnitude earthquake and a series of smaller aftershocks in Oklahoma led to the discovery of a new fault line and stoked fears among some scientists about activity along other unknown faults that could be triggered...
Oklahoma Quake Insured Costs Uncertain; Swiss Re Suggests New Products Needed
Sep 13 2016 // Damage estimates of insured losses from the earthquake that hit Pawnee, Okla., in the north central part of the state on Sept. 3 likely won’t be available until early October, according to an insurance department...
Rhode Island Sues 34 Oil Companies Over Gas Additive Contamination
Sep 12 2016 // Rhode Island is suing 34 oil companies for using a gasoline additive that has contaminated groundwater in the state. Democratic Attorney General Peter Kilmartin said Tuesday the state aims to recover money for the cleanup...
Oklahoma Quake Upgraded to 5.8 Mag, More Waste Wells Shut Down
Sep 8 2016 // Oklahoma drillers are being ordered to shut more fracking wastewater wells just as the U.S. Geological Survey is upgrading last weekend’s earthquake to a record magnitude. The Environmental Protection Agency said it...
5.6 Mag Oklahoma Quake Matches Record
Sep 6 2016 // Oklahoma registered one of its biggest earthquakes on Sept. 3 even after state regulators have beefed up limits on disposing oilfield waste and the rate of tremors had started to slow somewhat from unprecedented levels...
North Dakota Appeals Court Upholds Dismissal of Oilfield Death Lawsuit
Aug 22 2016 // An appeals court has upheld a judge’s decision to throw out a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of a South Dakota man who was killed in an accident in the North Dakota oil patch five years ago. Joseph...
Texas Lawyer Accused of Fraud in BP Oil Spill Case Acquitted in Mississippi
Aug 19 2016 // A prominent Texas lawyer was acquitted on Thursday of charges he made up thousands of fake clients to sue BP Plc for damages that the oil company caused in the 2010 Gulf of Mexico spill, court records show. Mikal Watts was...
Report Questions Texas Regulators’ Handling of Flood-Related Oil ‘Mess’
Aug 16 2016 // Internal emails show Texas energy regulators describing a “mess” of leaking crude oil heading downstream near Houston following heavy storms in May, raising new questions about how the state has handled...
Louisiana Politicians Join Suits Blaming Big Oil for Coastal Ruin
Aug 9 2016 // The oil industry has left a big footprint along the Gulf Coast, where a Delaware-sized stretch of Louisiana has disappeared. But few politicians would blame Big Oil for ecosystem abuse in a state where the industry employs...
North Dakota Appeals Court: Judge Was Right to Toss Oilfield Death Lawsuit
Aug 9 2016 // An appeals court has upheld a judge’s decision to throw out a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of a South Dakota man who was killed in an accident in the North Dakota oil patch five years...
Coast Guard: Abandoned Pipe Leaked Oil Along Southeast Louisiana Coast
Jul 28 2016 // Cleanup was underway on July 26 on an oil spill caused by a leak from an abandoned pipeline in southeast Louisiana waters. The U.S. Coast Guard says the leak happened in an abandoned pipeline near marshland along Lake...
SMU Study Links Oil, Gas Wastewater Disposal to Texas Quakes
Jul 26 2016 // Seismologists researching minor earthquakes that since 2014 shook the Dallas area say disposal of wastewater from oil and gas production and hydraulic fracturing likely caused the tremors. The Dallas Morning News reports...
Enbridge, U.S. Reach $177M Settlement Over Pipeline Spill
Jul 21 2016 // Canadian pipeline operator Enbridge Inc. has agreed to pay $177 million in penalties and improved safety measures in a settlement with the U.S. government tied to one of the largest inland oil spills in U.S. history. The...
Can States Stop Man-Made Earthquakes?
Jul 21 2016 // Stopping an earthquake before it starts? It sounds like a feat possible only for a superhero. But in Kansas and Oklahoma state policymakers are showing that insofar as humans are causing earthquakes, they can stop them,...
Prosecutors Reduce Counts Against Texas Lawyer in BP Oil Spill Fraud Case
Jul 20 2016 // A Texas lawyer and six co-defendants are now facing a reduced indictment of 73 charges, instead of 95, at federal trial on accusations that they faked more than 40,000 damage claims after the BP oil spill in 2010. Online...
