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Oil started 2019 with another price slide as weaker Chinese manufacturing data pointed to slowing demand in the world’s second-biggest consumer of the fuel and to growing risks of a global crude surplus.

The U.S. may be exporting natural gas at a record clip, but that hasn’t stopped it from accepting new imports. A tanker with fuel from Nigeria is sitting near the Cove Point import terminal in Maryland, while a second ship with Russian gas is idling outside Boston Harbor.

Job growth in the Lone Star State will likely weaken in the first half of 2019 if oil prices remain at current levels, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.

The U.S. average retail price of diesel dropped 4.4 cents to $3.077 a gallon, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported, as crude oil prices lingered below $50 per barrel.

BILLINGS, Mont. — President Donald Trump’s administration miscalculated the potential benefits of putting better brakes on trains that haul explosive fuels when it scrapped an Obama-era rule over cost concerns, The Associated Press has found. A government analysis used to justify the cancellation omitted up to $117 million in estimated future damages from train derailments that could be avoided by using electronic brakes.

The U.S. oil industry is delivering a one-two punch to Middle East producers already reeling from a collapse in prices. A tussle is playing out in the market for so-called light oils, which have a lower sulfur content and are less dense than heavier varieties.

Daimler Trucks North America on Dec. 20 delivered to Penske Truck Leasing the first in a series of electric trucks Penske plans to deploy in California and the Pacific Northwest.

On our Dec. 19 LiveOnWeb program, we were “Plugging Into an Electric Future” as we assessed the rapid escalation of development and deployment of electric vehicle technology.

These are boom times in West Texas. Across the state, the robust shale industry is providing a lift to local economies and trucking companies that serve the region. It’s also a microcosm for the trucking industry overall when it comes to finding drivers to keep the wheels of growth turning.