Last week, Oklahoma Treasurer Todd Russ announced 13 firms that are prohibited from conducting business involving the state. This is kicking off a new phase in Oklahoma’s conflict with banking institutions that reject energy-related businesses.

Though don’t expect anything to happen anytime soon. These 13 businesses have 90 days to notify the state they are no longer rejecting energy firms.

The statute gives the state a six-month period to sell off 50% of its holdings in the financial institution and a whole year to sell off all of them if they continue to maintain their boycott.

The limitations are centered on a law that the legislature approved in 2022, mandating that the state treasurer divest Oklahoma of any financial firms that shun the energy sector.

In order to ascertain their position on fossil fuels, Russ wrote to 160 businesses in February.

One of the 13 companies identified that conducts dealings with the state, JPMorgan Chase, referred to the classification as “unfounded” in a letter to The Center Square.

The biggest financial institution in the country stated in an announcement that they belong to the top financiers throughout the energy industry, encompassing traditional energy sources.

They claimed to have supplied about $2 billion in finance and additional assistance to 40 Oklahoma oil and gas businesses between 2021 and 2022.

They said they are excited to continue to serve customers and the public in Oklahoma, despite the anti-free market ruling because the company’s methods will not be in conflict with it.

In a response sent via email to The Center Square, Blackrock claimed to have invested in excess of $200 billion in conventional U.S. energy businesses.

The company stated they look forward to connecting with the Oklahoma Treasurer to talk about how BlackRock provides for the needs of their customers in Oklahoma and other places.

This includes over $20 billion of investments undertaken on the part of their customer base in publicly traded businesses centered in Oklahoma, as well as overseeing pension funds for 73,000 Oklahoma beneficiaries.