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Britain's energy needs overcome fracking fears

Dec 13, 2012
Britain's government has given a company the green light for further hydraulic fracturing. The extraction of shale gas is seen as an economic lifeline as North Sea oil and gas deposits dwindle.

Railroads profit from oil boom in North Dakota

Dec 10, 2012
Trains haul fracking supplies into the region and haul oil out of it. The oil boom comes at a good time: the railroads' mainstay, coal, is in a slump.

One fracking minute: an animated explainer on hydraulic fracturing

Dec 7, 2012
There's an oil and gas boom in North America thanks to an innovation known as hydraulic fracturing that extracts natural gas and oil from shale rock deep underground. Here's how it works.

George Mitchell, 94, dies: Oil man unlocked fracking

Dec 7, 2012
It took nearly two decades for Texas oil man George Mitchell to develop fracking for natural gas. Now his process has unlocked an energy bonanza for the U.S.

How fracking affects a bean grown in India

Dec 6, 2012
Guar gum, made from beans grown mostly in India, is key to fracking. Its price has gone on a wild ride, sending oilfield companies scrambling.
Guar gum, made from beans grown mostly in India, is key to fracking. Its price has gone on a wild ride, sending oilfield companies scrambling.
Ton Rulkens / Creative Commons

Study supports exporting U.S. natural gas

Dec 6, 2012
Exports to most countries have long been barred by federal law. As the Department of Energy considers several requests for export licenses, a study says exporting our glut of natural gas would benefit the economy.

U.S. to pass Saudi Arabia as top oil producer

Nov 12, 2012
A boom fueled by hydraulic fracturing of shale should add millions of jobs in the U.S. The question: How long will it last?

For public good, not for profit.

The real energy gusher produced by Ohio fracking: Oil

Oct 22, 2012
The presidential campaign talks a lot about coal in Ohio, but the fossil fuel of the moment is oil. Fracking has made possible a second oil boom, more than a century after the state's first one.

Pennsylvania allows fracking on public college campuses

Oct 12, 2012
Pennsylvania's state colleges have been hit hard by budget cuts. Now the state is allowing natural-gas drilling on campuses to raise money for the system.

Will New York be next for the fracking-fueled job boom?

Sep 18, 2012
A fracking-fueled job boom has erupted in parts of the U.S. and wages of gas workers have increased. But in New York fracking is banned. That hasn’t stopped an upstate New York school from offering training courses for work in gas fields, because many expect Gov. Andrew Cuomo to lift the ban.