Energy

What Would Happen if an F5 Tornado Hit Oklahoma’s Cushing Oil Hub?

Joe Wertz — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 19:46:30 +0000

It’s hard to imagine a worse setting: A seemingly endless horizon of giant steel storage tanks holding 50 million barrels of crude oil, a spiderweb of pipelines, pumps, compressors and terminals, and a critical confluence of big corporations and international energy market money.

And a city of about 8,000 nearby.

Law enforcement has long feared the Cushing oil terminal would make an ideal target of terrorists, but what about a tornado?

Calif. Law To Require Ships To Cut Pollution

Kirk Siegler — Mon, 20 May 2013 08:56:00 +0000

California is about to become the first state to require shore power at its ports. A new law mandates at least half of a shipping line's fleet to shut down their diesel engines and plug into shore-side electric power when they unload their cargo. It's part of a larger effort to cut pollution at the state's busiest ports, but costs have been a sticking point.

Cape Cod Community To Vote On Status Of Wind Turbines

Sean Corcoran — Fri, 17 May 2013 09:14:00 +0000

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Next week, voters in Falmouth, Massachusetts decide whether to spend $14 million to tear down two wind turbines - or turbines if you prefer. The Cape Cod town installed these turbines just three years ago in an effort to produce renewable energy and cut costs.

First U.S. Company To Enter Export Market For Natural Gas

Jackie Northam — Fri, 17 May 2013 09:14:00 +0000

With supplies high and prices at historic lows, there's debate whether companies should be allowed to export the gas overseas for a higher price. Many energy companies have applied for government approval to ship liquefied natural gas worldwide. So far, only one company has gotten a license to do that in the past 30 years..

The Federal Government Got Oklahoma Hooked On Coal, Now It's Forcing a Detox

Logan Layden — Fri, 17 May 2013 06:10:07 +0000

In a broadcast story last week, StateImpact talked about how Oklahoma relies heavily on six major coal-fired power plants and the Wyoming coal that’s needed to run them — despite sitting on one of the largest supplies of natural gas in the country.

We wanted to find out what explains this paradox.

Oklahoma’s Response To Manmade Quakes Is More Passive Than Other States

Joe Wertz — Thu, 16 May 2013 15:19:19 +0000

A number of seismologists have concluded that the 5.7-magnitude earthquake that hit near Prague a year and a half ago was caused by injecting wastewater from oil and gas production deep underground.

Earthquakes in other states have been linked to disposal wells, but Oklahoma’s is the largest. Yet Oklahoma’s regulatory response has been one of the smallest.

Seismologists have linked wastewater disposal wells to earthquakes in at least a half-dozen states. On a geologic scale, the tremors are small. And the quakes — in states like Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, and Ohio — have all been smaller than the November 2011 quake that shook Oklahoma near Prague.

Five Tribes Join Forces to Develop New Oklahoma Wind Farm

Logan Layden — Thu, 16 May 2013 00:28:03 +0000

The Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations are helping small communities with their water infrastructure needs in southern Oklahoma.

Huge Boost In U.S. Oil Output Set To Transform Global Market

Scott Neuman — Tue, 14 May 2013 20:47:00 +0000

U.S. oil production is rising sharply and increased output from shale will be a "game changer" in global energy markets in the coming years, according to a new report out Tuesday by the International Energy Agency.

"U.S.

India, China Could Soon Demand More Oil Than U.S. And Europe

editor — Tue, 14 May 2013 20:17:00 +0000

Transcript

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Audie Cornish.

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

And I'm Melissa Block.

For years, we've understood the global oil landscape in fairly simple terms: Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries were the big producers of oil, the United States and its allies were the big oil buyers. But a report today from the International Energy Agency shows a different picture. Turns out the U.S.

TransCanada Sues to Stop Pipeline Protesters

AP — Tue, 14 May 2013 01:21:09 +0000

ATOKA, Okla. (AP) — TransCanada has filed a lawsuit seeking an injunction and restraining order that keeps protesters from disrupting its pipeline construction sites in Oklahoma.

The company filed the lawsuit last week against Great Plains Tar Sands Resistance to keep protesters from interfering with construction.