Ragweed Free
Thursday, April 29, 2010 N N E Prague feted as ConocoPhillips exits gas deal site of oil project • The company ‘It would appear that key thing these days.” ment. The project will pro- Oil has outperformed gas cess 1 billion cubic feet of By rOd waltOn boosteR drops two Mideast they’re rethinking in U.S. futures trading this sour, or high-sulfur, gas a World Staff Writer year and last. Crude also is day into more than 500 mil- Chernicky: projects within a where they stand in more than three times as lion cubic feet of fuel and The celebra- PRAGUE — Tulsa-based week’s time. the gas markets at this valuable as gas, relative to 10,000 tons of sulfur daily, tion is a way New Dominion LCC will hold the energy content of both he said. to show the point in time.’ its New Dominion Dayz cele- By Edward Klump commodities, according to a Ryan Lance, a senior vice company’s bration Friday on the Prague and ayEsha daya Bloomberg calculation. president for international apprecia- Middle School grounds, Bloomberg News Oil-exporting nations exploration and produc- tion. James Halloran marking the company’s de- Financial America Securities such as the UAE are seek- tion at ConocoPhillips, said cade-plus involvement in re- ConocoPhillips has pulled ing to boost production of in March that the company opening abandoned oil fields out of a Middle East proj- natural gas to fuel domestic needed to know what the to new production. the last two years, most com- ect for the second time in billion in assets to cut debt, power generation and fac- project would cost and that “New Dominion Dayz is ing from the Prague fields, a week, saying Wednesday said April 21 that it would tories. The country imports ConocoPhillips would make a way we’ve found to give Cargile said. The company it decided against going drop out of the Yanbu refin- gas from Qatar and is devel- a value-based decision. something back to show our plans to drill another 30 wells through with the Shah Gas ery development with Saudi oping nuclear power plants Pulling out of the Shah appreciation,” New Domin- in the area in 2010. Field development in the Arabia’s state oil company. to meet energy demand, project is the right move for ion Chairman David Cher- “There was no activity United Arab Emirates. ConocoPhillips said then which is expected to double ConocoPhillips, even it af- nicky said. there at all” before the com- The company, which that Yanbu did not fit with by 2020. fects future business in the Prague, a central Oklahoma pany’s arrival in Prague, he would have been a 40 per- its strategy of scaling back Abu Dhabi, an oil-rich Middle East, said Philip community best known for its said. cent stakeholder in a Shah its presence in refining and UAE sheikdom, chose Cono- Weiss, an analyst at Argus Re- Kolache Festival also running Prague School Superinten- joint venture with state- tightening its focus on oil coPhillips for the Shah proj- search in New York. He said this weekend, was the site of dent Rick Martin said New owned Abu Dhabi National exploration. ect after considering bids ConocoPhillips should be fo- historic oil development in Dominion has donated up to Oil Co., did not give an ex- “It would appear that from companies such as cused on financial discipline. Oklahoma dating back to the $20,000 annually for schol- planation for its “difficult they’re rethinking where Exxon Mobil Corp., Royal “If this deal keeps them early 20th century. arships to help 10 to 20 stu- decision.” they stand in the gas mar- Dutch Shell Plc and Occi- from getting other projects The fields, however, were dents. Abu Dhabi National will kets at this point in time,” dental Petroleum Corp. but those projects don’t forgotten for decades — “That’s a pretty significant go ahead with the $10 billion said James Halloran, a con- The Shah development is meet the return guidelines deemed as empty or too diffi- number,” he said, noting that project, said a person who sultant at Financial Ameri- scheduled to start produc- anyway, does it really mat- cult to tap further because of the district has about 75 stu- asked not to be identified. ca Securities in Cleveland, tion in the second or third ter?” Weiss said. salt water issues. dents in its average graduat- Houston-based Cono- Ohio. “I think they look at quarter of 2014, says Saif ConocoPhillips is sched- Then Chernicky arrived in ing class. coPhillips, which announced themselves as possibly try- Ahmed Al-Ghafli, CEO of uled to report first-quarter the late 1990s seeking a test- Chernicky and New Do- plans in October to sell $10 ing to be oilier, which is the Abu Dhabi Gas Develop- earnings Thursday. ing ground for his “dewater- minion also have donated ing” technique. Under the more than $3 million in method, directional lines are scholarships, grants and oth- drilled and vast mixtures of er donations statewide. For oil, gas and water are pumped