News
Below are interesting stories concerning our industries, manufacturing, and our region.
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America is now the world’s largest oil producer
Read MoreMove over Russia and Saudi Arabia. America has reclaimed its throne atop the oil world. For the first time since 1973, the United States is the world’s largest producer of crude oil, according to preliminary estimates published on Wednesday by the Energy Department. The feat demonstrates how t...
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San Antonio Opens Career-Themed High Schools.
Read MoreSAN ANTONIO, Texas — CAST Tech, San Antonio’s newest public high school, looks like an outpost of Google. Young people huddle over tablets, fiber optic cables run along the ceilings and a cybersecurity lab occupies the basement. The school, located in the heart of San Antonio’s slowly revitali...
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While offshore wind gets developed, Texas will likely stay onshore
Read MoreOne of the world’s largest power companies is planning to pump $1 billion into new wind projects in Texas, confirming the state’s place as the nation’s largest producer of wind-driven energy. The Spanish utility Iberdrola says the money will finance new wind farms with a combined generating ca...
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LyondellBasell bets on new technology, better plastics
Read MoreHouston Chronicle report, LyondellBasell is betting millions of dollars that new technology will give it an edge in the burgeoning market for polyethylene, the ubiquitous plastic that has fueled a construction and export boom along the U.S. Gulf Coast. The Houston petrochemicals manufacturer has bui...
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XTO Energy Closes Headquarters; Relocates Hundreds to Houston
Read MoreXTO Energy, Inc., a subsidiary of ExxonMobil Corp., is closing its corporate headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas, which will affect a total of 1,200 employees, according to a letter sent to the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC). The U.S. oil and natural gas producer plans to relocate its business activ...
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OSHA Issues Direct Final Rule Clarifying Beryllium Standard
Read MoreOSHA’s direct final rule (DFR) for its beryillum standard will become effective on July 4, 2018, according to the agency. The DFR clarifies aspects of the standard for general industry as it applies to processes, operations, or areas where workers may be exposed to materials containing less th...
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US Seen Cutting Oil Imports to Lowest Since Eisenhower
Read MoreThe U.S. will cut its reliance on foreign oil to the lowest in more than 60 years as domestic crude output surges to record levels. The Energy Information Administration sees net imports of crude and petroleum products dropping to 1.5 million barrels a day in 2019, the lowest level since Dwight Eise...
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US Cutting Tool Consumption Up 6% in Q1
Read MoreManufacturing activity paced cutting-tool consumption to $207.08 million during March, up 8.8% for the month. The ongoing expansion of the industrial economy paced another month of growth in U.S. manufacturing’s cutting-tool consumption, up 8.8% from February to $207.08 million during March. That ...
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Reshoring Is on the Rise: What It Means for the Trade Debate
Read MoreThe 2017 data is in, and job announcements are up substantially for U.S. manufacturing. Reshoring and foreign job announcements (FDI) surged in 2017 to over 170,000 U.S. manufacturing jobs. This is strong evidence that work can and will be successfully brought back—and is especially relevant in a ...
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From Recycled Magnets to Polymers, New Materials Take off in San Marcos, Texas
Read MoreA tour of manufacturing in and around Texas State University highlights product innovation born from research During a visit to San Marcos, Texas, last month, I visited four diverse manufacturers, both in size and product type. Three of the four are developing products using new materials—examples...
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Oil Explorers Lift Rig Count to 800 for First Time Since 2015
Read MoreU.S. oil explorers raised the rig count to 800 for the first time in almost three years amid booming domestic and overseas demand for crude and petroleum-based fuels. Drillers have been accelerating exploration in an almost-unbroken streak since the beginning of November, vaulting American crude out...
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Oil Gains Most in Two Weeks as Storage in Key Hub Seen Shrinking
Read More(Bloomberg) — Crude rose the most in two weeks as stockpiles at the largest U.S. storage hub are seen draining further. Futures gained 2.2 percent Monday after data-provider Genscape Inc. was said to report that inventories dropped in Cushing, Oklahoma, according to two people with knowledge o...
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Congratulations Kevin Harvick on win #100
Read MoreEvent: Las Vegas 400 (Round 3 of 36) Series: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Location: Las Vegas Motor Speedway (1.5-mile oval) Format: 267 laps, broken into three stages (80 laps/80 laps/107 laps) Start/Finish: 2nd/1st (Running, completed 267 of 267 laps) Point Standing: 1st (135 points, three ahe...
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US Oil Production Increases With Fewer Workers, Rigs.
Read MoreU.S. oil production surged to a 46-year record in October. The Energy Department said the nation’s output of crude oil jumped 1.8 percent to 9.64 million barrels a day. Morgan Stanley said shale drillers pumped at the fastest rate in nearly three years. And they did it with half the rigs they ...
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All That New Shale Oil May Not Be Enough as Big Discoveries Drop
Read MoreThree years after causing an oil-price crash, the shale boom may not be enough to meet rising global demand because the industry has cut back so sharply on higher-risk mega-projects. Discoveries of new reserves this year were the fewest on record and replaced just 11% of what was produced, according...
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Manufacturers React to Congressional Passage of the Tax Bill
Read MoreManufacturers will save about $261 billion over the next decade thanks to the new Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. On paper, that should lead to new investments — in equipment, in workforce and beyond. Steve Staub was headed west on Interstate 70 on Wednesday afternoon, back to his factory in Dayton after a...
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US Manufacturers Are Really Optimistic Says NAM
Read MoreManufacturers’ optimism has risen to unprecedented heights amid the legislative progress made on tax reform, according to the results of the Manufactures’ Outlook Survey for the fourth quarter of 2017. The study, conducted by The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), found that 94.6% ...
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US Fuels the World as Shale Boom Powers Record Oil Exports
Read More(Bloomberg) — The world’s largest oil consumer exported more hydrocarbons than ever before in 2017 and shows no signs of slowing down. You name it — crude oil, gasoline, diesel, propane and even liquefied natural gas — all were shipped abroad at a record pace. While the surge com...
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US Manufacturing Stays Strong in November
Read MoreThe manufacturing sector continued to grow at an above-average rate in November, as the impact of back-to-back hurricanes over the summer recedes, according to an industry survey released on Dec. 1. Output spiked and employment remains strong to produce “a really strong report” on the se...
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U.S. oil production surged in September as Texas rebounded from Harvey
Read MoreThe nation’s oil production climbed nearly 300,000 barrels a day in September, reaching the highest level since its most recent peak in April 2015, the Energy Department said Thursday. Energy companies pumped 9.48 million barrels of oil a day in September, up 3.2 percent compared to the 9.19 m...