Hydraulic fracturing, the drilling process that releases oil and natural gas from deep inside shale formations, has sparked a boom in the U.S. and a glut of natural gas that has driven prices to their lowest in a decade. While there’s been a lot of talk about exporting fracking techniques to other parts of the [...]  More »

Supporters of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline are now billing it as a top political issue for Hispanic voters — the latest bid to spur the administration’s approval of the project.  More »

Manufacturing behemoth General Electric is ramping up investment in the energy sector and expanding its Houston footprint, with an eye on the global deep-water drilling boom.  More »

Saudi Arabia is storing as much as 80 million barrels of crude to boost supplies amid international prices that are “still a little bit high,” according to the country’s oil minister Ali al-Naimi.  More »

The price declined after voters in France and Greece rejected incumbent leaders who supported austerity measures to fix the region’s struggling economy.  More »

Total SA (FP), Europe’s third-largest oil producer, said it’s “on track” to begin a well intervention operation to plug a North Sea gas leak in the coming days.  More »

Similarities in underlying rock formations continue to fuel speculation that South Dakota might have petroleum reserves like those now fueling the oil boom in North Dakota.  More »

Marcellus shale gas wells in Pennsylvania generated about $3.5 billion in gross revenues for drillers in 2011, along with about $1.2 billion in West Virginia, according to an analysis by The Associated Press.  More »

Hoping to wean India from Iranian oil imports, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is urging Indian leaders to explore alternative suppliers as she opens a three-day visit to the energy-starved South Asian giant that will also focus on regional security and easing trade restrictions.  More »

Oil fell $4.05 to $98.49, after a weak U.S. jobs report offered the latest evidence that the global economy is weakening.  More »

Royal Dutch Shell PLC says it has shut down a major pipeline running through Nigeria’s oil-rich southern delta because it had been repeatedly targeted by thieves.  More »

Michael Ross talks to Viv Davies about his recent book ‘The Oil Curse: How Petroleum Wealth Shapes the Development of Nations’. They discuss the irony of how those countries with the greatest social and economic deficits are also the most vulnerable to the oil curse and as a result grow less quickly than might be expected given their wealth. The video interview and original transcript originally appeared on the VoxEU.org website here.

Viv Davies: Hello and welcome to Vox Talks. I’m Viv Davies from the Centre for Economic Policy Research. It’s the 20th of March, 2012, and I’m at ...

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