Over a barrel

Exxon Mobil Corp posted a $56 billion net profit for 2022, the company said on Tuesday, taking home about $6.3 million per hour last year, and setting not only a company record but a historic high for the Western oil industry.

Increased production in the Permian region and, to a lesser extent, in the Federal Offshore Gulf of Mexico drives our forecast growth in production.

With peak oil and gas production lurking on the horizon, New Mexico could face up to a $36 billion accumulated budget deficit by the mid-2030s, making tax and revenue-management reforms urgent, according to a new report by PFM Group Consulting.

In 2019, oil and gas companies operating on tribal and federal lands lost $63 million in revenue from venting, flaring, and leaking infrastructure. That loss, according to a report from the Environmental Defense Fund and Taxpayers for Common Sense, shows that Indigenous nations lost the most potential royalty revenue: approximately $21.8 million.

K.P. Kauffman, a violation-plagued oil and gas operator, was ordered by state regulators Wednesday to promptly pay $1.9 million in fines and clean up 78 production sites or lose its right to do business in Colorado.

Three satellites observed a big plume of the potent planet-warming gas over the eastern Wyoming in December, which scientists attributed to a natural gas facility.

The administration issued an analysis that indicates a scaled-back version of the Willow project could go forward. Opponents call the drilling plan a “carbon bomb.”

What purpose does Glen Canyon Dam still serve in a climate-changed, diminished Colorado River world?

The National Park Service is striving to maintain public access to the reservoir, while preserving the objects and artifacts exposed by dropping lake levels.

Six of the seven states that use water from the Colorado River proposed a way for the federal government to cut back on water use and protect dropping water levels in Lake Mead and Lake Powell.

California appears to be banking on its high-priority senior water rights, while the other states are presenting a united front to show the federal government they support a plan that would have California give up more water.

Utah’s eight sovereign tribes push for support on HB40, a bill that would codify the federal Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978, or ICWA, into Utah law.

ICWA was passed in 1978. It keeps tribes of Indigenous children in the know of family court proceedings to maintain families and communities. Before ICWA, a high percentage of Indigenous children were being removed from their tribal affiliations and placed in families outside their culture.

As Indian Country braces for a potentially seismic court decision, Native American lawmakers and tribal advocates in North Dakota are hoping to cement decades-old federal adoption rules in state law.

“Dissent” podcast host Jordan Smith and journalist Rebecca Nagle discuss the Indian Child Welfare Act challenge and why it could imperil all of Indian Law.

A once-dead measure that would boost the price of some nonresident deer and pronghorn hunting licenses by as much as 300% has been revived.

Environmentalists allege the government has been overly optimistic in its assessment of the fish’s viability on the Big Hole River.

The site of the proposed Other Side Village was once Salt Lake City's landfill. Can it be rendered fit for human habitation?

Data shows that people earning over $200,000 moved to Montana at far higher rates during the pandemic.

House Bill 337 would dictate a minimum lot size of 2,500 square feet anywhere with city water and sewer connections in an effort to promote less expensive housing.

There’s something called the “1% for Air” local option tax, which traditionally funds air service and tourism efforts. But Ketchum officials would like to ask voters to split that lot in half, with .5% still going to promote air travel, but earmarking the other .5% for affordable housing projects.

Senate File 92 aims to ensure solar users are paying their fair share for grid infrastructure. It has led to an outcry among solar advocates.

The North Plains Connector would allow power to flow across three time zones from the Midwest to Seattle, a move that should make the wholesale energy markets more affordable and energy more reliable.

The move by General Motors Co. represents the largest single investment to date by an automaker in a lithium mining project, according to a joint statement from GM and Lithium Americas Corp.

Consumers are troubled by throwing away useful goods to clean up the environment, so we asked experts about recycling and reusing ethics.

Among wildfires that do burn homes or other structures, humans play a disproportionate role – 76% over the past two decades were started by unplanned human-related ignitions, including backyard burning, downed power lines and campfires.

There’s no certainty swaths of beetle-bitten trees will recover over burn scars.

Since 1970, the annual number of freezing nights in Reno, Nev., has decreased by 91. That’s the largest decline in the nation, according to research group Climate Central. Ranking second is Albuquerque, N.M., with 45 fewer freezing nights. Other notable decreases in the Mountain West include Helena, Mont. (30 fewer), Boise, Idaho (16 fewer) and Salt Lake City, Utah (13 fewer).

Ouray has to build a $12 million water treatment plant, which will cause the town to have some of the priciest water in Colorado.

The president has riled up just about everyone with his public-land policies. Maybe that’s a good thing.

The now-dead proposal to “investigate”reservations was neither the beginning or the end of combative attitudes towards tribal nations in the state.

Bruce Moats’ retirement blows another hole through the fraying fabric of Wyoming journalism.