Canadian oil surplus at Cushing, OK could keep prices low
April 17, 2011
An excess of Canadian oil stored at the Cushing, Oklahoma storage hub will lower prices there for at least two years until new pipelines can be created that will take the crude to other markets, as reported by J.P. Morgan’s head of global oil research.
The oil faces blockage both in Western Canada and at the Cushing, OK site, which is trapping it in both locations and keeping prices low, stated Lawrence Eagles in a presentation to the World Heavy Oil Congress.
The hub in Cushing is the delivery point for the West Texas Intermediate futures contract, which has sold for quite a bit below the European Brent benchmark, mainly due to larger shipments of Canadian oil into the hub, which have pushed storage levels to record highs.
Eagles reported, “That has had a very significant dampening effect on prices, particularly over the past six months or so,” and went on to say, “Although policies will be in place to improve the situation, I think it will take a couple of years before we finally get that bottleneck and that logjam cleared.”
He went on to explain his forecast assumes new pipelines like TransCanada Corp’s (TRP.TO) planned Keystone XL line, are built to take oil to the United States Gulf Coast refining hub from Cushing, OK.
If these lines do not materialize, the believes shippers will keep finding other methods of taking Cushing oil to the Gulf of Mexico in order to take advantage of the large spread between the cost of a barrel of oil at the storage hub and what Texas and Louisiana refineries are paying for similar grades.
He stated, “People are finding more ways every day to get oil out of the region and down to the Gulf Coast,” and went on to say, “If the price is there, price will find a way.”
He also explained that the bottleneck in Western Canada could be relieved by increasing access to the Asian market by adding new pipeline space to the country’s Pacific Coast.
Russia has improved returns for its oil after building the Eastern Siberia-Pacific Ocean pipeline to export crude to China, Japan, and Korea, which lowers its dependence on the European market, Eagles said.
“ESPO is a premium-price crude in the Asian market,” Eagles said. “It’s gone from being a heavily discounted new crude to being quite a sought-after crude at this point in time … It’s Economics 101, if you have more demand for your product you get a better price.”
Proposals Call For Closings Of Tulsa Schools
April 8, 2011
Tulsa Public School recently made the announcement of three proposals that are aimed at helping the district optimize resources as well as improve academic results.
The project known as Project Schoolhouse was started a few months ago that studied how the district could accomplish this goal in the best way.
Tulsa Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Keith Ballard stated, “Like other urban school districts across our nation, we have gone through a long, slow period of decline that has left many of our schools greatly under capacity,” and went on to say, “We have more than 10,000 empty seats. This has resulted in vast disparities at our schools, impacting our ability to deliver a full slate of quality learning opportunities to all of our students.”
Ballard explained the district could save between 6.1 and 9.5 million dollars by executing one of the three proposals.
The first proposal, known as “Plan A”, would close 13 elementary schools including Addams, Barnard, Burroughs, Cherokee, Chouteau, Emerson, Greeley, Houston, Mayo, Park, Phillips, Sandburg and Whitman along with three middle schools which are Thoreau, Wilson and Cleveland.
Students at these schools would be reassigned.
Under Plan A, no high schools will close, however, Rogers High students currently in 10th through 12th grades would be reassigned to other high schools. A few school configurations would change and a few elementary schools would change high school feeder patterns.
Two elementary schools, Alcott and Porter, would change to pre-K/early childhood centers while Monroe Middle School would reopen as a Thoreau-model school with grades 5-6. alternative education programs would be centralized at the Bell Innovation Campus.
additionally, a magnet program would be created at Rogers High School, which would give students in 9th through 12th grades an opportunity to earn a high school diploma and an Associate’s degree from Tulsa Community College. Students attending Kendall Whittier and Sequoyah elementary schools would be eligible to attend Rogers, along with all students in the district through a lottery selection process.
Plan A would save the district 6-point-3 million dollars.
Plan B would close ten elementary schools including Addams, Barnard, Bryant, Burroughs, Cherokee, Houston, Marshall, Phillips, Sandburg, and Whitman and four middle schools which are Cleveland, Madison, Nimitz, and Wilson.
