What Oil and Natural Gas Mean to Big-Energy Oklahoma

Background

Cali2Okie / Flickr

Oklahoma is a leading energy producer with an economy increasingly concentrated on the oil and gas industry, economists say.

Oklahoma is all about oil, natural gas and, increasingly, wind energy.

Roughly one-quarter of all jobs in Oklahoma are tied to the energy industry, either directly or indirectly, says Mickey Hepner, an economist and Dean of the University of Central Oklahoma’s College of Business Administration.

The state has a unique historical stake in the oil industry, but Oklahoma today is as much an energy state as perhaps it’s ever been, Hepner says, and oil and natural gas helped the state survive the recent recession.

Latest Posts

Follow this topic

March 1, 2013

Reuters: Chesapeake and CEO McClendon Under SEC Investigation

Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McClendon and Oklahoma City Thunder owner Clay Bennet chat during an Oklahoma City Thunder game.

What began as an “informal inquiry” in May 2012 has now become an “investigation,” Reuters reports. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has issued subpoenas for information and testimony about a controversial CEO perk that allowed Aubrey McClendon a stake in every well the Oklahoma City energy company drilled, according to a regulatory filing disclosed [...]

February 28, 2013

Chesapeake Corporate Governance Bill Sent to Governor

Chesapeake Energy's Oklahoma City headquarters.

A new corporate governance law sought by Chesapeake Energy now awaits Gov. Mary Fallin’s signature. Final approval from the state Legislature came Wednesday. The measure — House Bill 1646, authored by Rep. Fred Jordan, R-Jenks — reverses 2010 legislation that mandated staggered elections of directors at certain public companies, a corporate governance strategy designed to [...]

February 22, 2013

Maintenance Backlog Could Dock Oil-Fueled Shipping Boom at Oklahoma Port

The oil boom and pipeline bottleneck has been good to Oklahoma’s Port of Catoosa. The inland river-port — which connects Oklahoma to the Mississippi River — only recently started shipping crude. The first barges bearing oil left the port in July 2011, the Journal Record’s D. Ray Tuttle reports. Now crude is fueling a shipping [...]

February 12, 2013

House Passes New Corporate Governance Law for Chesapeake Energy

The Oklahoma House on Tuesday approved a bill that would change state laws governing how the directors of public companies are elected. Chesapeake Energy is pushing for the new law, which would undo 2010 legislation the Oklahoma City natural gas giant itself helped write. The previous law mandated staggered elections of directors at public companies, a corporate governance strategy [...]

February 6, 2013

Reuters: CEO’s Deals ‘Pose Potential Conflicts of Interest’ at SandRidge Energy

New language in Tom Ward’s employment contract gives the SandRidge CEO “wide latitude” to profit personally from oil and natural gas deals, which could pose conflicts of interest, a new Reuters investigation shows. SandRidge changed Ward’s employment agreement in 2011, lifting “most restrictions” on the CEO’s ability to sell mineral rights or drill wells, the [...]

February 4, 2013

Reading Guide: Aubrey McClendon’s Retirement from Chesapeake Energy

A roundup of news, analysis and insight into Aubrey McClendon’s retirement as CEO of Oklahoma City natural gas giant Chesapeake Energy.

January 31, 2013

Landowners and Oil & Gas Lobbyists Square Off Over Notification

Oklahoma’s oil and natural gas regulator has proposed a rule change that would require disposal well operators to notify more people of nearby development. Some landowners like it, but lobbyists for Oklahoma’s oil and gas industry do not. The Journal Record‘s Sarah Terry-Cobo reports: The agency proposed that saltwater disposal well owners must notify landowners within [...]

Seismologists Studying Disposal Well Earthquakes Need Data That Isn’t Available

Oklahoma Geological Survey seismologist Austin Holland says proving the link between disposal wells and earthquakes depends on data that isn't collected ahead of time.

There is concern among many seismologists that waste fluid disposal wells used by the oil and gas industry could be causing earthquakes. And that connection could have profound effects in big-energy states like Oklahoma. The scientific consensus is growing, but it’s not unanimous. But there is one thing geophysicists and seismologists agree on — even skeptics: [...]

January 29, 2013

Aubrey McClendon to Retire as Chesapeake Energy CEO

Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McClendon will retire April 1, the company announced today. In a statement, McClendon cited “philosophical differences” between himself and the company’s new board of directors. McClendon will remain as CEO as the Oklahoma City natural gas giant searches for his successor. Chesapeake recently faced a shareholder revolt and board shakeup after reports surfaced questioning [...]

January 25, 2013

Oklahoma and the Impending War on Natural Gas Exports

Low natural gas prices aren’t good for business in big-energy states like Oklahoma, so producers and politicians are doing what they can to boost consumption. This means promoting new technologies — like Gov. Mary Fallin’s push for more natural-gas vehicles — and expanding into new markets. The Oklahoman’s Adam Wilmoth sees a fight on the [...]