Former

A unit of Occidental Petroleum Corp. (Oxy) has a tentative agreement with Port of Corpus Christi, TX, administrators to acquire a major portion of the former U.S. Naval Station Ingleside. Oxy’s Ingleside Property Holdings LLC would acquire more than 1,200 acres for $82.1 million. Completion of the deal is subject to approval of the Port Corpus Christi commission and the company’s board. “Definitely, Eagle Ford Shale is part of the opportunity that plays into this strategic investment,” Paul Thomas, manager of Oxy Chem’s existing Ingleside, TX, plant told the Corpus Christi Caller Times. An Oxy spokesman would not provide additional information when contacted by NGI’s Shale Daily.

A former Helmerich & Payne Inc. (H&P) drilling manager has been charged with making false statements to the Department of Interior’s Office of Inspector General regarding a key safety device on a Gulf of Mexico drilling rig. Donald Hudson, 49, of Walnut Grove, MS, was employed by H&P as the drilling rig manager for Rig 206 from Oct. 14, 2009 until May 27, 2010. Rig 206’s blowout preventer (BOP), like other BOP systems, has to be pressure tested at regular intervals prior to continued drilling operations, and results of the tests, including any problems or irregularities, also are to be recorded. On March 30, 2011 Hudson allegedly lied to investigators about instructing the rig’s crew to falsify BOP testing results, according to U.S. Attorney Jim Letten, who oversees the Eastern District of Louisiana. Testimony by other crew members revealed that Hudson had told the crew to close valves on the BOP choke manifold to prevent leaks, said Letten. In May 2011 H&P indicated in a regulatory filing that it suspended operations on an offshore rig after an employee reported possible “testing irregularities” and said “certain employees” were fired. No environmental or other harm occurred and the BOP system ultimately was repaired, Letten noted. If Hudson is found guilty, he faces up to five years in prison, as well as a fine of up to $250,000 and up to three years of supervised release following a prison term.

Federal prosecutors in New Orleans have charged a former Helmerich & Payne Inc. (H&P) drilling manager for making false statements last year to the Department of Interior’s Office of Inspector General regarding a key safety device on a Gulf of Mexico drilling rig.

Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) Commissioner Barry Smitherman was unanimously elected RRC chairman. He replaces former Chair Elizabeth Ames Jones, who left the commission to devote more time to her campaign for Texas Senate (see Daily GPI, Feb. 15). Her seat on the three-member RRC has yet to be filled. Smitherman was appointed to the RRC in July 2011. Previously he sat on the Public Utility Commission of Texas, where in 2007 he became chairman. Smitherman currently serves as Texas’ representative on the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission, as vice chair of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners’ gas committee. He is on the visiting committee of the Bureau of Economic Geology with the Jackson School of Geosciences at The University of Texas at Austin, The University of Texas School of Law Center for Global Energy, International Arbitration, and Environmental Law, and the Eanes Education Foundation advisory board.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) said Wednesday Catalyst Energy Inc. has been fined $185,000 and faces new restrictions after several incidents involving non-Marcellus Shale oil and natural gas wells in three northwestern counties.

Irish ex patriot journalist/filmmakers Ann McElhinney and Phelim McAleer call their project “the film that will tell the truth about fracking,” on their website, which includes the slogan, “There are two sides to every story, and then there is the truth.”

Gene Isenberg, former CEO of Nabors Industries Ltd., has agreed to terminate his employment contract and waive a claim to $100 million that was triggered when the company promoted Anthony G. Petrello to CEO. Isenberg’s contract provided him with $100 million in cash and other bonuses under a severance-type payment. Nabors, which was criticized by shareholders when the contract terms were released, said Isenberg now is to receive no cash compensation and would forfeit about $7 million in deferred bonuses. Some of the proceeds are to be donated to charity. Isenberg’s estate is to receive a payment of $6.6 million, plus interest, when he dies. Isenberg, who had been CEO since 1987, retired in December but continues as chairman until June, when he is to become chairman emeritus.

Former Petrohawk Energy Corp. CEO Floyd C. Wilson, under the banner of Halcon Resources LLC, is leading a charge to buy Tulsa-based Ram Energy Resources Inc., a small-cap explorer that operates primarily in Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma.

Former Petrohawk Energy Corp. CEO Floyd C. Wilson, who recently created Halcon Resources LLC, is leading a charge to buy Tulsa-based Ram Energy Resources Inc., a small-cap explorer that operates primarily in Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma.