A trade group in Texas said 2018 looked good for the oil and gas business, with investments trickling down to the coastal and manufacturing sectors. Texas is the No. 1 oil producing state in the country and home to some of the most lucrative shale basins, notably the Permian reservoir. The state’s economy was hobbled by the downturn in the energy sector that hit bottom in early 2016. In a survey for fourth quarter 2017, the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas said Hurricane Harvey , which hit the largest density of refineries on the southern Gulf Coast in late August, caused $70 billion in direct damage and left around 22,000 people without a job. Todd Staples, the president of the Texas […]