Amanda Drane

2 weeks ago | houstonchronicle.com | Amanda Drane |Octavia Johnson

Employees of ConocoPhillips face more layoffs after the oil company's merger with Marathon Oil, which triggered sweeping job cuts in Houston last year. A spokesman for the Houston oil giant confirmed Friday that the company had informed employees about additional layoffs, but declined to specify how many or when the layoffs would take place. “We are working through the process carefully and won’t speculate on timing or numbers while our evaluation is ongoing,” he said in a statement.

1 month ago | houstonchronicle.com | Amanda Drane

Even before tariffs rattled markets and hobbled supply chains, would-be liquefied natural gas developers were struggling to line up funding for costly export projects that can cost as much as $15 billion. Energy Transfer told investors in February that due to rising costs, it was renegotiating long-term contracts with customers of its Lake Charles LNG project - contracts that lock in revenue for decades, making it possible for projects to secure the financing they need to begin construction.

1 month ago | houstonchronicle.com | Caroline Ghisolfi |Amanda Drane

More than 150,000 oil and gas wells sit idle and unplugged across Texas. These wells often outlast their cash-strapped owners, who leave them behind after they die, go bankrupt or dissolve their companies. A bill from Republican state Sen. Mayes Middleton, himself an oilman from Galveston, would force oil and gas companies to plug idle wells while they are still around to do the work. As it stands, operators can leave an open hole in the ground indefinitely.

1 month ago | houstonchronicle.com | Amanda Drane |Caroline Ghisolfi

State lawmakers want to throw a major lifeline to the Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates the oil and gas industry. For the last 20 years, the Railroad Commission has struggled to plug all of the state's orphan wells - uncapped holes in the ground that become wards of the state when companies go bankrupt or dissolve.

1 month ago | houstonchronicle.com | Amanda Drane

Sweeping tariffs implemented Wednesday may ultimately breathe new life into the U.S. steel industry, but prominent Texas economists warn it will come at a cost to the oil industry. "Why is it OK to save a U.S. domestic steel job, and at the same time, cost a U.S. domestic oil and gas job?" said Karr Ingham, president of the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers and a longtime petroleum economist.