Halliburton cuts jobs; Kinder Morgan sues; Icahn gets lift
Calpine comes clean on pricey data error
The Houston merchant power company Calpine claimed responsibility for a data error that sent wholesale power prices spiking at the end of May and, according to an estimate from a commodity trading firm in Houston, cost residential consumers, industrial customers, power traders and retail electric providers more than $18 million. Calpine called on the grid manager to reprice the block of sales that occurred during that period, but the Electric Reliability Council of Texas said that repricing was not practical since such data errors occur frequently.
Kinder Morgan sues Austin suburb
Houston pipeline operator Kinder Morgan has sued an Austin suburb over the passage of an ordinance that the company alleges aims to keep a proposed natural gas pipeline out of town, disrupting the route approved by state regulators. In a 22-page lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Austin, Kinder Morgan alleges that the city of Kyle overstepped state and federal law when city council members passed a July 2 ordinance regulating the construction of natural gas pipelines within city limits. Kyle Mayor Travis Mitchell declined to comment.
Halliburton cutting jobs in fracking drop
Houston oil field service company Halliburton said it cut 8 percent of its North American workforce as it took fleets of hydraulic fracturing equipment from the field in response to a continued slump in demand for fracking services in the United States and Canada. The job cuts occurred during the second quarter, which runs from April to June, said company spokeswoman Emily Mir. Halliburton did not disclose the number of jobs cut. The company has 60,000 employees worldwide.
Icahn gets boost in Occidental fight
Investor activist Carl Icahn got a boost in his feud with Occidental Petroleum when a major proxy advisory firm argued Thursday that his proposals at least warrant a shareholder vote. While the prominent Institutional Shareholder Services firm isn’t yet choosing sides on whether Icahn should be able to replace nearly half of the Occidental board, ISS contends the Houston oil and gas producer has prohibitive procedures Kin Man Hui / Staff file photo for calling a vote or a special board meeting. Investors at least deserve to weigh in after Oxy agreed to buy The Woodlands-based Anadarko Petroleum for $38 billion, ISS said.
Exxon starts up polyethylene units
Exxon Mobil started production at its huge new polyethylene line in Beaumont that expands the petrochemical plant’s capacity by 65 percent and makes Texas the company’s biggest producer of the common plastic. Exxon Mobil said Wednesday that the new polyethylene units in Beaumont boost production by 650,000 tons per year, bringing site capacity to nearly 1.7 million tons per year. The multibillion dollar investment builds on other recent investments Exxon recently completed in 2017, when it added two polyethylene lines to its Mont Belvieu plant.
Democrats target climate proposals
Democratic leaders are pushing ahead to try to pass legislation and increase federal funding to address climate change before the end of the year, hoping to win over Republican members who are watching public support for climate action grow. Democrats believe there’s enough support among Republicans, who control the Senate, to pass smallerscale legislation for measures such as renewing tax credits for electric vehicles or allowing the sale of tax-free bonds for clean energy projects such as carbon pipelines and long-distance power lines connecting wind farms to cities.