Texas, once the undisputed and seemingly infallible powerhouse of the United States’ energy sector and the world’s shale markets, is struggling to stay afloat . While the COVID-19 pandemic was disastrous for oil markets around the world, nowhere was harder hit than the Permian Basin. On April 20th the world watched as the final nail was driven into the shale revolution’s coffin when the West Texas Intermediate crude benchmark did not just plunge into negative territory, it blew way past rock bottom and ended the day at nearly $40 below zero. The results have been devastating. Across Texas, whole communities are dying , drying up and blowing away like so many tumbleweeds as their economy falls out from underneath them. Oil prices need to be around $40 for the shale sector to just break even, but Texas needs a lot more than that. Bringing shut-in wells back online is […]