Rowan Cos. cuts $1 billion deal to sell LeTourneu unit

Oil-field services company opens San Antonio office

Posted on May 17, 2011 at 5:25 am by Vicki Vaughan in Natural gas, Shale, Workforce

Cudd Energy, subsidiary of an Atlanta-based RPC, is looking to hire as many as 200 employees to service companies drilling in South Texas’s the Eagle Ford Shale. More »

LED bulbs hit 100 watts as federal ban on incandescents looms

Posted on May 16, 2011 at 9:05 pm by Associated Press in Electricity

Lighting makers compete for $10 million “L Prize” for energy-efficient replacements of old-school bulbs. The technology is promising but so far the prices aren’t consumer-friendly at about $40 apiece. More »

Kay Bailey Hutchison wants action, not rhetoric, on Gulf leases

Posted on May 16, 2011 at 7:05 pm by Richard Dunham in Gulf oil spill, Politics/Policy

Promises from the White House to ramp up domestic energy production didn’t convince the Texas senator, who said she would continue to push legislation to extend leases for offshore operators to make up for time lost as a result of the Gulf drilling ban last year. More »

Pennsylvania water utility doesn’t find drilling pollution

Posted on May 16, 2011 at 4:29 pm by Associated Press in General

Several tests of western Pennsylvania river water prompted by fears of contamination from the state’s rapidly growing natural gas drilling industry didn’t turn up elevated or harmful levels of radioactivity or other pollutants not routinely monitored, a private water utility said. More »

Rep. Kevin Brady: Fed policies add 56 cents per gallon of gas

Posted on May 16, 2011 at 4:28 pm by Richard Dunham in Politics/Policy

“Americans are paying a steep price at the pump as a result of the weak dollar policies pursued by this administration and the Federal Reserve,” Brady, R-The Woodlands. More »

Texas drilling regulator to form Eagle Ford task force

Posted on May 16, 2011 at 4:24 pm by Tom Fowler in Natural gas, Oil field services, Politics/Policy, Shale, Social

The group, made up of producers, service firms, elected officials, landowners and environmentalists, is aimed at “keeping the lines of communication open,” says Texas Railroad Commissioner David Porter. More »

Halliburton engineer won’t testify in oil spill suit

Posted on May 16, 2011 at 4:03 pm by Bloomberg in Gulf oil spill, Social

Jesse Gagliano, who was Halliburton’s cementing engineer on the Macondo well and who said he warned BP of the risk of a natural-gas surge before the fatal blowout, has invoked his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination. More »

Crude oil falls below $98 a barrel

Posted on May 16, 2011 at 3:20 pm by Associated Press in Crude oil

Oil futures settled down 2.3 percent and gasoline futures dropped 4.7 percent Monday as investors returned their attention to weakening demand for gasoline in the U.S. More »

Exxon fires back at NYT editorial on oil industry taxes

Posted on May 16, 2011 at 1:28 pm by Jennifer A. Dlouhy in Politics/Policy

An Exxon exec cries foul about a New York Times editorial that painted oil companies as spoiled crybabies, whining about a plan by Senate Democrats to repeal a host of industry tax breaks. More »

Did we dodge the $4 per gallon gasoline bullet?

Posted on May 16, 2011 at 12:31 pm by Tom Fowler in Refining, Social, Weather

Gasoline prices nationally and Texas dropped slightly this weekend, delaying what some see as an inevitable return to $4 per gallon. More »

Iran’s Ahmadinejad to run oil ministry after restructuring

Posted on May 16, 2011 at 11:56 am by Bloomberg in Middle East

Two days ago, the Iranian president dismissed Oil Minister Masoud Mir-Kazemi, Industry and Mines MinisterAli Akbar Mehrabian, and Welfare Minister Sadegh Mahsouli as part of a plan to improve government efficiency and reduce the number of ministries to 17 from 21 by 2015. More »