With Plan B, no high schools would be closed, but school configurations would change. The Rogers High plan would be the same to the one outlined in Plan A.
Plan B would save the district 6-point-1 million dollars.
Plan C would close 15 elementary schools including Addams, Barnard, Burroughs, Cherokee, Chouteau, Greeley, Jones, Marshall, Owen, Park, Peary, Phillips, Sandburg, Springdale and Whitman, one middle school, Nimitz, and would call for the closing of Central High School.
Students in those schools would be reassigned to other schools.
The plan would have Alcott, Bryant, Celia Clinton, Emerson, Patrick Henry, Houston, Kerr, Lindbergh, McArthur, Penn, Porter, Reed, Robertson, Salk and Sequoyah elementary schools be transitioned into 15 early childhood centers being pre-K through Kindergarten.
Middle schools would be changed to a grade 1-through-8 configuration and high schools would be grades 9-12.
Plan C would save 9-point-5 million dollars.
Ballard stated, “There is no doubt that you will find some things you like in these plans, and other elements you do not,” and went on to say, “We recognize that it can be a deeply emotional issue when we propose the closing of even a single school. I would caution parents, students, teachers and other TPS employees against considering any of these plans a ‘done deal’. None of these plans are final, and until a final recommendation is made to the school board and passed, they are just that — proposals.”
He went on to explain that many different options in the plans would be phased in. Savings for the district would not really be seen until June of 2012.
“We have to make plans to become more efficient now, as we are all aware of the potential for additional state budget cuts to education,” Ballard stated. “We are going to do the responsible thing and position TPS for success no matter what lies ahead.”
Ballard went on to explain that there are no plans at this time to make changes to the magnet school programs or to the district’s present transfer program, stating his goal is to improve the opportunities in education at all schools so that parents will not have to make the decision to transfer their kids to “better schools”.
“That better school will be located in their own neighborhood,” Ballard stated.
Over the next few weeks, public forums are scheduled with all TPS parents and patrons that wish to attend. The meetings will be April 5th at Thoreau Demonstration Academy, April 7th at Foster Middle School, April 11th at Eugene Field Elementary and April 14th at Hawthorne Elementary.
“I have always said we would be transparent with this effort, and that public discussion is critical if Project Schoolhouse is to be successful,” Ballard stated. “I really want to hear what parents and the community has to say before we make a final recommendation to the Board. One thing is clear since we’ve been going through this process: There is no one perfect solution. That’s why I think it’s even more critical that we make these proposals available to the public for discussion.”
Personal income levels in Oklahoma Rise in 2010
April 6, 2011
All states have seen personal income levels rise in 2010 and Oklahoma of course reported a rise in the level as well as reported by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, which is a branch of the U.S. Department of Commerce.
The report showed an improvement over 2009 when the bureau showed that personal income increases were only reported in four states along with the District of Columbia.
Oklahoma saw an increase to $136.6 billion from a revised $132.1 billion seen in 2009, as reported by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Personal income is an all-inclusive measure of the income received by all residents of the state from all sources.
Oklahoma’s 3.4% growth in personal income was the 15th best in the country in 2010 and outpaced the 3% average increase for the nation as a whole. In 2009, Oklahoma’s personal income ranked No. 33 after the revised data was compiled.
The three major components that are combined to make up personal income, “net earnings; dividends, interest and rent; and transfer receipts that include Social Security benefits and unemployment compensation” showed higher percentage increases in Oklahoma than for the United States as a whole, explained David Lenze, an economist with the U.S. Department of Commerce.
During the fourth quarter, Oklahoma’s 1.1% growth in personal income to $139.2 billion ranked at No. 7.
Not all earnings saw an increase. State personal income growth ranged from 0.3% in Nevada to 4.2% in New Mexico. Earnings in 14 industries throughout the US, which did include manufacturing and finance, grew last year but was reported below the peaks of 2008 or earlier. Construction and real estate continued to drop as per the report.
