Police on Saturday June 3, 2011 arrested 18 Greenpeace activists who climbed aboard an oil rig off Greenland's coast to protest deepwater drilling in the Arctic.

The rig is operated by the Scottish oil group Cairn Energy and drilling has temporarily been suspended due to the protest. Cairn last month won permission to drill up to seven oil exploration wells off the Arctic island's west coast. Read more »

Companies estimate that the boom from new oil drilling will create more than two million new jobs, directly or indirectly, and bring tens of billions of dollars to the states where the fields are located, which include traditional oil sites like Texas and Oklahoma, industrial stalwarts like Ohio and Michigan and even farm states like Kansas. Read more »

Oil climbed Wednesday May 25, 2011 as the dollar weakened against other major currencies. Gas pump prices are still sliding across the country.

A weaker dollar tends to prop up oil and other commodities that are priced in U.S. currency. As the greenback lost ground during the trading session, crude became more affordable for investors holding foreign currency. So the price of oil rose. Read more »

For now, state geologists are finished with their research in central North Carolina.

After studying 59,000 acres in the Deep River basin for 15 years, they have concluded that Lee, Chatham and Moore counties could produce enough natural gas from shale to make North Carolina self-sufficient for 40 years at current levels of consumption.

"That's what we think," said Kenneth Taylor, chief of the N.C. Geological Survey. "We could become a net exporter." Read more »