In this week's news update, the rig count drops by 10, and a driver in Odessa, Texas, is facing a fine after leaking liquid waste onto Interstate 20.


An Odessa, Texas, man was arrested and charged on Nov. 19 with disposing of oil and gas waste on Interstate 20 in the state and could face a fine up to $1,000.

According to the Ector County Environmental Enforcement office, the sheriff’s office received a tip Nov. 19 about the man driving down the highway and fluids leaking out of his semi-trailer. The man told officers that he had a loose gasket and did not intend to dump oilfield waste onto the highway.

Officials said if he knew about the gasket he should have fixed it.

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According to the Texas Water Code, which is still relatively new, no hauler may dispose of oil and gas waste on public roads or on the surface of public land or private property in Texas other than at a railroad commission-approved disposal facility without written authority from the railroad commission.


Enbridge Cutting Workforce by 5 Percent
Calgary-based pipeline company Enbridge said Nov. 19 that it is cutting 5 percent of its workforce — about 500 people and 100 unfilled positions — in Canada and the United States.

The reductions are being made companywide, a statement issued by Graham White, the company’s manager of business communications, said. “While Enbridge is more resilient to commodity price downturns than others, we’re not immune,” says White.

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The company says the cuts are not connected to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s call for a moratorium on crude oil tanker traffic for B.C.’s North Coast.


Rig Count Drops By 10
The number of rigs exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. dropped by 10 to 757 last week in data released by Baker Hughes on Nov. 20.

The Houston-based oilfield services company says that 564 rigs were seeking oil and 193 for natural gas. A year ago, 1,929 rigs were active.

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Louisiana and Oklahoma each lost four rigs, while Colorado and Wyoming each lost three. West Virginia lost two and Ohio fell by one.

Texas gained four rigs as Pennsylvania increased by two and North Dakota by one. Alaska, Arkansas, California, Kansas, New Mexico and Utah were unchanged.


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