Recent Gas News/GasBuddy Blog

The Detroit News detnews.com -- The new line of V-6 engines will contribute to an overall fuel-efficiency improvement of more than 25 percent across the Chrysler, Ram Truck, Jeep and Dodge lineup.

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CNBC -- Even though the peak driving season is still months away, gasoline prices have been creeping to their highest level since October 2008, and it looks like consumers should brace themselves for higher prices at the gas pump this summer.  (go to article)

nytimes.com -- Thousands of the nation’s largest water polluters are outside the Clean Water Act’s reach because the Supreme Court has left uncertain which waterways are protected by that law, according to interviews with regulators.

As a result, some businesses are declaring that the law no longer applies to them. And pollution rates are rising.

Companies that have spilled oil, carcinogens and dangerous bacteria into lakes, rivers and other waters are not being prosecuted, according to Environmental Protection Agency regulators working on those cases, who estimate that more than 1,500 major pollution investigations have been discontinued or shelved in the last four years.

excerpt...More than 200 oil spill cases were delayed as of 2008, according to a memorandum written by an E.P.A. official

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Moneynews.com -- U.S reserves of natural gas seem to have jumped dramatically during the past year, and the price of natural gas remains very low.

Four thousand trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas ought to be enough to get Washington’s attention, but somehow it isn’t, says energy investor T. Boone Pickens, “which makes us number one in the world.”

“We’ll be identified as the dumbest people in the world if we don’t capitalize on this resource and replace OPEC oil.”
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Reuters -- The average price for a gallon of gasoline in the United States rose 8.62 cents to $2.81 in the past two weeks as retailers raised their margins, according to an industry analyst.

It was the second consecutive two-week period with an increase in the price of regular-grade gasoline.

But Trilby Lundberg, who edited the latest nationwide Lundberg survey of some 5,000 gas stations, which was conducted on March 19, does not expect the national average price for regular gas to go much higher in the coming weeks because of an abundance of crude oil supplies and a still-tentative global economic recovery.  (go to article)

Globe & Mail -- Canada has more energy in its "proven, recoverable" reserves of coal than it has in all of its oil, natural gas and oil sands combined: 10 billion tonnes. The world has 100 times more: one trillion tonnes. These reserves hold the energy equivalent of more than four trillion barrels of oil. They are scattered in 70 countries, mostly in relatively easy-to-mine locations and mostly in democratic countries.

The United States alone has 30 per cent of the world's reserves, and scientists in Texas say they have found a way to convert coal into gasoline at a cost of less than $30 (U.S.) a barrel - with zero release of pollutants.  (go to article)

http://www.abengoabioenergy.com/bioethanol/eng/imagenes/logo.jpg -- Biofuels are under attack. The claim “Bioethanol is indirectly increasing GHG emissions” is just one of the many false statements being spread to the general public. We have decided to stand up and contest these falsities with supported evidence. We believe it is the right thing to do.  (go to article)

WIRED.COM -- By Tony Borroz

Some cars are so beautifully designed and exquisitely engineered that they transcend mere transportation to become works of art. They are rolling sculptures, and to see them is to think, “That car belongs in a gallery.”

Curators at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta agree. The museum is hosting an exhibition to celebrate automotive design, and it has gathered a very impressive assortment of cars. The Allure of the Automobile, which opens Sunday and runs through June 20, features 18 vehicles created in what could be called the golden age of design, from the early 1930s through the early 1960s.

The vehicles range from a 1933 Pierce Silver Arrow to a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT. Each is presented in the context of the Art Moderne and Postwar Modernity movements, and they all have a  (go to article)

Detroit Free Press -- Get ready for a broad array of fast, fun and fuel-efficient Fords.

The automaker's new Global Performance Vehicles department brings together Ford's finest go-fast thinking from Europe and the U.S.

It may lead to a line of sporty vehicles stretching from today's F-150 pickup and Mustang to the upcoming Focus compact and Fiesta subcompact.

