An employee of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) who is believed to have dropped out of college as a sophomore has been performing audits of utility companies collectively worth more than a billion dollars, a new brief filed at the Oklahoma Supreme Court reveals. Reps. Tom Gann, R-Inola, Kevin West, R-Moore, and Rick West, …
$1 billion interest in Arkansas Smackover lithium company
From Arkansas Business Morning Roundup We’ve closely followed the lithium developments in the Smackover play of southern Arkansas and now there’s a report how one such company recently attracted more than $1 billion in financing interest. Smackover Lithium drew the interest, according to Arkansas Business as it attributed the report to Reuters. Owned jointly …
Oil refinery proposed again in North Dakota
Refinery proposal resurfaces after nearly a decade After sitting largely dormant for nearly a decade, a proposal to build a new oil refinery in North Dakota has resurfaced in recent weeks as state officials consider potential investment options. According to reporting by the North Dakota Monitor, the Davis Refinery project appeared on a short list …
Canada moves to replace Keystone XL pipeline
New pipeline discussion emerges years after Keystone XL Four years after former U.S. President Joe Biden halted the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline, discussion has resurfaced around the possibility of a new Canadian oil pipeline, according to reporting by OilPrice.com. Keystone XL was designed to transport crude oil from Alberta, one of the world’s most oil-rich …
Feds to take over punishment for trucker whose tall load damaged 6 bridges
(courtesy Oklahoma Turnpike Authority) The trucker whose load was too tall and struck and damaged six overpasses or bridges over the Will Rogers Turnpike in northeast Oklahoma was caught immediately and will face a federal investigation. The incident this week happened near Claremore and a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority told News on …
Tanker blockade sent oil prices higher on Thursday
Crude oil prices settled less than half a percentage point higher on Thursday amidst two significant developments this week. Venezuela authorized on Thursday two very large crude carriers (VLCC) to set sail for China, according to two sources familiar with Venezuela’s oil export operations, which would be only the second and third supertankers to …
$10 billion data center proposed in Fort Worth
Fort Worth project highlights scale of data center expansion While several Oklahoma cities are weighing proposals for $1 billion data centers, a much larger project proposed on the southeast side of Fort Worth, Texas, underscores how massive some developments tied to artificial intelligence and cloud computing have become. According to reporting by the Fort Worth …
Stardust Power expects 2026 to be a “pivotal” year
Stardust Power, the lithium developer building a new operation in Muskogee, Oklahoma is looking ahead to 2026, calling it a pivotal year for the company. It was a year ago when the Connecticut-based company acquired a 66-acre site near the Muskogee Port of Entry to construct the new battery-grade lithium refinery. Over the past year, …
Still no chance of snow for Christmas in Oklahoma
With Christmas only days away, the prospects for snow remain dismal….just as we told you last week. Take a look at the forecast from the Oklahoma Mesonet. Sorry to dash your hopes of “dashing through the snow—-in a one-horse open sleigh.” Or as State Climatologist Gary McManus put it in his latest weather comments— …
Oklahoma bill would expand public comment at meetings
December 18, 2025
Proposal would affect state agencies and energy-related boards A newly filed bill in the Oklahoma Legislature could affect how state agencies, commissions, and other public bodies — including those involved in energy regulation — conduct meetings and take official action. Brian Guthrie, R-Bixby, has filed Senate Bill 1252, legislation that would update the state’s Oklahoma …
Continue reading »