A coal company is planning to reopen a mine in Western Kentucky next year, creating about 900 jobs with starting pay of $19 an hour, officials said.

“We’re excited,” said Dudley Cooper, a consultant to the Ohio County Industrial Authority. “This should mean an influx of people into Ohio County.”

St. Louis-based Armstrong Coal Co. announced Thursday that it will reopen the Big Run mine in Centertown, about 30 miles south of Owensboro.

Coal was king of the county’s economy for decades. In 1979, a total of 2,343 Ohio Countians worked in five underground mines and 33 surface mines. But environmental concerns about the high sulfur content of Western Kentucky coal led to a coal bust in the 1980s from which the region has yet to recover. Read More…

Massey Energy Co. is considering options for increasing the production of high-dollar metallurgical coal in hopes of taking advantage of strong demand from the steel industry.

Surging sales of so-called met coal helped the Richmond, Va.-based company increase its profit to $34.9 million in the second quarter, compared with $3.2 million in the same period of 2006. If Massey can sign more sales contracts by September or October, it could boost production at any of several mines in time for April deliveries, Chief Executive Don Blankenship told Wall Street analysts during a conference call yesterday.

“We’ve seen inquiries from the Asian market, which is always a real exciting sign,” Blankenship said. Massey typically sends its metallurgical coal to steelmakers in the United States, South America, Europe and Canada. Read More…

Two environmental groups and four Wyoming residents have filed a lawsuit saying the government has not done enough review to allow a boom in energy development in the upper Green River Basin.

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Cheyenne on Tuesday by Habitat for Wildlife and the Environmental Preservation Foundation, along with two Cokeville and two Kemmerer residents.

Matthew Teichert of Cokeville said he joined the lawsuit because wildlife aren’t being adequately protected.

“I signed on because I felt the deer and sage grouse and other game are being harmed by the oil exploration, and I’d like to see some pressure put on the oil companies to maybe replace damaged land with other land that could be used for wildlife habitat,” he said Wednesday.
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Two environmental groups and four Wyoming residents have filed a lawsuit saying the government has not done enough review to allow a boom in energy development in the upper Green River Basin.

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Cheyenne on Tuesday by Habitat for Wildlife and the Environmental Preservation Foundation, along with two Cokeville and two Kemmerer residents.

Matthew Teichert of Cokeville said he joined the lawsuit because wildlife aren’t being adequately protected.

“I signed on because I felt the deer and sage grouse and other game are being harmed by the oil exploration, and I’d like to see some pressure put on the oil companies to maybe replace damaged land with other land that could be used for wildlife habitat,” he said Wednesday.
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It sits, still unused, on supports about 7 feet high, and 4 miles long.

And depending on who’s talking, this new section of transit pipeline on Prudhoe Bay — the nation’s largest producing oil field — is either a daily reminder of past maintenance neglect, or it represents a decades-long commitment to the future of North Slope oil production.

It’s been a year since the pipeline shutdown, and few have forgotten the event that sent oil prices inching toward $80 a barrel, stirred fears of escalating gas prices, and sent companies searching for other supply sources.

Some nerves remain frayed, with state and federal lawmakers still asking how BP PLC failed to adequately address concerns raised by its own employees, arguing that BP placed profits ahead of proper care. Read More…

Thailand’s top oil exploration firm, PTT Exploration and Production, said Saturday its net profit dropped slightly in the second quarter due to the sharp rise of the Thai baht against the dollar.

Net profit in the quarter to June slipped two percent year-on-year to 7.15 billion baht (212 million dollars) and revenue decreased three percent to 22.96 billion baht, the company said in a statement.

The decline in quarterly earnings was attributed to the strength of the baht and came despite higher sales volume — particularly for natural gas.
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Local governments in Pennsylvania are pre-empted by state law from regulating the location of natural gas and oil wells, even if they are in residential developments, the Commonwealth Court ruled Friday.

Overturning the Allegheny County Common Pleas Court, a seven-judge panel of the appellate court said the Legislature eliminated municipalities’ authority to restrict well placement when it amended the state Oil and Gas Act in 1992.

The court sent the case back to Allegheny County and directed the Oakmont Borough Council to grant the conditional use permits sought by Huntley & Huntley Inc., an oil and gas exploration company seeking to drill in a residential subdivision.
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Chevron Corp., the nation’s No. 2 oil company, said Friday its second-quarter net income rose 24%, propelled by robust refining margins in its core West Coast fuel market and a $680 million gain from the sale of its stake in Houston power company Dynegy.

The results put Chevron CVX at the top end of Big Oil earnings rolled out this week, surpassing Wall Street expectations just a day after No. 1 Exxon Mobil Corp. XOM disappointed analysts with a report that fell short of their forecasts. See full story.

Chevron Corp. CVX said profit for the three months ended June 30 advanced to $5.4 billion, or $2.52 a share, from $4.4 billion, or $1.97 a share, a year earlier. Revenue for the quarter rose nearly 5% to $56.1 billion. Read More…

Soltera Mining Corp. announces the acquisition of Incas Mineral S.A., a privately owned Argentinean corporation.

Incas Mineral S.A. has an option to explore and develop a prospective gold property in the county of Jujuy in Northern Argentina.

Except for historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this press release are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to economic, competitive, governmental and technological factors effecting the Company’s operations, markets, products and prices and other factors discussed in the Company’s various filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Read More…