Author: John Porretto

DETROIT • General Motors, the company that put tail fins on a Cadillac and was once the nation’s largest employer, moved to the edge of bankruptcy Wednesday, as debtholders rejected a last-ditch deal. Crosstown rival Chrysler hoped to pull off a quick exit from Chapter 11 and prove there is hope for a leaner Detroit.…

HOUSTON • Signaling that Big Oil’s heyday is over for now, ConocoPhillips posted an enormous $31.8 billion fourth-quarter loss Wednesday as the energy giant was stung by $34 billion in asset writedowns and plunging crude prices. It also gave a dire forecast for the next couple of years. Chairman and Chief Executive Jim Mulva said…

THE WOODLANDS, Texas • Over the next 20 years or so, oil and natural gas will lose top ranking as the world’s most affordable energy sources, according to a survey of energy executives released Wednesday. Deeper wells in more inhospitable places, both political and geological, have altered presumptions of doing business in the oil patch.…

HOUSTON – Exxon Mobil Corp., the world’s largest publicly traded oil company, reported income today that shattered its own record for the biggest profit from operations by a U.S. corporation, earning $14.83 billion in the third quarter.Yet numbers contained within the company’s most recent financial report revealed production numbers that continue to sag, and shares…

HOUSTON • Pump prices continued to tumble in the past week, falling more than 25 cents to a national average of $2.66 a gallon, government figures show. In some places, gasoline is selling for less than $2 a gallon. A weekly report released Monday afternoon by the U.S. Energy Information Administration showed the Gulf Coast…

HOUSTON • It’s almost like a surprise stimulus check: Gas prices have fallen so fast that the nation has found itself with an extra $125 billion to spend. But don’t expect the freed-up cash to pump much life into the economy. Filling up for less than $2.50 a gallon in some places hasn’t done much…

HOUSTON – As giant oil companies such as Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips get set to report what will probably be another round of eye-popping quarterly profits, just where is all that money going?The companies insist they’re trying to find new oil that might help bring down gas prices, but the money they spend on exploration…

Look closely at this wall quilt to find the paper and grommets the creator incorporated into the project. Photo by