Eagle Ford sees 13 weeks of declining drilling activity

Low crude oil prices fell to a six-year low this week while drilling activity in the Eagle Ford Shale for the 13th week in a row.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil hit a new six-year low of $42.17 per barrel on Wednesday following a report about surplus inventory in the United States. Figures released on Friday by oil giant Baker Hughes show declines in active drilling rigs across the board.

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The active rig count in the Eagle Ford Shale…

Next wave of energy job cuts could be executives

Tens of thousands of oilfield workers and midlevel energy employees have lost their jobs in recent months during the ongoing oil crash, and more cuts are expected in the coming months.

But one area that hasn’t yet faced a lot of turnover — except in isolated cases — is with energy executives and the C-suite. And that could be about to change, said Tom Simmons, the global leader of Spencer Stuart’s energy practice.

“If prices stay down, that’ll be the next thing they’ll do,” Simmons said. “They’ll…

Xcel's Colorado customers get a break on bills, thanks to cheaper natural gas

Monthly utility bills from Xcel Energy Inc. will get smaller over the next three months.

Xcel (NYSE: XEL) on Monday said it expects monthly utility bills that include both electricity and natural gas to drop about $9.58, or about 9 percent, for the second quarter, compared to the second quarter of 2015.

The wholesale price of natural gas — which Xcel sells to customers for their furnaces and burns to create electricity — has dropped from more than $4 per thousand cubic feet during the second…

$90M Kauai energy plant to begin selling power to utility in May

A $90 million, 7.5-megawatt Kauai biomass-to-energy power plant will begin selling electricity to Kauai Island Utility Cooperative in May, the developer said Monday.

Green Energy Team, a Hawaii-based firm that is using a biomass energy generation technology created by Standardkessel Baumgarte, a German company that is one of the world leaders in energy technology, said that the plant will burn wood chips produced from several sources on the Garden Isle, including short-rotation trees grown on about…

Village Health Clubs to open $25M Chandler facility

The Village Health Clubs and Spas is opening a $25 million club next month in Chandler, and will hire more than 200 people in the process.

The Ocotillo Village Health Club & Spa at the southwest corner of Alma School and Ocotillo roads will be the company’s fourth facility. The last time the company opened a club was its DC Ranch Village in Scottsdale 2005.

This new 82,000-square-foot facility will have seven outdoor tennis courts and an aquatics area, which includes an activity pool and spray…