Energy & Fuel

"A county's ban on hydraulic fracturing and drilling conflicts with both state and U.S. law, a federal court in New Mexico found this week."

"What's the best way to drill for oil in a mostly untouched Alaskan tundra, home to migrating caribou, abundant waterfowl, and Native Alaskan hunting and fishing grounds? It depends on which federal agency you ask."

"A second large oil spill into Montana's Yellowstone River in less than four years is reviving questions about oversight of the nation's aging pipeline network."

"The Senate on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved an amendment to the Keystone XL pipeline bill that is aimed at improving energy efficiency in buildings — a rare moment of bipartisan agreement in a tense debate that is nowhere near being settled."

"With natural gas drilling on the horizon in Western Maryland, dairy farmer Billy Bishoff welcomes the chance to supplement his income by collecting lease or royalty payments on the natural gas that lies beneath his family's 330 acres a few miles northwest of Deep Creek Lake."

"Oil services company Baker Hughes Inc. will lay off about 7,000 workers as it prepares for a downturn in orders because of the plunge in crude prices, the company said Tuesday."

"The Canadian company that wants to build the Keystone XL pipeline took legal action Tuesday to secure remaining right of way from a group of holdout Nebraska landowners."

"MIDLAND, Tex. — With oil prices plummeting by more than 50 percent since June, the gleeful mood of recent years has turned glum here in West Texas as the frenzy of shale oil drilling has come to a screeching halt."

"Truckloads of drinking water are expected to begin arriving Tuesday in an eastern Montana city where thousands of residents have been told not to drink from their taps following an oil spill along the Yellowstone River."

"Wall Street may be growing anxious about the negative impact of falling oil prices on energy producers, but the steep declines of recent weeks are delivering substantial benefits to American working-class families and retirees who have largely missed out on the fruits of the five-and-a-half-year economic recovery."