The world’s hottest shale play right now, the Permian, is boosting its oil production and contributing the most to the U.S. crude output growth. Meanwhile, Texas’ other shale play, the once-hot Eagle Ford, has cooled, turning thriving communities into ghost towns. The economic impact of the oil price crash is plainly seen across the counties in and around the Eagle Ford. Small business owners began struggling after the oil boom turned to gloom in 2014. Ghost towns and abandoned plots now bear the scars of the downturn, Bloomberg’s Dan Murtaugh and photographer Max Burkhalter report . Photos of what could easily be mistaken for the set of The Walking Dead document how the Eagle Ford-related economy has suffered through the oil price crash. Still, the business owners who spoke to Bloomberg called the bottom of the downturn a few months ago, and report signs of a rebound lately. Back […]