Construction’s 4.8% drop took earnings in that industry to the lowest level seen since 2001. A 2.3% drop in real estate saw earnings in that sector at their lowest level since 2000, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported.
Lenze stated that among industries, “the federal government and the military seem to have contributed more to Oklahoma’s growth than to U.S. growth”.
As an example, military earnings rose 8.7% in Oklahoma compared to 4.4% for the nation. Oklahoma’s military earnings increased from $3.0 billion in 2009 to $3.3 billion in 2010.
Health care earnings were strong in 2010 for both country and Oklahoma, where it grew from $9.2 billion in 2009 to $9.6 billion. Nationwide, health care is now the largest private industry, Lenze stated.
In the past, a strong contributor to earning in Oklahoma was mining. This industry was about the same for 2009 and 2010, which contributed to $8.6 billion to the state’s personal income, Lenze stated. Manufacturing contributed $11.1 billion, which is up from $10.9 billion in 2009.
Oklahoma’s per-capita personal income of $36,421 ranked No. 33 nationally.
New Fire Chief Named for Broken Arrow
March 24, 2011
After a long and competitive recruiting procedure, the new Fire Chief for the City of Broken Arrow has been named, Jeff VanDolah
Jeff VanDolah recently served as Assistant Fire Marshal in Investigations with the Tulsa Fire Department and brings with him more than 25 years of experience to Broken Arrow. He started his career in 1984 with the Broken Arrow Fire Department.
“I am a long-time resident of Broken Arrow and I love this community. I am thrilled to be able to finish my career in a city I care so much about,” VanDolah stated. “I am also excited about leading this department. We have many great things ahead of us and I am happy to be a part of it.”
Jeff VanDolah’s job responsibilities during his career have included all the aspects of fire operations, arson investigations, and emergency medical services.
Today he serves on many labor/management committees and is the past president and current board member of the Oklahoma Chapter of the International Association of Arson Investigators. Along with this, he is also an instructor at Tulsa Community College and the National Fire Academy in the area of fire investigations.
City Manager Dave Wooden stated, “Chief VanDolah is the best person to command the Broken Arrow Fire Department during this critical time in its history,” and went on to say, “He has the vision and abilities to give the department a new direction and new challenges.”
VanDolah has a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Tulsa Law School and will presume leadership of the department April 4, 2011.
VanDolah’s wife, Carol, his son, Spencer, and daughter-in-law, Libby, are teachers in the Broken Arrow Public School district.
Oklahoma Has a New Area Code
July 30, 2010
The new 539 area code will share an area that is now the 918 area code area.
This new area code was deemed necessary to accommodate the growing need for new telephone numbers in the area that is now being served by the 918 area code. The Oklahoma Corporation Commission approved the addition of the new area code 539 and explained it will cover the same geographical area as the existing 918 area code.
At this time, not all individuals with a 918 area code will have to worry about the new area code, as theirs will remain the same. This 918/539 region includes the eastern part of Oklahoma with communities such as Bartlesville, Clayton, Cushing, Fairfax, McAlester, Miami, Muskogee, Okemah, Poteau, Sallisaw, Tahlequah, and Tulsa. The new area code will now have to be dialed appropriately along with the 7-digit telephone number.
For anyone looking to establish a telephone in this region, they will be provided his or her number along with the new area code beginning on April 1, 2011.
The main difference individuals will experience is the need to dial an area code before dialing the telephone number even when making local telephone calls. For those outside of the region, nothing much is different, as you normally have to dial an area code for any long distance calls.
As early as August 7 of 2010 in order to dial a local 918 telephone the area code will have to be dialed prior to the telephone number. As of March 5, 2011, all local calls will need this new 10 digit calling system or you will not be able to complete the telephone call.
The change you will notice of course is that you must dial the area code and the 7-digit telephone number in order to make a call. If you have equipment that automatically dials telephone numbers, these will have to be reprogrammed. These may include fax machines, speed dialers, and life safety systems, to name a few. For all long distance calls you will need to dial a 1, the area code, and the 7 digit telephone number.
