At our 11/6 TribLive conversation, Texas Railroad Commission Chairman Christi Craddick talked about the impact of the shale boom on the state.

At our 11/6 TribLive conversation, Texas Railroad Commission Chairman Christi Craddick reacted to Denton's passage of a ban on fracking.

Just hours after Denton voted to ban hydraulic fracturing, the state’s General Land Office and biggest petroleum group filed off legal challenges to the new rule. The Texas Oil and Gas Association called the ban unconstitutional, saying it supercedes state law and deprives mineral owners of their property rights.

A North Texas town on Tuesday became the state’s first city to ban hydraulic fracturing, setting up a high profile property clash likely to be fought in courtrooms and the Legislature.

The legendary oilman reflects on plunging oil prices and the likelihood of another bust for Texas. Also, cranky folks in Denton and silly congressmen who don't understand how the energy industry works. 

The state's drilling and fracking frenzy is raising questions about safety, earthquakes and water use. That's raising the stakes for this year's race for an open seat on the three-member Railroad Commission.

The energy track at the 2014 Texas Tribune Festival featured panel discussions on the state of the electric grid, what Mexican energy reform means for Texas, hydraulic fracturing and a closer look at the state's drilling boom. Listen to audio of each session.

Nordheim, population 307, is the site of one of the first organized protests in the heart of the Eagle Ford. Many of its residents are fighting to keep out a massive disposal facility for oil and gas waste — a sight that could become more common as energy producers search for places to dispose of their leftovers.

Texas’ drilling bonanza can mean long-lasting windfalls for mineral owners in the state’s hottest shale plays – if those lessors make sure oil and gas operators pay what they promise. But doing so can prove incredibly difficult, as shown in a case the Texas Supreme Court will soon decide.

Oil and gas activities – but not hydraulic fracturing – tainted drinking water wells atop North Texas’ Barnett Shale and Pennsylvania’s Marcellus formation, according to a new study. High levels of methane escaped poorly constructed natural gas wells and migrated into shallow aquifers.

A tainted water well in North Texas has already stirred national debate about the impacts of oil and gas production. Now it stars in a free speech dispute that has landed in the Texas Supreme Court – the biggest test of a state law meant to curb attempts to stifle public protest. 

Texas should not bank on legal action to free it from the Obama administration’s proposal to tackle climate change, two officials with state regulators said Friday at a Public Utility Commission workshop, during which state regulators, industry representatives and energy experts wrangled with the complexities of the EPA proposal and debated how Texas should proceed.

Two candidates for the Railroad Commission welcomed the agency's newly proposed requirements for disposal well applications, saying they were a good first step in addressing the spate of earthquakes that have shaken up parts of North Texas.

Texas regulators have proposed new rules aimed at clearing up confusion about which pipelines are "common carriers" — a status that gives pipeline companies the right to claim private property using eminent domain. Pipeline operators oppose stricter regulations. Landowners say they want fair offers for their land.

Several thwarted legislative proposals to overhaul the Texas Railroad Commission — the state's curiously named oil and gas regulator — have resurfaced in the race for an open seat on the commission, illustrating key differences between the candidates' priorities.

Voters will decide whether Denton will become the state's first city to ban hydraulic fracturing after the city council rejected a proposal to ban the method of oil and gas extraction involving blasting apart rock with millions of gallons of chemical-laced water.

A recent news report on the Railroad Commission of Texas' practice of preventing staffers from talking to members of the media has raised questions about the agency's transparency efforts, with a key Republican lawmaker and a Democratic candidate for railroad commissioner among those expressing concerns.

While Barnett Shale gas producers deny any connection between methane-contaminated wells and their operations, a pair of scientists dispute that.  They say test results just released by state regulators provide concrete evidence of a link.