Responding to questions about whether fracking has pushed methane to migrate into a North Texas neighborhood’s water supply, the Railroad Commission of Texas last month effectively shut the door on its investigation, saying that oil and gas drilling was not to blame. But independent geoscientists remained divided on the issue.

As pipeline companies scramble to provide infrastructure for the energy boom, they are paying more to build pipelines across private property. Experts say a series of cases in which juries awarded large payments to property owners are helping drive the trend.

For landowners and mineral owners in Texas’ hottest drilling plays, the state’s boom means long-lasting windfalls — if those lessors know what to look for in negotiating contracts. With new educational efforts, advocates for royalty owners hope to bolster their position.

UPDATED: The Railroad Commission on Thursday sided with Marathon Oil Company’s bid to dismiss a groundwater conservation district’s protest of its application to inject waste into part of South Texas’ Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer.

More than six months after a series of earthquakes surprised parts of North Texas, the mayors of two shaken-up towns told a state House subcommittee Monday that the state has moved too slowly in investigating what’s behind the phenomenon.

More than six months after a series of earthquakes surprised parts of North Texas, the mayors of two shaken-up towns told a state House subcommittee Monday that the state has moved too slowly in investigating what’s behind the phenomenon.

The Texas Railroad Commission has hired a seismologist to research the oil and gas industry's ties to the spate of earthquakes that has rattled North Texans.

A report released this week says oil and gas companies could help slash methane emissions. But Texas, the nation’s top energy producer, is unlikely to lead the way. State regulators dispute the dangerousness of greenhouse gases, and some in the industry say another methane culprit is just as bad — bovine flatulence.

A slight majority of Texas registered voters would support an overhaul of federal immigration law that includes a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, according to the University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll. And 47 percent would rather have local and state officials enforce those laws than the federal government.

Many candidates' reluctance to acknowledge a link between oil and gas drilling and a recent spate of earthquakes in North Texas has stirred new debate in the race for Railroad Commission, the state's oil and gas regulator. Read the full story at StateImpact Texas.

In drought-stricken regions of Texas, some oil and gas companies could be at risk of depleting their own water supplies. Explore how much water was used for fracking in 10 Texas counties in 2012. In some counties, fracking water use in 2012 equaled at least half of the county's entire water usage in 2011. 

A new national report on water use for hydraulic fracturing suggests that oil and gas companies are at risk of running short on the precious resource — especially in South Texas.

As the oil and gas industry continues to flourish in Texas, several areas of the state are experiencing small earthquakes, and scientists see a link. But the shaking is just part of what has many of the affected residents on edge. Read the full story at StateImpact Texas.

The Texas Supreme Court on Tuesday grappled with the concept of underground trespassing as it heard oral arguments in a groundwater case that the state’s surging oil and gas industry says could significantly impact production.

The Texas Railroad Commission said it would hire a seismologist to research the link between earthquakes and disposal of oil and gas waste in injection wells.

Oil and gas production, pipelines, the Railroad Commission and questions about Texas’ energy grid all grabbed headlines in 2013. Here's a look back at the year's biggest energy stories.

The drought dominated environmental headlines in Texas this year, along with rising concerns about the consequences of fracking and, as always, growing disputes between Texas and the feds. 

Residents are looking for answers after nearly 20 small earthquakes — likely caused by a byproduct of oil and gas drilling — struck outside of Fort Worth last month. But they probably won't learn much from the agency that oversees drilling in Texas. Read the full story at StateImpact Texas.

La Salle County officials have agreed to pay a portion of the repair costs and all the maintenance costs for 20 miles of roads that the Texas Department of Transportation had intended to convert to gravel.