U.S. President-Elect Donald Trump’s cabinet will have strong ties to the oil industry if nominees such as Rex Tillerson and Scott Pruitt are confirmed by Congress. As the former chief executive officer of Exxon Mobil Corp. and previous attorney general for oil-rich Oklahoma face questions from a Senate confirmation panel this month, a look into President Barack Obama’s time shows that, for the most part, the industry thrived. His critics ascribe that more to external factors than his policies. Oil explorers dealt with a variety of factors during Obama’s eight years in office, including the worst U.S. offshore crude spill that temporarily halted drilling, a shale-technology boom and the industry’s worst financial crisis in a generation. The oil industry went through a pair of downturns beginning in 2008 and 2014 that led to a collapse in the rig count. Better technology allowed the explorers to do more with less […]