With crude prices plummeting to 20-year lows and tens of thousands of oil workers already laid off, the Texas agency that oversees the oil and gas industry will meet Tuesday to discuss the prospect of curtailing statewide oil production for the first time since the 1970s. The meeting comes as some independent oil producers, including Austin-based Parsley Energy, urge the Texas Railroad Commission to use its authority to reduce oil production to stabilize a volatile oil and gas market. The recent downturn, sparked by a geopolitical skirmish between Russia and Saudi Arabia that led to a petroleum supply glut, coupled with a sharp drop in demand during the coronavirus crisis, has Texas officials thinking of doing the sort of thing that runs counter to their political DNA — intervening in the free market. The likelihood of such a move appears […]