Who owns mineral rights has become a hot issue in parts of the Southwest, particularly in the Fort Worth and Dallas areas, where a huge reservoir of natural gas was discovered in recent years.

Right now, most of the mineral-rights purchases and leases are being made in what's known as the Barnett Shale region, which underlies 5,000 square miles of north Texas, although it's quite likely that new exploration technologies will soon be uncovering mineral and gas deposits in other sections of the country. Read more »

The recent surge in oil prices skidded to a halt this past week as economists raised concerns about weakening world demand, and a massive tsunami struck one of the world's biggest oil importers.

Japan is the third-largest oil importer in the world, and it's unclear how much its economy will be affected by Friday March 11, 2011th disaster. Analysts said its likely Japan will consume less oil after some refineries shut down. Read more »

Just how many Barnett Shale drilling leases have been filed in Tarrant County so far this year? Evidently, according to data that has been compiled, lots and lots of leases have been filed.

The newly updated research shows that the number of leases filed from Jan. 1, 2007 to March 1 of this year totals 342,503.

Prior research shows a total of 35,306 Barnett leases were filed in the years 1997 through 2006, with 23,110 of these in 2006. Read more »

Oil prices fell on Tuesday March 7, 2011 after Kuwait's oil minister said OPEC was considering the first official production boost in more than two years to ease anxiety about Libya's supply disruption and the potential for other disruptions in the region. Read more »