Texas Energy Boom Goes Bust

(NEWSER) - It doesn't pay to drill, baby, drill anymore. Falling world prices have brought an end to the boom in domestic drilling for oil and natural gas, the New York Times reports. Last summer, 2,400 gas and oil rigs were deployed in the hunt for energy. Today, that figure is 1,200 and still dropping. “The big bonanza is over,” said one Texas driller whose company has gone from 35 rigs to 8. “Everyone is really shocked how fast everything has turned.” More»

(NEWSER) - OPEC today decided to take 1.5 million barrels of oil per day off the markets to boost prices flirting with 16-month lows, the Wall Street Journal reports. The deep cut will take effect next month. “This slowdown in oil demand is serving to exacerbate the situation in a market which has been oversupplied for some time,” OPEC said in a statement. More»

Demand and recession drive price down

(NEWSER) - The Dow isn't the only thing plummeting. Amid falling demand, the average price of a gallon of gasoline has dropped over 35 cents in the last two weeks. The nationwide Lundberg Survey of 5,000 gas stations shows the cost of gas has slid more than 80 cents since March—the biggest drop ever recorded. More»

Barron's projects those averages for next spring

(NEWSER) - Enjoy the relative lull in gas prices while it lasts: Barron's cover story projects $4.50 a gallon "will become the norm" by next spring. "That will put a huge dent in consumer wallets, while ramping up the desirability of fuel-efficient cars," writes Gene Epstein. He projects that oil prices will begin rising in the fall and eventually settle at $150 a barrel. This "oil shock" will put an obvious crimp in the economy recovery "but not kill it," he writes, adding that oil will remain at the $150 level for several months before easing. More»

It's oil giant's best quarter since 2008

(NEWSER) - Gas prices are soaring, and so are Exxon Mobil's profits. The oil giant raked in $10.65 billion in profits in the first quarter of 2011, its best performance since the gas price spike of 2008. The $2.14-per-share profit well exceeded analysts' $2.04 estimates, the AP reports. The company seems to be expecting a blowback, because it posted a blog post yesterday offering a preemptive response to "the inevitable headlines and sound bites about high gasoline prices." More»