Oil

Diane Swonk, chief economist with Mesirow Financial, explains why commodity prices are falling and how the U.S. economy could benefit.

The latest oil spill in Arkansas has environmentalists up in arms over how Big Oil transports their product.

Can natural-gas companies and environmental groups together set standards for fracking that will win the public's trust? An experiment in Pennsylvania will try.

The surge in oil and natural gas production in the U.S. offers real economic opportunities. How much are royalties from offshore drilling growing, and what could be gained by taking some of that money to help fund alternative energies?

South Sudan, which seceded from the rest of Sudan in 2011, will begin oil production again, under a new deal negotiated in Ethiopia.

Taking power in 1999, Hugo Chavez almost single-handedly transformed Venezuelan society, wielding the country's oil wealth as a weapon. Can a strongman economy continue after his death?

A study commissioned by the State Department concludes that building the Keystone XL pipeline won't contribute to global warming, because Canadian tar sands oil will get to market with or without the pipeline.

The Obama administration is not expected to decide whether to approve the controversial Keystone pipeline until this summer, but a new report gives clues about the White House's pipeline strategy.

The transportation system for fuel in the U.S. is inadequate, though, so some oil always has to be imported to where it's needed.

The nation’s trade deficit plunged in December, likely giving the U.S. economy an unexpected boost to round out the year.