Exxon Probe Faces Uphill Task
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman faces an uphill climb in building a case against Exxon Mobil Corp for not writing down assets amid the oil-price slump because of the broad leeway that energy companies have enjoyed reporting under U.S. rules, accounting experts said. Schneiderman is investigating Exxon's accounting practices and why the oil giant has not taken writedowns even while oil prices have fallen, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters.
US Church Leases Drilling Rights
asting the fight against climate change as an urgent moral duty, Pope Francis in June urged the world to phase out highly-polluting fossil fuels. Yet in the heart of U.S. oil country several dioceses and other Catholic institutions are leasing out drilling rights to oil and gas companies to bolster their finances, Reuters has found. And in one archdiocese -- Oklahoma City -- Church officials have signed three new oil and gas leases since Francis's missive on the environment, leasing documents show.
Oil CEO Hamm Sought Ouster of Scientists Looking at Quakes
Oilman Harold Hamm, CEO of Continental Resources Inc., told a University of Oklahoma dean last year that scientists studying links between oil drilling and earthquakes should be dismissed, Bloomberg News reported on Friday. Bloomberg, citing emails obtained through a public records request, said Hamm indicated he wanted to see some scientists at the Oklahoma Geological Survey, which is based at the university, let go.
Sanchez Energy Appoints New Board Member
Brian Carney was appointed to Sanchez Energy Corporation’s board of directors on May 5, 2015. The Sanchez Energy board determined Carney to be independent under the rules of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and qualified to serve on its audit committee, the nominating and corporate governance committee and the compensation committee of the board under the rules of the NYSE and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)…
