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Why aren't oil companies drilling on their 9,000 land leases?

Aug 1, 2022
Shortages of labor and materials are making it hard to drill and maintain wells.
Shortages of steel pipe, sand and workers are cutting into potential oil production. Above, drilling rigs sit unused in Odessa, Texas.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Biden administration restarts oil and gas leases on federal lands

Apr 18, 2022
The move shows the president is trying to bring down prices, but he also appears to be going back on his word to curb oil and gas production.
It may take six months to a year before any oil is produced from new leases on federal lands. Above, pump jacks in California.
Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images

Frackers face labor, equipment and materials shortages as they try to capitalize on high oil prices

Mar 11, 2022
The people and equipment they need are already hard at work.
Fracking for oil is a two-stage process. First, you drill the well. Then you complete it by injecting sand and water to force the oil out. Above, fracking equipment at a well in Culberson County, Texas.
Paul Ratje/AFP via Getty Images

Oil prices are high. So why aren't U.S. oil producers drilling?

Jul 6, 2021
Two reasons: reluctant investors and potential regulations.
A natural gas drill at a hydraulic fracturing site on in Springville, Pennsylvania, in 2012.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Company wins court battle over exploratory oil drilling in Florida Everglades

Mar 20, 2019
After years of legal battles, a Miami-based company won the right to carry out exploratory oil drilling in the Florida Everglades.
After years of legal battles, a Miami-based company won the right to carry out exploratory oil drilling in the Florida Everglades.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

What "Armageddon" got right about space drilling, and what it (mostly) didn't

Aug 16, 2018
Little about the 1998 blockbuster is true to life, but mining asteroids and comets is "humanity’s future, I’m pretty convinced of that," one expert says.
From left, Steve Buscemi, Will Patton, Bruce Willis, Michael Duncan, Ben Affleck, and Owen Wilson are on a mission to save Earth from an asteroid in “Armageddon.”
Getty Images/Handout

Republican governors join growing calls against offshore oil and gas drilling

Jan 10, 2018
The Trump administration’s plan to open most U.S. coastal waters to offshore oil and gas drilling is facing stiff opposition from many in the president’s own party. On Tuesday, the administration said drilling would no longer be considered off the coast of Florida after pressure from Republican Gov. Rick Scott. And today, South Carolina Gov. […]

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Why oil companies might prefer West Texas over new offshore oil sites

Apr 28, 2017
President Trump’s latest executive order seeks to open new federal waters for offshore drilling, but the most popular place for oil companies is decidedly land based – the Permian Basin in Texas. Click the audio player above to hear the full story.

Oil prices are down, and so is exploring for oil

Aug 31, 2016
Last year, oil companies found the lowest new reserves in 70 years.
Oil wells pump the oil fields of California's southern Central Valley. 
David McNew/Getty Images

Halliburton is a bellwether for oil drilling in US

Oct 19, 2015
As drilling shuts down, the oil-field service company adapts.