A major milestone was reached in the Permian Basin a few days ago. Chevron Corp. produced its 5 billionth barrel of oil from this U.S. formation. Overall, nearly 40 billion barrels of oil equivalent (oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids) have been produced by several companies in the basin since the 1920s, and it's still going strong.

The Permian Basin is a large depression in the Earth's crust stretching about 300 miles from western Texas to New Mexico. One out of every five barrels of domestic oil comes from the basin, which has been estimated to hold a total of about 100 billion barrels of oil equivalent. That's U.S. energy that can be used to produce products such as gasoline for American consumers.

Matt Insley of Daily Resource Hunter recently v... more »

There's a lot to like about Farmington, New Mexico. With a nice airport, rugged scenery in the Four Corners region, and a population of 46,000, it is a nice place to visit. But some of the city's residents are having a difficult time these days. The official unemployment rate in August was 10.4 percent.

Last week a Rally for Jobs was held in Farmington, giving residents the chance to tell their officials at the local, state and federal level about the importance of jobs.

Rallies for Jobs were held in five states in early September. More information is available here.

Plans are underway for upcoming rallies to be held in Canton, Ohio, on September 7 and Farmington, N.M. and Joliet, Ill., on September 8. In the meantime, check out the video below from yesterday's kick-off rallies in Texas.

Thousands of America's energy workers attended the rallies in Houston, Port Arthur and Corpus Christi, and many expressed their sincere concern for America's energy future.

Rallies are being held in five states during September. More information is available on the Rally for Jobs website.

Utah Gov. Gary Herbert has signed a law that would allow his state to file eminent domain proceedings against the federal government.

The goal: to gain control of state lands where energy development cannot occur because they are surrounded by protected federal lands.

Since the U.S. Constitution prohibits condemning federal lands, it's unlikely that Gov. Herbert will prevail in court, but his action is sending a message to Washington where energy-rich lands have been put off-limits by the federal government.

"When the donkey doesn't move," the governor said at a news conference, "you need to hit him across the head with a two-by-four just to get their attention." (The Wall Street Journal)

Energy development can generate well-paying jobs and provide economic opportunity. Pennsylvania, for... more »

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar today announced the imposition of new regulatory hurdles that could slow or prohibit drilling for oil and natural gas on energy-rich federal lands.

In what has become increasingly familiar double-talk from this administration, Sec. Salazar spoke of the importance of domestic oil and natural gas, while making it more difficult to produce this oil and gas, put more Americans back to work and help restore our nation's economy.

Under the guise of offering certainty for investors, Sec. Salazar has taken steps to further delay and limit American energy resources for all Americans.

Since Salazar has taken his position, revenues from federal onshore oil and gas leasing in the five states that make up the Inter-Mountain West (Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Utah and Wy... more »