The move could help Ford reach a new group of buyers: Young enthusiasts drawn to Asian models like the Honda Civic Si, Subaru WRX, Mitsubishi Eclipse and Hyundai Tiburon.  (go to article)

Reuters -- JERUSALEM, March 21 - Israel's Oil Refineries said on Sunday it swung to a net profit in the fourth quarter, boosted by a one-time gain.

Oil Refineries, Israel's biggest refinery, posted quarterly net profit of $182 million, compared with a net loss of $182 million in the fourth quarter of 2008.

The company said its results were influenced by $214 million of other income due to the revaluation of its holdings in Carmel Olefins and Haifa Basic Oils of $77 million and negative goodwill of $137 million created in the 50 percent acquisition of the two firms.

It added that financing expenses dropped to $26 million from $56 million, while higher crude oil prices also contributed.  (go to article)

bloomberg.com -- Australia needs to invest at least A$100 billion ($92 billion) in electricity infrastructure in the next decade to meet growing demand by consumers, the Minister for Resources and Energy, Martin Ferguson, said.

“We need more investment in electricity supply infrastructure,” Ferguson told business leaders in Brisbane, according to a statement released today. “For too many years, uncertainty about carbon pricing, state government privatization plans, retail price regulation, network regulation, and more recently, the global financial crisis, have hampered investment.”

The nation, the world’s largest shipper of iron ore, alumina, lead, zinc and coal, needs increased power generation to encourage new resource projects and avoid household blackouts during periods of high demand. Short
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Dallas News -- WASHINGTON – U.S. companies are getting squeezed out of the big Chinese wind-power market even as Dallas investors are bringing Chinese firms here via a big wind farm in Texas, according to a new industry report.

"They've used every measure you could possibly think of to enhance production of renewable energy equipment in China," said report author Alan Wolff of the trade law firm Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP.

U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk won a pledge from the Chinese last fall to drop rules giving preference to Chinese makers of wind-power equipment. But Kirk's office hasn't seen any evidence that the pledge has been carried out, said spokeswoman Carol Guthrie.

Meanwhile, Chinese manufacturers are entering the U.S. wind market under a joint venture led by Dallas investor Cappy McGarr.

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Chicago Tribune -- With the cost of gasoline expected to surpass $3 a gallon this summer, more motorists will be looking to save a few cents at the pump, but that's getting more difficult with an onslaught of new municipal gas taxes.
Cash-strapped municipalities — from Oak Lawn to Des Plaines to Glenview — have turned to taxing fuel to make up for plummeting revenue. Elmhurst is considering a 1.5-cent-per-gallon tax and Naperville is weighing whether to add 2 or 3 cents to its 2-cent-per-gallon tax.

To make the tax more palatable, some communities are designating the money for road and infrastructure improvements. And while officials defend the need for revenue, gas station owners say the tax puts them and maybe the towns at a competitive disadvantage.  (go to article)

Los Angeles Times -- A combination of hot rocks and water like those that created Yellowstone's geysers have been tapped by the city to keep the sidewalks toasty since the early 1990s. They also heat downtown buildings, kettles at a brewhouse, and greenhouses and keep the lights on at a college campus.

With more than 600 geothermal wells heating houses, schools and a hospital as well as turning the turbine on a small power plant, Klamath Falls shows what everyday life could be if stimulus grants and venture capitalists turn geothermal energy from a Western curiosity to a game-changing energy resource.

A 2007 Massachusetts Institute of Technology report estimates that EGS, with support, could be producing 100 gigawatts of electricity -- equivalent to 1,000 coal-fired or nuclear power plants -- by 2050, and ha  (go to article)

FORBES.COM -- Hannah Elliott

By this time next year Chevrolet, Ford, Nissan and Fisker will each have a plug-in electric vehicle on the U.S. market. But until automakers can sell hundreds of thousands of them off the lot--not just to first-adopters and municipal fleets--they won't mean much to society. Experts say it'll take mass acceptance to significantly alter the way Americans consume energy.

