From cattle ranches in North Dakota to strawberry patches in DeSoto Parish, Louisiana, landowners-turned-millionaires are cropping up all over US shale country.  By selling their mineral rights to oil and gas companies, these individuals are not only harvesting personal riches but als

For the past 40 years, Alaska’s economy has been supported almost exclusively by its oil and gas industry.  As a matter of fact, about 93% of the state’s general fund revenues come from oil production, and about one-third of its jobs are oil-related.  To put it in perspective just how

If oil and gas from the domestic shale boom are going to take the US to energy independence, will it be by pipeline, rail, or truck? Production and consumption patterns were at the center of the decades-long development of America’s pipeline infrastructure, which actually dates all th

Shale drilling activity has turned the paraphrased movie line, “If you build it, they will come,” on its head. Between the construction of drilling infrastructure and private development playing catch-up in nearby communities, these days it’s more accurate to say, “They’re already her

Texas has long been known as the US oil capital – and for good reason. Ever since oil erupted into Texas way back in 1901 with the famous Lucas Gusher, the oil and gas industry has been the driving force of the state’s economy. To witness the Lone Star State’s inextr