News bites: North Dakota’s oil boom, Duke’s boardroom coup, and more

The Washington Post has a front-page spread on North Dakota’s oil boom, a phenomenon that’s “kicking up dust and controversy among longtime residents.”

The Houston Chronicle reports that activists are using parodies of Royal Dutch Shell’s ads in their campaign against the oil giant’s Arctic drilling plans.

Reuters reports that turmoil in the Middle East is sending oil prices upwards.

“Oil rose above $106 a barrel on Thursday to hit a seven-week high as violence in Syria and an attack on Israeli tourists increased tension in the Middle East, bringing supply concerns back into focus,” the news service reports.

Natural-gas prices, which fell to 10-year lows earlier this year, are rising too as scorching U.S. temperatures boost demand for air conditioning.

The Wall Street Journal has the latest on the removal of Progress Energy’s CEO after the company’s merger with utility giant Duke Energy.

“Duke Energy Corp.'s defense of its controversial ouster of CEO Bill Johnson is beginning to focus on a central issue, people familiar with the matter say: How Mr. Johnson handled escalating problems at the Crystal River nuclear plant in Florida,” the Journal reports.