Prague, those efforts also in- out and separated above clude new water wells. ground. New Dominion Dayz runs The technique, risky for from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday. both New Dominion and lo- It includes Safari Joe’s exotic cal residents at the start, animals, entertainment and worked better than many ex- a raffle to generate matching pected. New Dominion has scholarship funds. spent $475 million for proj- The event is back after a ect development in Prague, one-year absence because Seminole and the Oklahoma of tough economic times for City in the last four years, other local sponsors. Cana- said Tim Cargile, chief oper- dian Valley Electric Coopera- ating and financial officer of tive is a corporate sponsor for the company. this year’s event. Production from the three “I couldn’t be happier that areas has topped 107 billion we’re able to bring about its cubic feet of natural gas and 2 return this year,” Chernicky FACT: million barrels of oil, Cargile said. estimated. New Dominion has paid Rod Walton 581-8457 Ragweed free. out $61 million in royalties in [email protected] More Northeastern Oklahoma adults read Oil shale projects called premature the Tulsa World in an average week than • Interior and the richer deposits of oil shale available stands in the way of bought allergy medication last year. Rockies drilling progress. industry are at odds. Extracting kerogen, a half- (Now that’s nothing to sneeze at.) baked form of petroleum, By paul FOy locked inside shale has prov- Associated Press en to be a difficult task. But in- dustry players say the Obama SALT LAKE CITY — Pe- administration isn’t provid- troleum companies’ plans to ing regulatory guidance or tap the abundant oil shale re- enough land to interest major serves beneath federal lands oil companies or investors. in the West are “not ready They asserted the Obama ad- for prime time,” a senior legal ministration has little or no adviser to Interior Secretary interest in — or has outright Ken Salazar told a Utah en- hostility toward — develop- ergy conference Wednesday. ing oil shale reserves. Steve Black said the Obama Others say widespread de- administration is taking a de- velopment would lay waste to liberate, cautious approach parts of Colorado, Utah and on making federal lands Wyoming. available for major oil shale “This administration sup- development because nobody ports responsible develop- has shown they can squeeze ment of all energy resources the oil out of hard rock eco- in the right place and at the nomically. right time,” said Black, coun- “I don’t know when we’ll selor to Salazar, a former Col- see commercial development orado senator who has been on public lands,” Black told the critical of failed attempts 30 Unconventional Fuels Confer- years ago to develop oil shale ence, a gathering of leading there. researchers and small outfits Black found himself forced with experimental oil shale to deny assertions that Salazar works. “It’s an industry that is secretly opposed any signifi- not ready for prime time.” cant oil shale development, Todd Dana, founder of Salt which would require a lot of Lake City-based RedLeaf water and electric power. Resources Inc., one of the “He has never said private- active oil-shale players that ly or publicly that his inten- is working state trust lands, tion is to kill oil shale,” Black said the federal government’s said. “We’re not trying to pick reluctance to make larger and winners or losers.” U.S. OKs first offshore wind farm, off Cape Cod Your #1 source for local news BOSTON (AP) — The ergy future,” Salazar said. Obama administration has But members of the Aquin- and information – powered by approved what would be the nah Wampanoag Tribe of nation’s first offshore wind Martha’s Vineyard have farm, off Cape Cod, inching vowed to sue to stop Cape the U.S. closer to harvesting Wind from being built, say- the largest newsgathering staff an untapped domestic energy ing it would interfere with source — the steady breezes sacred rituals and desecrate blowing along its vast coasts. tribal burial sites. Others op- U.S. Interior Secretary Ken posed to the project on envi- in Northeastern Oklahoma. Salazar announced his deci- ronmental grounds also have sion Wednesday in Boston, said they’ll sue. clearing the way for a 130-tur- Audra Parker of the Alli- bine wind farm in Nantucket ance to Protect Nantucket Sound. Cape Wind was in its Sound, the chief opponent to ninth year of federal review, Cape Wind, said the “flawed” and Salazar stepped in early project would be derailed in Source: Scarborough Research 2009 (R2 - Tulsa DMA) this year to bring what he court. called much-needed resolu- “It’s far from over,” she tion to the bitterly contested said. “Nantucket Sound needs proposal. to be off limits to Cape Wind “We are beginning a new and any other industrial de- direction in our nation’s en- velopment.”