Business

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reminds producers that the deadline to submit applications for disaster recovery assistance through the Wildfire and Hurricane Indemnity Program Plus (WHIP+) for 2018 and 2019 losses is Friday, Oct. 30. Additionally, USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) launched a new tool on farmers.gov to help producers with the application process.

AUSTIN—The Railroad Commission of Texas issued a total of 437 original drilling permits in September 2020 compared to 796 in September 2019. The September 2020 total includes 371 permits to drill new oil or gas wells, two to re-enter plugged well bores, and 41 for recompletions of existing well bores.

The second in a series of oil and gas short courses for land and mineral owners will be held next Tuesday, Oct. 20, at 5:30 pm. Featured speakers will be a representative of the mineral appraisal firm of Pritchard & Abbott, as well as series hosts Haley and Bryce Ward, both of whom have a broad range of expertise in the oil and gas industry. The classes are designed to be no longer than two hours each, and are held quarterly at the Hemphill County Exhibition Center.

AUSTIN—Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced this week that he will send cities, counties, transit systems and special purpose taxing districts $751.5 million in local sales tax allocations for October, 2.8 percent less than in October 2019. These allocations are based on sales made in August by businesses that report tax monthly.

AUSTIN—Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar today said state sales tax revenue totaled $2.57 billion in September, 6.1 percent less than in September 2019. The majority of September sales tax revenue is based on sales made in August and remitted to the agency in September.

AMARILLO—Scott Anderson, co-owner of CRI feeders in Guymon, Oklahoma, has been elected the 2021 Texas Cattle Feeders Association chairman. Anderson has owned and managed the feedyard since 2004.

AMARILLO—After months of historic lows, costs for natural gas that fuels almost half the region’s electricity production have gone up and will increase bills for Xcel Energy’s Texas customers, but only for a short time before savings from a new wind farm are expected to bring those costs back down in early 2021.

AUSTIN—Crude-oil and natural-gas production as reported to the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) for July 2020 came from 169,713 oil wells and 84,052 gas wells. Preliminary reported total volumes for crude oil were 108,879,658 barrels of crude oil, compared to 134,724,334 bbls in July 2019, and 798,320,347 Mcf of natural gas, compared to 891,122,643 Mcf a year ago.

WASHINGTON—President Donald J. Trump and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue this week announced up to an additional $14 billion for agricultural producers who continue to face market disruptions and associated costs because of COVID-19. Signup for the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP 2) will begin Sept. 21 and run through Dec. 11.

AMARILLO–Xcel Energy is seeking information that will help guide the company toward its clean energy goals in Texas and New Mexico as planned retirements of large regional power plants create new opportunities for innovation and area development.