Energy
April 17, 2024
Permian Producers Will Pay You to Haul Their Natural Gas Away
Assuming you own a pipeline, that is. The region is wrestling with a glut of the fuel.
Permian Basin
Energy
February 15, 2024
The Oil Industry Keeps Getting Younger
Transactions like this week’s $26 billion Diamondback-Endeavor deal signal a changing of the guard.
Energy
July 11, 2023
In the Aging Oil Business, These Young CEOs Stand Out
Many millennial and Gen Z workers have turned away from careers in fossil fuels—making Midland-based Permian Resources an anomaly.
Energy
July 29, 2022
ExxonMobil Makes Godlike Profits, but Mortal Challenges Remain
The oil giant this week announced quarterly earnings that set an all-time record for any Texas business. That’s both good and bad news for the state.
News & Politics
July 14, 2022
A Plan to Bridge Odessa’s Digital Divide Comes Down to Earth
After a pilot program with Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites, officials are opting to dig Biden-backed fiber to bring the internet to rural families.
Energy
June 15, 2022
The West Texas Rancher Exposing Big Oil’s Buried Secrets
After an abandoned well began spewing toxic, salty water onto her Permian Basin land, Ashley Watt would stop at nothing to determine the cause—and to hold Chevron accountable.
Energy
April 26, 2022
A New Texas Oil Boom Is Coming, Finally
That is, whenever the industry can sort out supply-chain issues and labor shortages.
Energy
March 11, 2022
$100 Oil Is Back! Why Isn’t Texas Drilling?
Russia’s war on Ukraine has made it practically patriotic to pump oil, but the Permian hasn’t ramped up production. Don’t blame Washington. Blame Wall Street.
Texas Country Reporter
February 25, 2022
She’s a Fourth-Generation Cattle Rancher. She’s Also a Master Painter.
From her studio near the Chihuahuan Desert, Alice Leese paints what it feels like to be out on the ranch.
Energy
February 14, 2022
How Texas Is Rescuing Europe From the Russians
An energy crisis on the Continent has it desperate for help from the Permian natural gas it had earlier spurned.
Environment
January 20, 2022
The Mystery of the West Texas Geyser Deepens
Turns out the Permian Basin well that's been blowing briny water 100 feet high isn't the well the Railroad Commission thought it was.
Business
September 16, 2021
Inside the Extremely Hot Business of Bitcoin Mining in Big Spring
A Minnesota company is hunting for cryptocurrency on the eastern edge of the Permian Basin—with plans for a big expansion in Texas.
Energy
May 20, 2021
Haunting Images of the Permian Bust
Famed portrait photographer Dan Winters shifted his focus to a new character, the Permian Basin, as the storied region weathered a historic oil bust.
Energy
June 18, 2020
The “Mother Fracker” Reckons With the Mother of All Oil Busts
Pioneer CEO Scott Sheffield has been through more ups and downs than just about anyone in the business. This bust, he says, will change everything—forever.
Energy
June 18, 2020
Can a Renewables Boom Put Texans Back to Work?
After the oil bust, wind and solar energy might be the Permian Basin’s best hope.
Boomtown
April 24, 2020
Boomtown Host Christian Wallace on a New Reckoning for Texas Oil
On a special edition of ‘The National Podcast of Texas,’ the West Texas native and former roughneck explains this week’s record-setting price plunge and weighs its long-term impact on the state’s once-thriving energy business.
Boomtown
December 17, 2019
Boomtown, Episode 2: The Rise of the Permian
The Santa Rita oil well, named after the patron saint of impossible dreams, launched the first Permian Basin boom and has been fueling the dreams of West Texas wildcatters ever since.
Energy
December 3, 2019
Boomtown
A 10-part podcast series from Texas Monthly and Imperative Entertainment.
Energy
December 3, 2019
Announcing ‘Boomtown,’ a New Podcast on the Greatest Oil Boom in History
Our new 11-part series takes you inside the rugged Permian Basin of West Texas, where roughnecks and billionaire wildcatters are fueling a boom so big it’s reshaping our climate, our economy, and our geopolitics.
Energy
May 29, 2019
The Permian Basin Is Booming With Oil. But at What Cost to West Texans?
Though some will reap serious profits, the region’s dealing with skyrocketing rents, overcrowded schools, and potholes as big as VW Beetles.
Energy
May 6, 2019
A New Pipeline Through the Hill Country Is Pitting the Oil Industry Against Landowners
The state’s biggest industry finds itself in an unusual position: facing landowner-friendly reforms at the Texas Legislature.
Energy
January 3, 2019
How West Texas Became Woodstock for Frackers
Welcome to the Permian Basin, home of the hottest oil play in the world.
Energy
September 15, 2018
Tackling the Financial Reality of ‘Saudi America’
In her new book, Bethany McLean explores the unstable financial future of fracking.
Energy
November 22, 2017
So Much Natural Gas—But Where to Put It?
There are not enough pipelines to take away the natural gas being produced in the Permian Basin.
Energy
November 22, 2017
Debating the Permian Basin
Experts discuss Permania and the oil field’s future at the University of Houston.
Energy
August 24, 2017
Permian Basin Investments Expected to Grow by $32 Billion by 2021
Association report says Permian oil production provides 45 percent of the output from the Lower 48.
Energy
February 3, 2017
Renewable Stories: “Learning to Roughneck”
There’s been a recent uptick in activity in the Permian Basin. This week we look back at the last time West Texas was booming.
Energy
March 4, 2015
Learning to Roughneck
Growing up in the Permian Basin, I thought I had a sense of what it was like working the oilfields. Turns out I didn’t know a damn thing.
Energy
October 21, 2013
“Y’all Smell That? That’s the Smell of Money.”
A son of the oil patch chases the new boom in South Texas.
Energy
January 21, 2013
No Endangered Species Listing for Dunes Sagebrush Lizard
The oil industry cheered news Wednesday that the tiny lizard will not be added to the endangered species list.
Energy
January 20, 2013
That’s Oil, Folks!
Forget the Outer Continental Shelf. There’s a good old-fashioned boom happening in Midland, thanks to a crafty drilling technique that unlocked the secret reserves of the Permian Basin and revived the late, great West Texas oilman.
Business
January 20, 2013
Son of Oil Bust
Scenes from the new oil bust.
Energy
December 5, 2011
Decision Delayed on the Fate of a Tiny Lizard
The feds have postponed their decision on whether to add the dunes sagebrush lizard to the endangered species list until mid-2012.
Letter From Midland
August 31, 2011
Blame It on No Rain
As the drought tightens its grip on Texas, its effects are being felt everywhere, from rivers to reservoirs to the formerly verdant lawns of Midland.