The Brief keeps Texas voters and political observers up to speed on the most essential coverage of their elected officials, the policies that shape their daily lives and the future of our great state.

From the oil field to the hotel desk, business has remained brisk in the country’s top oil basin as analysts warn of a potential downturn. FORT STOCKTON, Texas — Warnings of doom and gloom have been ...

A Chesapeake Energy drilling site near Big Wells in South Texas uses fracking. The boom in shale gas drilling has created half a million jobs. Hawk Dunlap fought fires and blowouts in oil fields ...

Texas lawmakers hope a series of new laws will help end oil field thefts in West Texas. (Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune, Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune) Subscribe to The Y’all — a weekly dispatch about ...

At least three times a week, Darin Mitchell gets the call. Oil drums have been stolen. Copper wires were yanked. Other field equipment at an oil and gas facility was pilfered. The Winkler County ...

Texas lawmakers have approved bills creating task forces to address oil field theft in the Permian Basin. The task forces, formed by the Department of Public Safety and the Texas Railroad Commission, ...