Excerpts

The national average price of gas is $2.811, up from $2.608 last month and $1.933 a year ago. But forecasts from the U.S. Energy Information Administration predict that the annual average price for a gallon of regular gas will reach just $2.96 by 2011--granted, with a possibility of reaching $3 a gallon at times this summer.

That's good news compared to the $4-plus spikes of July 2008,but it mean  (go to article)

FORBES.COM -- Excerpts

It's an issue garnering much attention. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that 80% of all car crashes are due to driver inattention. Each year, 6,000 fatal crashes involve an inattentive driver--and cellphone use is the No. 1 culprit.

"Left unchecked, distracted driving caused by devices such as cellphones will rival drunk driving as a national vehicle safety problem," says Clarence Ditlow, the executive direct of the Center for Auto Safety, told the House Energy and Commerce Committee last fall.

Seven states have outright bans on using any handheld cellphone while driving (California, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Utah and Washington), as do the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Wireless headsets are banned for  (go to article)

FORBES.COM -- By Shawn McCarthy

WASHINGTON -- Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood says he'll go to Japan this summer for talks with Toyota executives about the sudden acceleration problem plaguing some Toyotas.

LaHood also says he'll examine Japan's high-speed rail system.

Excerpts

His department has defended its policing of the auto industry and noted it sent safety officials to Japan last year to urge Toyota ( TM - news - people ) to take safety concerns seriously.

Toyota's president was in Washington for recent congressional hearings and told LaHood that Toyota would "advance safety to the next level."

Toyota has recalled more than 8 million vehicles since last fall. It blames the problem on floor mats that trap gas pedals or on accelerators that become sticky.
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Animal New York -- Recently seen around Central Park: carriage shaped cars dragged along by clopping horses. For his piece “Back to Futurama,” artist Jeremy Dean gutted a gas-guzzling 8 mile-per-gallon HUMMER H2 and revamped it into a silver chrome, LED light-ridden, mega audio system decked “CEO Stagecoach” – a horse-drawn testament to the collapse of the auto-industry.  (go to article)

Reuters -- FRANKFURT, March 20 (Reuters) - German sports car maker Porsche sees potential for double-digit growth in Asia this year while growth in North America will take longer to return to pre-crisis levels, a magazine reported.

"In Asia I certainly see potential for slight double-digit growth," Porsche's marketing head Klaus Berning told trade magazine Automobilwoche in comments released from an interview to be published on Monday.  (go to article)

Reuters -- BOGOTA, March 20 - Colombian FARC guerrillas kidnapped five local oil contractors near a U.S.-operated oilfield, whisking them into a mountainous area close to Venezuela with troops in pursuit, officials said on Saturday.

The captive men were working for oil service companies Tuboscope and Tecnioriente, subcontracted by the local unit of U.S. company Occidental Petroleum (OXY.N), near the Caricare oilfield in Arauca state, a local army commander said.

A sixth worker managed to flee into bushes when rebels crashed their vehicle as army helicopters closed in on them.  (go to article)

Houston Chronicle -- BRETT CLANTON -- Becoming chairman of the Independent Petroleum Association of America, a Washington lobby representing more than 5,000 U.S. oil and gas producers, would be a big job at any time. Right now, however, it's huge. As producers exult in recent shale gas discoveries that could extend U.S. natural gas supplies for decades, they are facing policy and environmental challenges that could slow their momentum and cost jobs and investment, said Bruce Vincent, IPAA chairman since November and president of Houston-based Swift Energy Co. One meeting at a time, Vincent is focusing on giving policymakers a better understanding of the facts and what he calls the unintended consequences of certain policy moves.

[Follow link to article for the Q&A]  (go to article)

FORBES.COM -- By Jerry Flint

In the spring a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts to love--and cars.

It's true. Spring sales will tell us how strong our recovery grows. So far a major part of any recovery in American manufacturing has come from the auto industry: employment, hours worked, wages. Vehicle production has soared 75% from a year ago, not because sales have doubled, but because last year factories were shut in the first quarter to slash inventories.

As we push into the year, production will depend on sales gains. But look at all the questions:

Sales have been running ahead of last year, but just it's not that much of a gain. Will we see more strength this spring?