You will be happy to learn that not everything is going to change. You will keep your same telephone number, the price for local and long distance will remain the same, and you will still be able to dial 911 and 411 without any problems.
The main thing to remember is you should start practicing dialing the 10-digit number before the new area code begins or you will certainly be dialing quite a few numbers repeatedly until you remember.
Oklahoma has Fewer Upside Down Mortgages
May 19, 2010
Today, all across the nation millions of individuals owe more on their home than the home is worth. Oklahoma is at the other end of the spectrum with the lowest percentage of upside down mortgages in the United States.
In Oklahoma out of the 402,187 mortgages, recorded only 23,724 are in the same boat as other homeowners across the country, which represents only 5.9% of the mortgages, according to a survey released yesterday, May 11, by CoreLogic a business data company.
The national average of those with upside down mortgages is at 23.7%, putting Oklahoma way below this average.
President of ERA John Hausam Realtors in Tulsa explained the low rate is more than likely due to Oklahoma not being a part of the housing bubble that had prices of homes skyrocketing and then falling just as drastic. Oklahoma home prices did not rise higher than they were worth during the nation’s housing bubble, thus the bubble bursting did not effect Oklahoma as it did other states.
Hausam said, “We’ve never had the strong appreciation. We’ve averaged a 3 percent increase each year since 1981 up until the last year or so.”
The most recent report via the Greater Tulsa Association of Realtors showed the median price of a home was $126,000 in March, which is up 5% from a year earlier.
CoreLogic’s survey revealed:
States with lowest negative equity
1. Oklahoma: 5.9 percent
2. New York: 7 percent
3. Montana: 7.3 percent
4. Pennsylvania: 7.4 percent
5. North Dakota: 8 percent
States with highest negative equity
1. Nevada: 69.9 percent
2. Arizona: 51.2 percent
3. Florida: 47. 7 percent
4. Michigan: 38.6 percent
5. California: 34.1 percent
The national average is at the same spot it was in last year at this time, which is 23.7%.
Mark Fleming, chief economist at CoreLogic stated in a written statement, “The two most important triggers of default, negative equity and unemployment, have stabilized over the last six months. As house prices grow again and borrowers pay down their mortgage debt, negative equity levels will begin to diminish. The typical underwater borrower is likely to regain their lost equity over the next five to seven years.”
This survey was based on information from 47 million mortgages that represent 85% of all the home loans. The states not included in the survey included Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia and Wyoming.
Oklahoma Opting Out Of ObamaCare
April 2, 2010
The Oklahoma House of Representative voted to allow the people of Oklahoma to opt out of the new federal health care plan. Both the House and the Senate have passed measures that will allow Oklahoma residents to vote if they wish to opt out of the health care plan.
Oklahoman’s will have to make a decision if they want to pass a constitutional amendment that clearly states that no law can force an employer, business, or individual to participate in the federal health care plan. If Oklahoman’s decide to add this to the Oklahoma constitution it would also mean that no resident of Oklahoma could be charged a penalty if they decide not to be covered.
Republican Senator Mike Thompson explained the federal health care plan is against the rights of the states as well as individual rights. He went on to say, “I would fight tooth and nail to get this bill repealed,” … “I don’t think the government should ever step in and tell you that you have to purchase health care.”
Of course, on the Democrat side you will hear that Republicans are only “playing politics”. Democrat Representative Mike Shelton stated, “I think the people of Oklahoma need to ask their state legislators, ‘What’s their plan?” What is their plan to make sure that these people are covered and have the same opportunity they are trying to give up,” said Shelton.
The Oklahoma House passed the bill on Wednesday but it needs to go back to the Senate for approval. Those pushing for the bill want an amendment ready by July for a statewide vote.
What Democrat’s don’t get is that Oklahoman’s want a say in their health care and do not want to be bullied by big Government. There are already enough federal laws governing how we live our lives, forcing health care or fines of American’s is not the way to provide health care to the masses.
