Dallas

Texas oil and natural gas industry employment fell 19.4% last year amid a nearly 66% decline in the price of oil and a 75% reduction in the number of active drilling rigs, according to economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. Within the state, though, regions vary in their economic performance.

The breadth of the downturn in the oil and gas industry took investors by surprise and negatively impacted the manufacturing sector in more than half of the country, especially in states that are dependent on the energy sector or are big energy producers themselves, according to a report by the Federal Reserve Board (FRB).

The breadth of the downturn in the oil and gas industry took investors by surprise and negatively impacted the manufacturing sector…

Dallas City Council members on Wednesday afternoon voted to increase natural gas well setbacks from housing from 300 feet to 1,500 feet as part of a drilling ordinance proposed by the Dallas City Plan Commission (CPC) and favored by residents opposed to drilling within the city limits.

A Chevron Corp.-operated West Texas Liquefied Petroleum Gas System pipeline located near Milford, TX, exploded Thursday morning at 9:30 a.m. CST, forcing the company to initiate emergency response procedures as the rural town was evacuated.

City of Dallas officials are inching toward a conclusion to the long-running debate over how large to make the buffer zone around would-be well sites within the city. One proposal could effectively prevent drilling within the city limits, an industry advocate said.

The skyline of Midland, TX (pop. 114,000) has a long way to go before it can rival those of Houston or Dallas, but the rebirth of the Permian Basin has sparked plans to develop what would be the sixth-tallest building in the Lone Star State.

Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) Chairman Barry Smitherman plans to run for Texas attorney general (AG) next year, but only if current AG and fellow conservative Greg Abbott does not seek re-election.

Dallas-based Summit Midstream Partners LP (SMLP) is buying two shale gas gathering systems — one in the Bakken and the other in the Marcellus — in two deals worth a combined $460 million. The Marcellus transaction marks the company’s entry into the play.