Evacuation Order Reduced after Fire at ONEOK Gas Plant in Oklahoma
Oklahoma authorities on July...
Oklahoma authorities on July 10 narrowed the scope of an evacuation order near the ONEOK natural gas plant following a fire on July 9.
The Deer Creek Volunteer Fire Department told people on July 9 to avoid major U.S. Highway 81 in the area “due to a major fire at the ONEOK plant,” posting an image of a large plume of dark smoke.
The evacuation decree, which previously covered areas two miles around the facility, has been set for a one-mile vicinity of the site, which is located near Medford, close to the border with Kansas, the City of Medford said on its Facebook page. Part of Highway 81 south remained closed, it added.
Putin warns West: sanctions risk energy price spike catastrophe
President Vladimir Putin warned the West on Friday that continued sanctions against Russia over the war...
President Vladimir Putin warned the West on Friday that continued sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine risked triggering catastrophic energy price rises for consumers around the world.
Putin, who casts the sanctions imposed on Russia as a declaration of economic war, said that Western calls to reduce reliance on Russian energy had made global markets "feverish" with spikes in oil and gas.
EPA considering hitting largest US oil field with pollution regulation
The United States’ largest oil field may be in violation of pollution standards and required to act...
The United States’ largest oil field may be in violation of pollution standards and required to act by the Environmental Protection Agency, which critics argue could threaten production at a time when gas prices remain high and the world’s oil supply is being pinched.
The Permian Basin, located across western Texas and parts of New Mexico, accounts for roughly 40% of domestically produced oil. The EPA recently announced it is considering a “discretionary redesignation” of the Permian Basin, which would require Texas and New Mexico to come up with plans to reduce ozone in three years.
Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a frequent critic of the Biden administration, sent a letter to the president telling him to stop the EPA.
Large fire at Oklahoma gas plant forces major evacuations
A large fire Saturday afternoon engulfed a natural gas plant in...
A large fire Saturday afternoon engulfed a natural gas plant in the small northern Oklahoma town of Medford. Video posted to social media showed heavy flames and smoke billowing hundreds of feet into the air. The fire occurred at a "natural gas liquids fractionation facility" operated by ONEOK, a company spokesperson confirmed in a statement to CBS News. ONEOK said it was "unaware of any injuries." All residents within a two-mile radius of the plant were asked to immediately evacuate, the Grant County Sheriff's Office reported. The number of people being evacuated was unclear, although Medford has a population of about 930 people, according to the latest U.S. Census data.
Michael and Brittany Stone captured this video of an explosion in Medford, Oklahoma, near the Kansas border. This gas plant fire caused evacuations and road closures #KWCH12pic.twitter.com/V8Cy8FbYfM
Germany is rationing hot water and turning off the lights to reduce natural gas consumption
Last year, Germany relied on Russia for ...
Last year, Germany relied on Russia for 55% of its natural gas imports. Germany has since been able to reduce that number to 35%, but with Russia seemingly prepared to further cut gas shipments to Europe, German officials are having to make some difficult choices.
This week, a city official in Hamburg—Germany’s second-largest city—warned that “warm water could only be made available at certain times of the day in an emergency,” forecasting the possibility of a severe natural gas shortage. And on Friday, residents in the eastern German state of Saxony were told by their housing association that they could take hot showers only between 4 a.m. and 8 a.m., 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., and 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. each day, the Financial Times reported.
It isn’t just hot water that’s being rationed. In addition to shorter shower times, officials are asking city councils nationwide to turn off traffic lights at night, stop illuminating historic buildings, and go easy on using air conditioners in a bid to conserve electricity, according to the FT.
