PORT FOURCHON, La. — In an effort to cut spending because of low oil prices, oilfield companies are asking the Greater Lafourche Port Commission to lower their rental rates. U.S. benchmark crude oil closed Friday at $51.21 a barrel, down nearly 60 percent from its high of about $115 a barrel in June. If prices remain stagnant, large operators and ...

SAN JOSE, California — Small earthquakes shaking Oklahoma and southern Kansas daily and linked to energy drilling are dramatically increasing the chance of bigger and dangerous quakes, federal research indicates. This once stable region is now just as likely to see serious damaging and potentially harmful earthquakes as the highest risk places east of the Rockies such as New Madrid, ...

WATERBURY, Conn. — Falling oil prices have been a boon for drivers at the gasoline pump, but not for some heating oil customers who locked in prices late last summer. With oil’s dramatic plunge over the past few months, homeowners who prepaid to lock in a price they thought was a good deal now are likely lamenting the decision. Back ...

A particular corner of the Houston housing market may have a shield against the current oil slump wafting through the city known for energy business. Even with low oil prices impacting jobs and the city’s overall economy, the home building companies of the area are optimistic that business will boom even within a temporary oil bust. The Houston Business Journal ...

Radon, one of the two main causes of lung cancer, is a well-known household hazard — so much so that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency designated January national Radon Action Month. And it was a strange coincidence in a new eastern Pennsylvania nuclear plant 30 years ago that first brought the threat of radon to light. Today, the EPA and ...

MINOT, N.D.  — City officials in Minot hope to use a $1.5 million grant from the state to buy some of the region’s derelict properties leftover from the 2011 Souris River flood and turn them into affordable houses. KXMC-TV in Minot reports the funding from the North Dakota Housing Finance Agency will go toward repurposing the estimated 250 so-called “zombie” homes ...

One opportunist in the Eagle Ford play is paying no mind to the current prices of crude oil and is setting his sights on future oil field worker housing development. The San Antonio Business journal reported that Michael Spencer, who manages San Antonio-based InVision Housing Solutions LLC, is in the midst of raising $5 million in capital to build new ...

WASHINGTON — The oil boom that lifted home prices in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana is coming to an end. Crude oil prices have crashed since June, falling by more than 54 percent to less than $50 a barrel. That swift drop has started to cripple job growth in oil country, creating a slow wave that in the years ahead may ...

Watford City, North Dakota –  Situated in the Northwest corner of McKenzie County, North Dakota, M SPACE’s newest housing development, Bison Run, is open for rent. This quiet community is located within minutes from downtown stores, restaurants, schools and the community center. It offers convenient access to major highways. Bison Run is the fifth community in McKenzie County built by M ...

FRYBURG, N.D. — Developers aren’t giving up on plans to transform a former school building into a housing complex for oil workers in Fryburg. The Billings County Commission in September rejected the proposal, deciding a four-story hotel with room for 318 oil patch workers would be too big for the small community. Only 20 people live in Fryburg. Morgan Chase ...