Oil

Domestic production is at record levels and reducing the need for foreign imports

Prices for West Texas crude oil are hovering around $65 a barrel. That’s more than twice the price at this time just two years ago. Oil companies, including major players like Exxon Mobil and Chevron, have let investors know they’re increasing production, specifically in Texas’ Permian Basin, where output has tripled in the past three years. […]

With the world’s major economies chugging along, people are using more oil. That means more demand for crude, just as some places that supply it are cutting back. Some production cuts are intentional — like Saudi Arabia’s — but other hiccups in supply are due to political chaos, like Venezuela. If U.S. fracking steps up […]

New figures show Venezuela’s oil output plummeted again last year, continuing a years-long streak of falling production. What will it mean for the economy as inflation soars and quality of life for residents declines? Rice University’s Francisco Monaldi explains why he calls the trend a “death spiral” for the country’s oil industry. Click the above audio […]

Infamous investor T. Boone Pickens is closing his BP Capital fund and retiring at age 89 after amassing a fortune in energy — everything from oil and natural gas, to wind power and water. Click the audio player above to hear the full story. 

Earlier this week, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that New York City would divest its pension funds from fossil fuels and that the city would sue the big five oil companies. The reason? To collect damages for the cost of coping with the effects of climate change on city infrastructure. The irony […]

As the Energy Information Administration forecast looks to 2019, experts see lots of wildcards that could impact the carefully played hands of oil and gas producers. Click the audio player above to hear the full story. 

It’s the highest first-of-the-year price for oil since 2014. But the companies producing crude are taking a more cautious view of things than the investors and lenders who back their efforts. From unrest in Iran to uncertainty about the new tax code, oil could face a profitable but turbulent year. Click the audio player above […]