Oklahoma State News Briefs

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Gov. Frank Keating said Thursday he is not waiting by the telephone for a presidential appointment. <br><br>Keating, 56, has been mentioned in national news accounts as a candidate

Friday, December 15th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Gov. Frank Keating said Thursday he is not waiting by the telephone for a presidential appointment.

Keating, 56, has been mentioned in national news accounts as a candidate for attorney general in a cabinet of George W. Bush.

The Oklahoma governor said he has not talked to Bush about the job. He said he is a friend of Bush, but not a confidant and that the Texas governor may have someone else in mind.

``I'm not angling for anything,'' Keating said.

He said he was happy being governor and was not hungry to return to Washington, where he held high-ranking jobs in the Justice Department and Housing and Urban Development under Presidents Reagan and Bush.

Keating had high praise for speeches Wednesday night by Bush and Democratic Vice President Al Gore, who conceded the race after digesting a U.S. Supreme Court opinion denying further recounts in Florida.

He described Gore's talk as ``a courageous message of conciliation and goodwill'' and called Bush's speech ``a family embrace to bring us together as an American public.''

___

Roof falls in at state fairgrounds

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ The air-suspended roof on a building at the state fairgrounds collapsed Thursday under the weight of snow and ice.

Rick Munz, spokesman for the fairgrounds, said the accumulation had caused a bubble to form in a seam of the roof atop the International Building.

Workers increased the air inside the building in hopes of forcing the snow to slide off, but instead the seam ripped and the canvas roof collapsed. There were no injuries.

Officials were waiting for a representative of the manufacturer to assess whether to roof can be repaired or needs to be replaced, Munz said.

___

Demand for natural gas leads to new drilling companies

TULSA, Okla. (AP) _ After being dormant for several years, Cactus Drilling Co. of Tulsa now operates six drilling rigs and is refurbishing several more.

``Our goal is to have 20 rigs out by the end of next year,'' said Jim Willis, the company's executive vice president.

The comeback is tied to an increasing demand for natural gas and forecasts for higher-than-normal natural gas prices through 2001.

Cambridge Energy Research Associates of Washington, D.C., issued a study Wednesday predicting gas prices will hover around $5.50 and $6.50 per thousand cubic feet through 2001 because of record low gas supplies.

``This deficit will reverberate throughout the gas market next year and probably beyond,'' the report said.

The American Gas Association says U.S. natural gas inventories are down 17 percent from last year. But producers are drilling more wells due to record-breaking prices. Natural gas for January delivery peaked at $9.41 on Thursday, the highest closing price since gas futures began trading in 1990.

Nationwide, drilling rig activity is up 34 percent from last year. Seventy-seven percent of the 1,088 rigs exploring for oil and gas in the United States as of Dec. 8 were drilling for natural gas.

``Everybody is trying to contract rigs as fast as they can,'' said Jerry Wilson, president of Strata Drilling, an Oklahoma City company established earlier this month.

``The only constraint is labor,'' Wilson said. ``That's the challenge.''

Thousands of oilfield workers were laid off two years ago when oil and gas prices fell sharply. Many found better-paying jobs in more stable industries, Wilson said.

___

Man found innocent of murder

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ An Oklahoma County jury has found a man innocent of charges that he killed his niece at a family Christmas party last year at his home.

Spencer Nero, 54, was found guilty late Tuesday of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. He had two felony drunken-driving convictions in 1989.

Jurors recommended that Nero be sentenced to prison for 15 years on the firearm conviction.

They also had been asked to determine whether Nero was guilty of second-degree murder or a lesser charge of manslaughter.

Nero was arrested Dec. 25 after his niece, Norma Gordon, was shot in the abdomen and killed. Nero said his niece grabbed the gun as he approached her boyfriend, Otis Floyd.

``I thought if he saw the gun, he might leave,'' Nero testified. ``Norma Jean came up behind me, grabbed the gun and it went off.''