Oil

The OPEC oil embargo nearly 40 years was a shock to the U.S. and its economy. But the long-term effects proved a shock to Saudi Arabia and other OPEC members, who learned that oil and politics don't mix.

Civi war combatants mindful of the importance of oil on the economy, left infrastructure largely undamaged.

The U.S. can become less dependent on foreign oil, but it's still a part of the global oil market –and that means no insulation from oil price shocks.

The Strategic Petroleum Reserve was established to protect the economy from an embargo. But just the threat of releasing oil into the market can rein in speculation in oil futures, too.

As world leaders gather to discuss the oil santions against Iran, that country is selling only half the volume of a year ago. But its reduced production is raising oil prices around the world.

Mid-day yesterday oil prices dropped three dollars in about a minute — and they have kept falling ever since.

Federal regulators are looking into something strange that happened yesterday in the oil markets: Prices plunged more than $3 a barrel in less than a minute.

An oil well may seem pretty useless when the light sweet crude stops flowing. In Texas, researchers and entrepreneurs see a chance to recycle old wells and create geothermal power.

Despite, or perhaps because of, the historic drought in the Midwest, farmers are making big profits. Isaac shuts down Louisiana's ports. And all those smartphones come with a cost: more than ever, we're tethered to our jobs.

Hurricane Isaac is battering the Gulf, which means a huge chunk of American oil drilling and refining is off line. There’s talk of America tapping into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.