North Dakota and Texas fields could be at a fraction of current productivity by 2040, says a new report.
Oil
Posted inNovember 10, 2014: Fallout
Will falling oil prices kill the shale revolution?
The current drilling boom is more sensitive to price fluctuations than its predecessors.
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The Uintah Basin’s tricky oil and gas ozone problem
Can officials greenlight booming development and clean up the air at the same time?
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Report warns of illegal drilling on federal land
Outdated rules and budget shortfalls make it hard to catch.
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Extraction taxes are on the ballot
North Dakota and Nevada voters might learn something from Wyoming.
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Offshore oil rigs can provide prime fish habitat
But will California’s platforms stay in the ocean once the oil runs out?
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For the first time in a decade, Alaskan oil heads for Asia
Amid energy boom in lower 48, Alaska looks to sell its oil overseas.
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About the price of oil
Since rig counts follow oil prices, the current slump will hurt Western economies.
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Will Wyoming companies get higher fines for workplace deaths?
When a worker died on the job, the company paid a $6,700 penalty, inciting new discussion on the issue.
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Can Hickenlooper get his middle-of-the-road magic back?
The Colorado governor has Democratic politicians calmed and fractivists pissed.
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War of the words
New oil and gas ‘codebook’ aims to help the public muddle through the fracking debate
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Fur flies over Montana bobcat farm
Will animal rights activists keep a bobcat farmer from setting up shop in Montana?
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Fracking Georgia O’Keeffe Country
Drill rigs pop up near Navajo communities, Chaco Canyon and the iconic Black Place.
Posted inSeptember 1, 2014: Lost in the Woods
The Latest: Southern Utes make another energy investment
Backstory The Southern Ute Indian Tribe has suffered plenty of historical setbacks; today, however, its 1,400 members are collectively worth billions. In the 1970s, the tribe began taking control of energy profits from its southwestern Colorado reservation, home to one of the country’s richest gas fields. In the 1990s, it formed its own energy company, […]
Posted inAugust 18, 2014: Alaska's Uncertain Food Future
Jared Polis abandons anti-fracking initiatives
A Democratic family feud takes a surprising turn in Colorado.
Posted inGoat
Imminent tar sands mine incites civil disobedience in Utah
Two years ago, HCN contributing editor Jeremy Miller asked if Utah’s tar sands deposits could transform the Beehive State into the Alberta of the high desert. Jeremy’s story focused on a mine proposed by U.S. Oil Sands, a Canadian company, in the Book Cliffs south of Vernal. It’s long been known that eastern Utah’s geological […]
Posted inAugust 4, 2014: Idaho's Sewer System
The Latest: 20,000 Utah acres protected from drilling
BackstoryFor years, Utah conservationists struggled to protect sensitive environments from four-wheeling, oil and gas and other development – until conservative lawmakers like Republican Rep. Rob Bishop realized that state-held lands with wilderness characteristics could be used to bargain for mineral-rich, federally owned tracts. In 2013, Bishop began negotiating a compromise with wilderness advocates, off-roaders and […]
Posted inJuly 21, 2014: On the Wild Edge
The Latest: Mining battle update at Utah’s Tavaputs Plateau
BackstoryUtah’s tar sands could yield from 12 billion to 30 billion recoverable barrels of yet-untapped oil, so in 2008, Calgary-based U.S. Oil Sands proposed mining the remote Tavaputs Plateau. Though the planned 213-acre mine is small, a profitable tar sands operation could set a precedent, and environmental groups like Moab-based Living Rivers have fought it […]
Posted inGoat
Sons of Wichita: understanding the enigmatic Koch brothers
The Koch brothers have become a household names in the past decade. Three out of four brothers are major players in energy development in the West and across the country. Two are powerbrokers for the conservative right and have been at the forefront of bringing libertarianism into the political mainstream. In the energy and political […]
Posted inJune 9, 2014: Border Out of Control
How mining transforms the West’s ranching communities
Photographs of people and places in flux.