With WTI oil prices staying above $60 a barrel for several months, U.S. drillers are breaking production records each week, mostly thanks to the Permian in West Texas and New Mexico. In recent months, however, some companies have started to test their fracking capabilities on oil fields that most agree reached their peak production decades ago. Drillers believe that it’s a winning bet. Analysts say it could be a breakthrough for the more challenging chalk formations in East Texas and Louisiana. Authorities and industry officials in Louisiana believe there’s a resurgence in one of the old oil-producing areas in the state and want to support investment in the region. The Austin Chalk, which stretches from Texas to the Gulf of Mexico and cuts through much of central Louisiana, is one of those formations that was ‘hot’ back in the 1990s, but has been forgotten since then, especially after hydraulic […]