What about General Motors? Lots of impatience: Robert Lutz, the last Detroit hero, is going; heads chopped off at Cadil  (go to article)

Bloomberg.com -- Oil India Ltd. and Indian Oil Corp. jointly made the bid for Gulfsands Petroleum Plc that the U.K. company with assets in Syria and the Gulf of Mexico rejected yesterday, three people familiar with the matter said.

Excerpts

The Indian government is seeking to buy energy assets abroad to make up for declining production at home and to cater to an economy that is likely to grow more than 8 percent in the fiscal year starting April 1. State-run Oil & Natural Gas Corp. bought Imperial Energy Plc for 1.4 billion pounds last year in its largest acquisition.

"Gulfsands owns a 50 percent stake in a block in Syria...producing about 11,000 barrels a day of crude oil,...It also owns interests in 44 blocks, including 30 producing blocks, off the coast of Texas and Louisiana."  (go to article)

Physorg.com -- A successful University of Nevada, Reno renewable energy research project is moving from the lab to the real world in a demonstration-scale system to turn wastewater sludge into electricity.

The experimental carbon-neutral system will process 20 pounds of sludge per hour, drying it at modest temperatures into solid fuel that will be analyzed for its suitability to be used for fuel through gasification and, in a commercial operation, ultimately converted to electricity. The refrigerator-size demonstration unit will help researchers determine the optimum conditions for a commercial-sized operation.

"The beauty of this process is that it's designed to be all on site, saving trucking costs and disposal fees for the sludge," Victor Vasquez, a University faculty member in chemical engineering  (go to article)

WIRED.COM -- by Ariel Schwartz

Were you impressed by the recently unveiled Bloom Energy “micro power plant”? Well the stationary fuel cell already some competition in the form of a methanol fuel cell device from a California-based startup called Oorja Protonics. Oorja’s soon-to-be-unveiled device is much cheaper and can generate 5 kw of energy — enough to power a home or small business.

The small device isn’t quite as powerful as Bloom Energy’s fuel cell — 20 Oorja devices could provide the same power as a single Bloom Energy Server. But while Bloom’s device costs between $700,000 and $800,000, Oorja’s fuel cell will cost less than $15,000, making it much more accessible to the home market. Another advantage: Bloom’s fuel cell provides minimal heat, while Oorja’s device generates both heat and power.  (go to article)

WIRED.COM -- By Zach Rosenberg

Excerpts

As Congress starts hammering out a transportation spending bill, keep your eye on who asks for what and how the horses are traded.

Everyone recognizes something is wrong, and they all know the country’s infrastructure is literally falling apart. But the questions of what to fix and how to fix it are being framed in the familiar terms of urban vs. rural, individual liberties vs. collective benefit, fiscal restraint vs. profligate waste and the government’s role in all of this to begin with.

Earlier this week, the House Democratic leadership made the sudden-but-not-altogether-unexpected decision to ban earmarks to private corporations. The move, quickly followed by a Republican promise to abstain from any earmarks,is an attempt to regain  (go to article)

Bloomberg.com -- By Eduard Gismatullin

Royal Dutch Shell Plc, which plans to produce oil from Canada’s tar sands for 40 years, earned 67 percent more from operations in Alberta than from projects elsewhere between 2005 and 2009.

The company earned $20 a barrel from oil-sand mining on average, more than the $12 a barrel it gained from extraction projects excluding tar sands, The Hague-based Shell said a report posted this week on its Web site. Oil sands contributed $3.1 billion to Shell’s earnings in the period.

Excerpt

Shell, with partners Chevron Corp. and Marathon Oil Corp., is mining oil sands in the Canadian province of Alberta. The Athabasca Oil Sand Project plans to expand production capacity by about 65 percent to about 255,000 barrels a day this year or next year,  (go to article)

Bloomberg.com -- Gasoline futures slid 2 percent as a surging dollar reduced the investment appeal of commodities and as demand for the motor fuel declined.

