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Why Canada has become a critical supplier of crude oil to the U.S.

Aug 13, 2024
It's an international love story of sorts, featuring "thick, heavy, goopy crude oil."
"We're now in this position where we have these very high-tech refineries that can process the really heavy crude,” says Ryan Kellogg with the University of Chicago.
Yuri Cortez/AFP via Getty Images

The higher price of oil is helping tank the price of natural gas

Apr 11, 2024
Stay with us here — think about chicken parts. Higher demand for white breast meat means an excess of chicken legs.
Crude oil is easier to get out of the isolated Permian Basin than natural gas, which needs pipelines to reach customers, says Ed Hirs with the University of Houston.
Brandon Bell/Getty Images

The history of economic exploitation in "Killers of the Flower Moon"

How settlers stole the wealth and resources of citizens of the Osage Nation, whose reservation land in Oklahoma was rich in oil.
The film, directed by Martin Scorsese, depicts the mechanisms by which settlers could exploit the resources and wealth of the Osage Nation of Oklahoma.
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U.S. crude is playing a bigger role in pricing global oil

Jul 12, 2023
The addition of American crude oil to the Brent benchmark had an immediate impact on global oil prices.
Adding plentiful American crude to the Brent benchmark means the price is now influenced by a more stable source, said Eli Tesfaye of RJO Futures.
Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

Crude oil prices are down, but oil companies' profits are doing just fine

Apr 28, 2023
They're making less on crude, more on refining it.
Exxon’s refinery business helped lead the company to its most profitable first quarter ever. But that’s the exception since the pandemic started three years ago.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

If you asked Santa for a break at the gas pump, you may get your Christmas wish

Dec 7, 2022
It's not the most wrappable holiday gift, but it's a popular one. Here's why we're seeing a dip in oil prices.
Brandon Bell/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

Low water levels in the Mississippi River are disrupting the supply chain

Oct 24, 2022
Austin Golding says his family's barge business was able to plan ahead, but it's still costing the company money and productivity.
A tug pushes a barge down the Mississippi River through St. Paul, Minnesota.
Karen Bleier/AFP via Getty Images

How rising oil prices make gasoline more expensive

Mar 7, 2022
Gas prices are based on oil prices, and traders are getting nervous about a potential ban on imported Russian oil.
Gasoline prices have surged along with the price of crude oil. The war in Ukraine has raised the possibility of a ban on imports from Russia, which could squeeze the global supply.
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

Why do we import Russian (and other foreign) oil when we have a lot of it in the U.S.?

Mar 7, 2022
The way U.S. oil refineries are set up has a lot to do with it.
A pump jack operates in New Mexico. Though the U.S. has oil-producing regions, it would take a hefty investment to retrofit refineries to process light sweet crude.
Paul Ratje/AFP via Getty Images