natural gas

Given the uncertain prospects of the U.S. economic recovery, it's not surprising that many investors are reluctant to pour more money into stocks this spring. One lower-risk way to invest is to buy stocks that also pay decent dividends. Here are three options in the energy sector.

Last week, President Obama outlined a new energy policy that aims to reduce America's dependence on foreign oil. How can patient investors capitalize on his vision?

Lennox Hearth Products LLC recalled about 3,200 of its Lennox Shadowdance Natural Gas Log Set Burner Assemblies because the valve can crack and leak natural gas, said the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. The Nashville company received 20 reports of cracks at the gas valve connection. So...

Events in the Mideast have, once again, revealed the U.S. economy's vulnerability to an oil shock. Now more than ever, the nation must reduce its consumption of oil, especially from abroad, and become energy self-sufficient. And the way to do it is with our abundant domestic sources of natural gas.

Proponents of the peak-oil theory can muster studies and statistics backing their claim that declining global oil output is nigh. Critics point to new technologies and unconventional oil fields as saviors. Either way, a return to the days of $1.50-a-gallon gasoline isn't going to happen.

Multiple explosions at a Texas natural-gas plant operated by Enterprise Products Partners caused a fire that can be seen from dozens of miles away, local TV station KHOU-TV reported Tuesday. The plant is in Mont Belvieu, about 35 miles east of Houston. No injury reports have been released.

Unless there's a breakthrough in battery technology, gasoline will remain the primary auto fuel in the U.S. for years. But our dependence on imported oil comes with a major risk of supply disruption. And the U.S. has a domestic alternative that's ready and reliable: natural gas.

The Egyptian crisis has predictably stirred up energy prices, which are once again on the rise. But regardless of whether oil prices remain sharply volatile, energy stocks deserve high priority in investor portfolios. Here are some possibilities.

The American Petroleum Institute is taking issue with the president's State of the Union demand to end subsidies and tax breaks for oil producers. While Obama didn't say just which subsidies he'd cut, the industry isn't waiting for specifics to defend itself.

A natural gas boom is coming in the U.S, but while consumers are likely to benefit from the cheap energy source, investors may not. Huge new discoveries of domestic reserves may keep prices down, and the political push toward renewable energy sources could cut into producers' profits.