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Oil boom cheers Texas town, but some worry about education

Apr 25, 2018
Midland, Texas, is doing well with high oil prices but having trouble retaining teachers for its public schools.
A state-of-the-art Midland Public Library was built using sales tax money.
Filipa Rodrigues/Marketplace

Midland, Texas, is booming as oil prices rise

Apr 24, 2018
Times are good in the Permian Basin, but schools and roads still need improvement.
Workers on an oil rig in Midland, Texas, part of the Permian Basin, where output has tripled in the past three years.
Filipa Rodrigues/Marketplace

Oil prices are on the rise, but some in oil country are feeling left out

Apr 24, 2018
In Midland, Texas, the gap between rich and poor is evident at every turn.
Flags shown in Midland, Texas.
Filipa Rodrigues/Marketplace

Higher oil prices and higher output give U.S. more clout

Jan 31, 2018
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. […]

The next year in oil could be hard to predict

Jan 9, 2018
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. 

Oil prices start the year on a high note

Jan 2, 2018
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 […]

Oil companies make do with breaking even

Oct 27, 2017
A few years ago, oil prices were hitting record highs. A barrel of West Texas Intermediate went for $107 dollars in the summer of 2014. Then, there was a fracking boom in the U.S., a worldwide oil supply glut and prices collapsed. Many oil producers went out of business. But oil prices are now picking […]

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Why boom-bust oil prices may be here to stay

Apr 18, 2017
Robert McNally's 'Crude Volatility' looks at the cycle in a historical context.
“I think the sort of the next rude shock perhaps in the oil markets is that we will be thirstier for oil for a lot longer than folks hope and expect,” says energy analyst Robert McNally.
ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images

Can Venezuela's Maduro survive the latest riots?

Apr 13, 2017
The economy is a hot mess and allegiances are shifting.
Venezuelans protest the government of President Nicolas Maduro last week in Caracas.
FEDERICO PARRA/AFP/Getty Images

Permian Basin oil find cheers U.S. drillers

Mar 7, 2017
Oil drilling and fracking are back in America — that’s the storyline out of the big annual oil industry confab in Houston this week. Crude oil prices have recovered from a two-year bust. The rigs are getting back to work. But a new location is the talk of the day. No, not Alberta, Canada, or […]