The biggest complaint by Americans is this section:
“Section 1501 (pages 320 – 341): People not carrying government approved health care will be fined $750 per person not covered per year (or $62.50 per month) beginning after 2016. This fine will rise yearly based on Cost of Living increases. The fine is only $95 per person in 2014 and $350 per person in 2015. The fine will be effective on anyone not covered for one month (three months in the case of Native Americans) and will not apply to prisoners, those will religious reasons for not being insured, individuals not lawfully present in the United States and hardship cases (determined by the Secretary on a case by case basis).”
Let us know what your opinions.
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New Sheriff’s Deputies
March 22, 2010
Officials in the towns of Bixby, Jenks, and Glenpool are in discussions regarding the opportunity for police officers in these towns to become Sheriff’s Deputies.
The Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office has been asked to consider taking over the police departments in the above stated towns.
The city of Glenpool at this time has 16 officers that could lose their jobs. However, City manager Ed Tinker stated the goal to turn the work over to the Sheriff’s office is in order for these officers to keep their jobs. If this did occur, the officers would not be working for city but would become deputies for the Sheriff. Tinker, explained that he would not agree with this decision unless it would benefit his town and be cheaper. He went on to say that, it is too early to make a confirmed statement and he does not know if it would save the city of Glenpool any money.
In Jenks, there are 14 full time police officers. The City Manager in this town stated that with the new budget year they are looking into different ways of doing business.
The city of Jenks has around 14 full time officers. Mike Tinker, city manager says that as they look at a new budget year, they are looking at all kinds of different ways to do business. He explained it would close to the way an outside company is managing their waste water treatment plant at this time.
If the talks materialize, the towns would pay the Tulsa Sheriff’s Office for the service, but they would be saving the money that is spent at this time on workers comp and civil liability. The Sheriff’s Office has met with the pension board to learn if this does happen if the officers would be able to keep any money that had already been invested in their retirements, due to city and county pension plans differences.
The leaders of the perspective towns agree that the Sheriff’s Office has more resources for handling crimes and has a stead income as it is funded by property tax and not sales tax as the police department.
They do insist this is just one idea that is floating around at this time and nothing has been decided. Many of the officers that were asked about the possibility of becoming deputies were not thrilled with the idea but did not want to be quoted.
For those of you that are against this idea here is a list of some of the administrations names and e-mails so please make yourself heard so they get the message loud and clear. Let’s put a stop to this kind of ridiculous thinking and make ourselves heard now!
Glenpool City Manager Ed Tinker edtinker@cityofglenpool.com
Glenpool Mayor Shayne Buchanan enyahs0995@yahoo.com
Glenpool Vice Mayor Keith Robinson medic701@aol.com
Glenpool Council Member Leanne Roberts lrobertsgcc@gmail.com
Glenpool Council Member Tim Fox glenpool_ward1@sbcglobal.net
Glenpool Council Member Dennis Czeschin czeschin.dennis.j@hotmail.com
Tulsa County Commissioner Karen Keith kkeith@tulsacounty.org
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Mayor Dewey Bartletts First 100 Days
March 14, 2010
As St. Patrick’s Day approaches so does the first 100 days that Mayor Bartlett has been the 39th mayor of Tulsa. During an interview recently, Mayor Bartlett stated the ride has “very intense at times,” but overall it has been “exhilarating.” The Mayor has had many hard decisions to make for the long-term health of Tulsa. He stated that he had “hard, painful decisions” during his first days in office.
“I don’t make a decision because of political expediency, I make it because it is the right thing to do,” he said.
Some of the decisions that passed across his desk include the police layoffs and good news such as the old City Hall building had a buyer. Bartlett did not have an easy start to his duties as mayor but had to focus on the promises he made during his campaign from the get go.
As he took office, Tulsa was looking at the worst budget crisis since the Great Depression. This immediately put the mayor in talks with city officials regarding ways to reduce the budget and of course, layoffs were eminent for non-elected employees along with 124 police officer, however, 35 have been rehired.
