SandRidge Energy

SandRidge shareholders elected four of Carl Icahn’s nominees to the company’s seven-member board of directors Tuesday, giving the activist investor a slim majority on the board. The Journal Record’s Sarah Terry-Cobo writes the company will likely be sold, but it is not clear if Icahn will first break SandRidge up into pieces.

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A commodity hedge deal between Oklahoma City-based energy company Devon and  petrochemical/agriculture giant DowDupont could be a sign of a new trend.

The Journal Record’s Sarah Terry-Cobo writes the deal will provide “low-risk cash” to Devon, and DowDupont will receive natural gas that will be used to produce plastics, chemicals and other products.

The $75 million deal will last 5 years, according to the Journal Record.

Oklahoma oil and gas companies are examining how to take advantage of changes in corporate taxes.

President Donald Trump signed a GOP-backed bill to decrease the corporate tax rate from 35 to 21 percent in December.  Sarah Terry-Cobo writes in the Journal Record that there was a perception that the lower tax rate would result in stock buybacks, dividends and implicit payouts to corporate executives, according to University of Tulsa energy business professor Tom Seng.

In an effort to move forward with the purchase of a Colorado-based energy company, SandRidge Energy issued a so-called “poison pill” Monday to stave off efforts by an activist investor to block the deal.

Throughout 2016, the fallout continued from the downturn in energy prices that started more than two years ago. Commodity prices bottomed out at a 13-year-low earlier this year, but it’ll still be a long time before Oklahoma’s oil and gas sector fully recovers.

Several Oklahoma energy stories made national headlines earlier this year, from bankruptcies, stock exchange de-listings, and even the unexpected death of an industry godfather.

SandRidge Saga

Over the past week or so Oklahoma City’s energy companies have been releasing their quarterly earnings reports, and some of the more interesting numbers came from SandRidge Energy. After the stock market closed Tuesday, the company reported a net loss of $404 million for the quarter.

It’s been a rocky year for Oklahoma City’s SandRidge Energy.

The company started 2016 learning it would be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange, and had to shut down many oil and gas wells in northwest Oklahoma due to seismic directives by the Corporation Commission.

Monday morning Oklahoma City-based SandRidge Energy formally filed for bankruptcy.

The move wasn’t unexpected among energy observers, but one of the interesting things about this particular filing is that SandRidge has almost twice as many assets as it does debt.

One of Oklahoma City’s major energy producers unveiled its latest earnings reports earlier this week.

It wasn’t good news – it really hasn’t been for any of the state’s energy giants as they continue to feel the effects of this nearly two-year downturn in commodity prices . On Tuesday, SandRidge Energy announced it lost $74 million in the fourth quarter of 2015 – down 58 percent year-over-year and missing Wall Street expectations.

Two Oklahoma energy companies announced key business decisions this – one took on more debt, and the other cut spending by $1 billion.

It’s been a rocky few months for SandRidge Energy – the company’s stock has been delisted from the New York Stock Exchange, and has been in a dispute with the Oklahoma Corporation Commission over compliance with wastewater directives in earthquake-prone areas. On Monday, the Oklahoma City-based company announced it would borrow $488 million to pay for general corporate operations.

After months of speculation, the New York Stock Exchange delisted SandRidge Energy after threatening to do so for month, citing an "abnormally low" stock price as its reasoning.

The downturn in energy prices dominated the news cycle in Oklahoma in 2015, affecting the bottom line of every oil and natural gas producer, the state’s budget, and had countless trickle-down effects in a state with an economy so reliant on the energy sector.

The price plummet actually started in June 2014, when oil was still above $100 per barrel. They rapidly declined, beginning 2015 at around $55, and currently sit in the $30-40 range.

As SandRidge Energy struggles with $4.6 billion in debt and a faltering stock price that’s threatening its listing on the New York Stock Exchange, the Oklahoma City oil and gas company is facing another problem: Earthquakes and new regulations designed to slow the shaking:

It's been a rocky five days for Oklahoma's energy sector, with downsizing, buyouts, and even a possible de-listing from the New York Stock Exchange.