oil industry

Oil industry practices and government rules must be subjected to substantial reform to prevent future accidents similar to BP's Deepwater Horizon oil rig disaster in the Gulf of Mexico last April, said a report released Tuesday by the presidential panel probing the incident.

One would think that BP's massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill this year would have given pause to the global oil industry, but that doesn't appear to be the case. Companies in the sector are planning to spend a record $490 billion in 2011, including a large amount for deep-water development.

The oil industry is subsidized beyond virtually any other business in America, enjoying tax breaks that average $4 billion a year. The massive tax breaks reaped in BP's disastrous Deepwater Horizon project, which caused the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history, are typical.

The controversy over whether BP should pay out a dividend to its shareholders is causing new friction in relations between London and Washington.

The BP oil spill and the recent financial crisis are just two examples of the fundamental flaws that still exist in how government oversees business. These big problems require a major regulatory overhaul.

U.S. consumers in the last year or so have been whipsawed by the price of oil. Having seen crude oil prices surge to more than $147 a barrel in July 2008, prices tumbled steadily right into the new year, only to resume a steady climb on investor speculation that the world economy was heading out of...

North Dakota has either the lowest unemployment rate in the United States at 2.5%, or almost the lowest, placing third at 3.4%, depending on which figures you want to follow. The lower number isn't seasonally adjusted, as it is in the second figure from U.S. Department of Labor, a practice that...