The leadership at the Police Department changed, funding for the mayor staff, the handling of a federal police grant, the death of two giraffes at the zoo, and of course complaints of some city councilors has kept the mayor on his feet these past 100 days.
Even though the troubles were there, Bartlett believes that things are looking up. “With our decisions, whether popular or not, we are positioning Tulsa properly so it can once again become the city that is envied,” Bartlett said.
Simonson often refereed to as Bartlett’s “Dick Cheney,” stated that way the economy is at this time, “forces you to have the political courage that the people before you could have had, but didn’t.”
“The citizens should be proud that their mayor has been willing to do the dirty work first, which has to occur before we can begin to rebuild the city’s revenues, employee morale, work force and services,” Simonson said.
Bartlett knew the situation was bad when he was heading to become mayor; however, his words were “I knew coming in that the revenue situation was bad, but nobody realized how bad it would continue to get.”
The budget as Bartlett took office was shy of around $5 million and before he could turn his head, it was even worst needing to cut $10 million from the budget. All the fat, so to speak, was already cut from the budget; nothing was left but salaries or jobs.
During the past week, Mayor Bartlett held a business forum to hear the ideas of business owners on how the city can help them survive this rough economy and flourish. Staff in his office are hard at work coming up with revenue ideas including seeking insurance payments for fire service runs, local collection of sales taxes, energy audits and energy performance contracting, and restructuring the use of the sinking fund.
One great note announced recently is the news that someone wish to pay the city $1 million in cash for the old City Hall building to turn it into a hotel. “That is of major significance and will virtually open up the redevelopment opportunities in and around the Tulsa Convention Center and BOK Center. It’s been something officials have been trying to make happen for several years,” Mayor Bartlett explained.
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Rate Hikes for Electricity Possible
March 7, 2010
The Environmental Protection Agency is hard at work doing what can be done to reduce the haze that is clouding the visibility at 156 class 1 wilderness areas by the year 2064 with the Regional Haze rule. This is being done in order to return the wilderness areas to “natural conditions.
In Oklahoma, the Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge home outside Lawton is among these wilderness areas.
One of the coal fired power plants in Oklahoma (OG&E’s Sooner Power Plant), which there are four, is only about 200 miles south of the Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge, has been determined to be one of the major contributors to the haze in the state of Oklahoma.
The Environmental Protection Agency asked OG&E to submit a plan that would reduce emission. According to the costs that will be incurred by the plan, OG&E customers may see a rate hike to help pay for the plan.
Only a few months ago, both of Oklahoma’s largest electricity providers were discussing rate increase and one was talking about increasing rates that would be a record setter. Of course, this talk disappeared until the Environmental Protection Agency gave their two cents, now there will more than likely be a rate increase.
If you are wondering why the Environmental Protection Agency has anything at all to do with the price we pay for electricity we have to back a few years. Eleven years ago, the Environmental Protection Agency created the Regional Haze Rule as part of the federal Clean Air Act. The rule requires that every state have a State Implementation Plan to reduce the emissions in their state that is the cause of this haze.
The long term of the rule was to restore the visibility at the wilderness areas to natural conditions by 2064.
The Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge, near Lawton is the only wilderness area falling under this rule. The Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge does have a huge problem with the haze in question as some days it can be difficult to view the beauty the refuge has to offer.
A resident of the area, Bill Cunningham explained, “There are days where the wind is down and perhaps a storm front has cleared the air out and you can see for a hundred miles from up here,”…”Not today.”
Steve Thompson the Executive Director of the Department of Environmental Quality stated, “Regional haze is an artifact of air emissions, particularly sulfur emissions.”
At a public hearing in December 2009, officials at OG&E presented a proposal. Paul Renfrow, OG&E’s Vice President for Public Affairs, stated, “The proposal will result in the single largest rate increase for our customers in the company’s 108-year history.”
Environmental officials in Oklahoma presented their SIP around two weeks ago. The Environmental Protection Agency will go offer this proposal and then reject or accept it no later than May 2011. If the proposal is rejected they will begin their own plan which will more than likely cause a record breaking rate increase.
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