Gasoline, which reached a 17-month high March 17, tumbled as the dollar gained 0.6 percent against the currencies of six major U.S. trading partners as of 3:25 p.m. in New York. Motor fuel demand slipped 1.6 percent last week, according to the Energy Department.

“A breakout to the upside of the dollar index gives potential for considerable downside for commodities,” said Tom Knight, vice president of trading and supply at Truman Arnold Cos. in Texarkana, Texas.

Gasoline for April delivery lost 4.53 cents, or 2 percent, to settle at $2.2556 a gallon on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices were little changed for the week.
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CNET NEWS -- Wind-generated electricity is growing rapidly in the United States but the pace still lags far behind that in China, the organizer of an industry conference in North Carolina said.

"With the right policies in place, we can see explosive growth...It's a global footrace," said Jeff Anthony, business development director of the American Wind Energy Association.

Although the United States has the largest amount of installed wind power capacity in the world, the wind power industry is "fighting to get on a level playing field" with other government-subsidized power providers, Anthony told a conference of parts manufacturers, suppliers, wind project developers, and economic development officers from around the southeastern United States.

"What the wind industry looks like in the U.S.  (go to article)

Reuters -- The U.S. pay czar will slash the number of top General Motors Co executives who will receive base salaries of more than $500,000 this year.

Pay czar Kenneth Feinberg said he plans to release the 2010 compensation decisions next week on the five large U.S. companies that are under pay restrictions as part of their government bailouts.

The rules restrict the top 25 executives from receiving more than $500,000 in base cash salary unless a company can prove a good reason for the higher pay.

GM is more than 60 percent-owned by the U.S. Treasury after a government-funded bankruptcy and reorganization in 2009. The U.S. government also holds a small stake in Chrysler, which is under management control of Italy's Fiat SpA.  (go to article)

Forbes.com -- The energy pits were a gauntlet Friday, as a stronger dollar put a dent in crude prices and oil stocks followed black gold lower.

Crude settled at $80.68 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down 1.9% after a run-up earlier this week when prices approached $84 a barrel. Traders have been hoping that growth in emerging markets like China and India could help the commodity continue its surge off its February 2009 lows, but tighter monetary policy in those nations threatens to cool their economic growth.  (go to article)

KHON2 -- It has been a slow and gradual climb for the cost of a gallon of gas in Honolulu, across the state for that matter, as the numbers have inched noticeably higher.  (go to article)

N.Y. Times Letters to the Editor -- Toyota objects to the picture of the situation at the New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. plant in Fremont, Calif., that Bob Herbert presents (“Workers Crushed by Toyota,” column, March 16).  (go to article)

Auto Spies -- General Motors Co. supports legislation to require so-called black boxes in vehicles, to collect crash data, and it is willing to support additional "reasonable" auto safety legislation.
In a roundtable interview with reporters today, GM's new vice president for government relations, Robert E. Ferguson, said the company backs legislation in the works from Rep. Gene Green, D-Texas, to mandate event data recorders.

"I think EDRs ought to be in every car," Ferguson said. "Devices ought to be readily available so that law enforcement can find out what happen to vehicles involved in crashes."

This is the Complete story, see articule for Blog.  (go to article)

The Detroit News -- Internal Toyota Motor Corp. documents released by a congressional committee show the automaker developed a "game plan" in 2007 to handle federal safety regulators' urgent concerns about floor mats on its Lexus ES350.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee posted a series of documents that are part of its probe into Toyota's recall of 8.5 million vehicles and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's eight separate investigations into the issue that resulted in the recall of 55,000 floor mats in 2007.

The five pages of e-mails included a discussion between Toyota's top Washington regulator officials, Chris Santucci and Chris Tinto, and company officials in Japan.

"NHTSA has apparently decided to demand further action from Toyota,"
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The Detroit News -- Federal investigators say last week's highly publicized accident involving a suspected runaway Toyota Prius in New York was caused by human error, not bad brakes.

"Information retrieved from the vehicle's onboard computer systems indicated there was no application of the brakes and the throttle was fully open," NHTSA said Thursday in a statement about a Harrison, N.Y., crash.

