Yesterday’s news that Houston-based Halliburton had suddenly shuttered its El Reno field office laying off 808 people came as a shock to the system in Oklahoma. The closure represents the single largest layoff in a decade here. And with three weeks until Christmas, the timing couldn’t have been worse. ...

Dyed-in-the-denim wildcatter Autry Stephens is the kind of man who takes no guff. Not from his roustabouts and not from the likes of oil goliaths surrounding him in all six counties of the Midland Basin. ...