The Crude Life

The Permian Basin has always been defined by motion — from the slow pump of a jack on the horizon to the roar of a high school crowd under Friday night lights. That energy doesn’t just come from oil. It comes from people. And lately, West Texas has been quietly diversifying […]

The Crude Life founder Jason Spiess took the stage along with Warren Martin of Kansas Strong to keynote the 68th Annual Eastern Kansas Oil and Gas Association’s annual meeting, held at the Prairie Band Casino & Resort in Mayetta, KS. Sharing the stage, Spiess and Martin underscore a larger truth: the future […]

In a move underscoring Texas’ growing appetite for reliable, on-demand energy, Vistra Corp. has announced plans to build two new natural-gas-fueled dispatchable generation units in the heart of the Permian Basin, adding 860 megawatts (MW) of capacity to the state’s electric grid. The $ investment—part of a broader $ 2 […]

The global energy sector opened the week in classic contradiction — profits up, patience thin, and politics circling every pipe, turbine, and tank. From Shell’s steady trading gains to a new natural gas storage hub in Louisiana, the world’s appetite for hydrocarbons remains unshaken, even as rhetoric leans green. Yet […]

While headlines often chase the newest solar field or battery breakthrough, the week’s most consequential energy stories came from something far less glamorous: methane. From the landfills of Iowa to the bus depots of Pennsylvania, this colorless gas — once treated as a nuisance — is quietly being re-engineered into […]

Every city, from Jakarta to Joliet, faces a paradox: the more modern a community becomes, the more waste it produces — and the more power it demands. Landfills are filling faster than we can build them, while grids strain under the surge of electric vehicles, data centers, and extreme weather. […]

From FERC’s cautious approval in Appalachia to a landfill-powered gas plant in New Jersey, this week’s energy stories all share one throughline: the infrastructure is expanding, but the confidence is tempered. Across every region — from the Delaware Basin to the Siberian frontier — developers, regulators, and governments are trying […]

In response to rising reports of stolen crude, condensate, and fuel products across the state, the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) has announced the creation of a new statewide panel — the State Taskforce on Petroleum Theft (STOPTHEFT) — to tackle what officials describe as an “organized and escalating threat” […]

Kinder Morgan’s Mississippi Crossing Project is more than 200 miles of steel in the ground — it’s a test of how energy infrastructure and community dialogue can coexist in a polarized era of energy politics. The company’s Vice President of Public Affairs, Allen Fore, says that while the pipeline’s economics […]

Water is the lifeblood of New Mexico. From our farms and ranches to our families and businesses,every drop matters. As our state faces ongoing drought and rising demand, we must look at every available tool to protect and stretch our water resources. One innovative solution is already taking rootin the […]

Recent activities by Ukraine against Russian refineries, and the incident at the Chevron Refinery in California, are exposing the vulnerability of major Goliath infrastructures being stationary targets for slaying by the David’s in the world. The misunderstanding of “green” delusionists is treating electricity as interchangeable with materials, as it is […]

A recent Scientific Reports article from Nature dives deep into a topic most Americans rarely think about but every oil and gas worker lives by: pigging. These odd-named tools—pipeline inspection gauges, or “pigs”—move through thousands of miles of buried pipe, cleaning, inspecting, and recording the unseen pulse of the energy […]

If the first season of Landman left you with grit under your fingernails and a thirst for more West Texas oilfield grit, hold onto your ten‑gallon hat—season 2 is revving up to blow the roof off. Enter Sam Elliott: The Man, the Myth, the Sheri-dan Sam Elliott, that gravel-voiced legend of the screen, […]

The Bayfront Convention Center in Erie is preparing to welcome one of the most anticipated events on the energy calendar: SHALE INSIGHT® 2025. For the shale industry, the conference represents more than an annual gathering; it’s a convergence point for decision-makers, innovators, and policymakers shaping the future of natural gas in […]

Stripper wells—also known as marginal wells—are oil or gas wells that are nearing the end of their economically viable life. In the U.S., a stripper oil well typically yields 15 barrels per day or less over a 12‑month period, while a stripper gas well is one producing 60,000 to 90,000 […]

UGI Utilities, Inc. is rolling out a major infrastructure upgrade in Stroudsburg, with a gas main replacement project set to begin September 2, 2025. The work, focusing on Scott Street (between North Ninth Street and Bell Terrace) and Bell Terrace itself, will proceed weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., […]

In a strategic push to address emissions and mitigate environmental risks, Colorado’s Energy and Carbon Management Commission (ECMC) has awarded reimbursement grants to 30 operators to plug 142 low-producing, or “marginal,” oil and gas wells. These wells, which often skirt their economic life yet continue to leak methane and other […]

When farmland meets the expanding footprint of industrial-scale solar, the collision is more than just environmental—it’s cultural, economic, and deeply political. On the latest Energy Realities podcast, hosts Irina Slav, David Blackmon, Stuart Turley, and Tammy Nemeth sit down with veteran energy journalist and filmmaker Robert Bryce to discuss his […]

When Jason Spiess signs onto the Zoom line for another episode of Spiess On Earth, the conversation isn’t about sticking to one fuel or another—it’s about cutting through the noise. His guest, Canadian energy columnist Terry Etam, is no stranger to that noise. Author of The End of Fossil Fuel […]

Welcome to Astro-Oilology, where we mix a little stardust with drilling dust to reveal your true oilfield destiny. Forget zodiac signs — out here, your birth month tells us exactly which oil play fuels your personality. From the sun-baked rigs of the Permian Basin to the frozen iron of the […]

A version of this story originally appeared in Capital & Main. The Centennial State may become first in the nation to require retailers to warn consumers that burning fossil fuels “releases air pollutants and greenhouse gases, known by the state of Colorado to be linked to significant health impacts and global heating.” The […]

Crude oil pipeline operator South Bow Corp. says its Keystone system has restarted after a rupture last week in North Dakota. The Calgary-based company says it has repaired and replaced the affected pipe and recovered most of the more than 556,000 litres that leaked onto farmland. South Bow says it’s […]

Crescent Energy Company (NYSE: CRGY) (“Crescent” or the “Company”), announced the closing of the sale of non-operated Permian Basin assets to a private buyer for $83 million in cash, subject to customary post-closing purchase price adjustments. The assets are located in Reeves County, Texas and had projected full-year 2025 production […]

The oil and gas industry has long been criticized for its environmental footprint, particularly when it comes to water use. From hydraulic fracturing to enhanced oil recovery, the industry consumes billions of gallons of water annually—often in arid regions where every drop counts. However, in recent years, a quiet revolution […]

Kansas Corporation Commission staff on Tuesday testified about the need to expand Evergy’s power generation capabilities and defended their decision to support the company’s request to build two natural gas plants. Evergy and other utility companies file an Integrated Resource Plan with the KCC that details its decision-making process, expectations […]

The Trump administration has shortened the approval procedure for new oil and gas projects to just 28 days—at most—from several years under the national energy emergency that the White House declared earlier this year. The new “emergency permitting procedures”, per the Department of the Interior, will cover not just oil and […]