NHTSA officials said the findings mean the accident was caused by the driver.

Toyota sent six investigators and the NHTSA sent two investigators to look at the vehicle, driven by a housekeeper, that crashed into a stone wall in the New York City suburb March 9.

The housekeeper had blamed the incident on the vehicle, saying it wouldn't stop.
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REUTERS -- States want EPA to reopen endangerment hearings

WASHINGTON, March 19 (Reuters) - At least 15 U.S. states have sued the Environmental Protection Agency seeking to stop it from issuing rules controlling greenhouse gas emissions until it reexamines whether the pollution harms human health.

Florida, Indiana, South Carolina and at least nine other states filed the petitions in the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, states said.

They joined petitions filed last month by Virginia, Texas and Alabama.

The Obama administration has long said it would attack greenhouse gas emissions with EPA regulation if Congress failed to pass a climate bill.

The EPA is set to issue regulations later this month that would require autos and light trucks to increase energy efficiency.  (go to article)

Detroit News -- Washington -- General Motors Co. supports legislation to require so-called "black boxes" in vehicles, to collect crash data, and it is willing to support additional "reasonable" auto safety legislation.

In a roundtable interview with reporters today, GM's new vice president for government relations, Robert E. Ferguson, said the company backs legislation in the works from Rep. Gene Green, D-Texas, to mandate event data recorders.

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New York Times -- The recession also precipitated a milestone for Saudi Arabia and the global energy market. While China’s successful economic policies paved the way for a quick rebound there, the recession caused a deeper slowdown in the United States, slashing oil consumption by 10 percent from its 2005-7 peak. As a result, Saudi Arabia exported more oil to China than to the United States last year.

While exports to the United States might rebound this year, in the long run the decline in American demand and the growing importance of China represent a fundamental shift in the geopolitics of oil.

The American talk about energy independence rankles Saudi officials, who maintain that the goal is unrealistic and could end up damaging energy markets by undermining investment now, thus leading to higher price  (go to article)

CNBC -- Oil prices fell nearly 1 percent on Friday as the U.S. dollar firmed against foreign currencies, slashing investment flows into oil and other commodities.

Oil prices fell below $80 a barrel as the dollar gained against the euro on worries over Greece's debt, and after a Reuters poll forecast over-supply in the oil market this year.  (go to article)

Aerospace & Defence News -- British Airways says it will use sustainable jet fuel
Print this page Send to friendPublished on ASDNews: Feb 15, 2010
LONDON, Feb 15, 2010 (AFP) - British Airways on Monday said it would use low-carbon fuel to power part of its fleet from 2014 once Europe's first sustainable jet-fuel plant was built by US biofuels specialist Solena Group.

BA chief executive Willie Walsh said the "unique partnership" with Solena would put the airline on the road to realising its target of reducing net carbon emissions by 50 percent by 2050.

"We believe it will lead to the production of a real sustainable alternative to jet kerosene," Walsh said in a company statement.

"We are absolutely determined to reduce our impact on climate change and are proud to lead the way on aviation's environmental initiat  (go to article)

Reuters -- The hydrocracking unit at Chevron Corp's 279,000 barrel per day (bpd) Los Angeles-area refinery in El Segundo, California, was shut on Friday after a fire in an electrical substation, according to a notice filed with California pollution regulators.  (go to article)

http://www.cbc.ca/news/ -- Calgary-based oil and gas producer Nexen Inc. said Friday it has made a "significant" oil discovery in the eastern Gulf of Mexico  (go to article)

Wall Street Journal -- Crude futures briefly dipped below $80 a barrel Friday, as the week's gains evaporated on a stronger dollar and a decline in equities.

Oil prices have this month begun to sound out a new, extremely narrow trading range between $80 and $83 a barrel. Expectations that global oil demand will continue to improve have kept prices from falling. But concern about the pace of recovery, and high supply levels, are limiting gains.

Futures traded below $80 a barrel for only a few seconds before returning to a precarious perch just above that psychologically important price.

