Support the fact-based journalism you rely on with a donation to Marketplace today. Give Now!

How Texas weather disruptions will ripple through oil supply chain

Feb 17, 2021
Even after the weather starts improving, this crisis' effects are likely to linger and be felt far beyond the Lone Star State.
The Gulf Coast handles roughly half of the U.S.'s oil refining capacity.
Andrew Caballero/Reynolds

OPEC has to decide whether it will continue to curb oil output

Nov 27, 2020
Ramping up production when demand is still weak could have major consequences on a relatively stable oil market.
Joe Klamar/AFP via Getty Images

Exxon's job cuts are another sign that the oil industry is still in a slump

Oct 30, 2020
Demand for oil has come back a bit, but it's still lower than it was before the pandemic.
Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

As cases of COVID-19 climb, oil prices face a longer recovery

Oct 19, 2020
OPEC countries, plus Russia, met Monday amid fears that the next wave of the pandemic will pummel demand.
An Austrian soldier stands guard outside the OPEC headquarters in Vienna in 2016.
Joe Klamar/AFP/Getty Images

Trump tests positive for coronavirus; stocks, oil prices sink

Oct 2, 2020
U.S. stock futures and Asian shares fell Friday after the president said he and first lady Melania Trump had tested positive.
Trump tweeted news of his test results just hours after the White House announced that senior aide Hope Hicks had come down with the virus after traveling with the president several times this week.
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

Oil-rich countries have been hit hard by the pandemic. How can they move on?

Oil prices are still far below the break-even point for many producers in the Middle East.
Transitioning away from oil, for countries that depend on the industry, is easier said than done.
Joe Raedle/Newsmakers

Chevron buys Noble Energy, a sign that oil's not dead

Jul 20, 2020
Oil has risen to roughly $40 a barrel after plummeting in April. With prices holding steady, big oil companies are likely to pounce on smaller ones.
Chevron recently launched a "news" website in the Permian Basin in Texas, complete with local stories about puppies followed by advertisements for the oil giant.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

Oil prices tick back up as economies reopen, OPEC extends production cuts

Jun 8, 2020
Oil's recovery will depend on how the pandemic plays out, and whether there will be a second wave of illness.
The so-called OPEC+ club of producers agreed on Saturday to to extend oil production cuts into July.
Alexander Klein/AFP via Getty Images

Texas oil regulator throws in the towel on supply cut

May 4, 2020
Low crude oil prices have already achieved what regulators were seeking: to cut state production.
The sun sets behind smoke rising from a refining plant in Houston.
Mark Felix/AFP via Getty Images

First the virus, then the oil crash, hit Midland, Texas

Apr 23, 2020
Midland, Texas, is ground zero for oil and gas production in the U.S., and much of the local economy, in some way or another, is tied to the industry. When West Texas Intermediate went negative for the first time ever on Monday, everybody in Midland felt it — on top of the coronavirus. This morning […]
A pumpjack in Midland. The Texas oil patch has never seen a bust like this one.