They’ve been ponying up cash for years. Now they want dividends.

Natural gas futures saw their biggest jump in three years as a cold front hits the U.S. Geopolitical tensions don’t help.

The expansion has boosted U.S. exports and brought down energy costs here at home.

Oil demand is still expected to grow in the coming year, but more slowly, and especially in China.

Natural gas is a byproduct of oil production, and there’s been a lot of that in Texas. The excess gas has depressed prices.

The U.S. has a lot of gas stored up this year, and prices are accordingly low.

Stay with us here — think about chicken parts. Higher demand for white breast meat means an excess of chicken legs.

It’s one thing to have plenty of gas available in the ground. But in a state as big as Alaska, it’s another thing to get the gas to where people can use it.

Emissions from transportation, on the other hand, were up.

The number of U.S. rigs has dropped along with natural gas prices. Here’s what that means for the “shale revolution.”