Light, sweet crude for April delivery recently traded $1.85, or 2.3%, lower at $80.35 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange traded $1.75 lower at $79.73 a barrel.  (go to article)

Detroit Free Press -- The return of warmer weather and big incentives were luring car buyers back into auto dealerships during the first half of March and has put the automotive industry’s recovery back on track, according to two automotive forecasting firms.

For the first half of March, the seasonally adjusted annual sales rate, or SAAR, reached 12.1 million in the U.S., according to J.D. Power and Associates.

In fact, the last time the industry’s annual sales rate topped 12 million without a federal incentive program was in September 2008  (go to article)

Associated Press -- NEW YORK (AP) -- Oil prices dropped Friday, tumbling close to $80 a barrel as continued uncertainty about Greece's economy helped lift the dollar higher.

Benchmark crude for April delivery dropped $2 to $80.20 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Oil is traded in U.S. currency, and its price tends to fall as the dollar rises and makes contracts tougher to buy with foreign currency. Investors also will move money out of commodities and into the greenback as the dollar rises.

Crude prices rallied earlier this week after the Fed promised to hold interest rates at record lows in a move that was expected to help the economic recovery. Prices crested Wednesday, and they've been falling since then as worries about Greece's debts forced the euro lower.

Greece, which has strugg  (go to article)

New York Times -- When the Soviet Union introduced its Alfa class submarine — at the time, the world’s fastest — the subs were the bane of American sailors. Now, the reactors that powered those submarines are being marketed as the next innovation in green power.

The promise of miniature reactors powering homes, offices and schools is still years from being realized. The first Russian design, a pontoon-mounted reactor intended to be floated into harbors in energy-hungry developing countries, is already being built. But most promoters expect small reactors to come online at the end of this decade.  (go to article)

Globe and Mail -- Royal Dutch Shell PLC has launched a spirited defence of its oil sands investments against shareholder critics who want the Anglo-Dutch company to pull back from the Alberta fields.

In a report posted on its website, Shell said the oil sands have been hugely profitable for the company and, despite cost inflation, remain attractive at prices higher than $75 (U.S.) a barrel.

But the company is also signaling that the new investments in bitumen production and upgrading face high thresholds, including consideration of environmental factors.

“The timing of new development, such as low capital-intensive mining and upgrading debottlenecking opportunities, will be driven by economic and environmental factors in Alberta, and the ranking of these opportunities in Shell's world-wide portfoli  (go to article)

Reuters -- The United States should not discriminate against the Canadian oil sands industry, Canada's ambassador in Washington said on Thursday, warning that trade restrictions could cause the top energy supplier to U.S. markets to seek out other customers.

Canada's abundant oil sands resources have been threatened in the U.S. market with proposed climate change policies that would place additional costs on fuels that emit higher levels of carbon dioxide.

The policies are unfair to Canada's oil sands industry, Ambassador Gary Doer said in a wide-ranging interview with Reuters, especially since both countries have signed on to an international agreement to lower carbon emissions 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020.  (go to article)

Bloomberg -- March 19 (Bloomberg) -- Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Nexen Inc. made a “significant” oil discovery in the Gulf of Mexico, adding to finds in the area last year.

Shell and Nexen found oil in the Mississippi Canyon blocks 391 and 392 at the Appomattox prospect at a depth of 2,200 meters (7,218 feet), the company said in a statement published on its Web site today. Additional appraisal activities are planned later in the year, it said.  (go to article)

GasBuddy Blog -- March Madness is upon us. Not only are there more basketball games than I can take in for an entire year in the next few weeks, but there have been and will continue to be rising gas prices. March Madness basketball is a tradition to many across America, but are rising gasoline prices each spring as well known? They could be- rising gas prices aren't new, and have increased every year during this time. Some years we see huge "upsets" in gas prices that no one was able to predict, but if we're scoring brackets (or should I say gas price predictions), I'm still feeling comfortable half way through the first twenty minutes.

Spring time gas price increases are predicted by many analysts and prices are likely influenced by a majority of...  (go to article)