1. OIL AND GAS:
Texas leads 20-year spike in U.S. production
HOUSTON -- New numbers suggest oil and gas production in the United States has hit a two-decade high, with Texas contributing nearly a quarter of the output. Yesterday, the Railroad Commission of Texas, the oil and gas regulator for the state, posted its latest statistics on estimated oil and gas output from December of last year and for all of 2012. The newest data have been revised dramatically upward, an indication of just how fast oil output is expanding every month.