Recent Gas News/GasBuddy Blog

Motley Fool -- The mandated blending of ethanol in motor fuel -- specifically when produced from corn -- is a highly controversial issue. Is it really corrosive to engines at concentrations of just 10%? What about 15% blends?

...

It doesn't have to be so complicated. Controversy aside, there is one calculation that can bring everyone together to support ethanol. The calculation is so simple that you can do it on the back of a napkin. What if I told you that simply blending ethanol into motor gasoline saved the United States $50 billion in 2012?

...

In 2012, Americans consumed 134 billion gallons of gasoline that contained approximately 13 billion gallons of ethanol (a blend rate of 9.7%), .. we can say that ethanol blending displaced 8.7 billion gallons of gasoline last year.  (go to article)

LA Times -- Apparently, location, location, location is the latest twist on electric vehicles and the environment: Whether an electric car such as the Nissan Leaf protects the atmosphere from greenhouse gases depends on where it's charged, according to a new study. Such a car is no better than a standard gasoline-powered subcompact such as a Hyundai Elantra in cities such as Denver and Wichita, but far exceeds even the best hybrids in Southern California.
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NBC News -- The state draws water from the Missouri River and aquifers for its hydraulic fracturing, the process also known as fracking and the key that has unlocked America's abundant shale deposits. The process is water-intensive and requires more than 2 million gallons of water per well, equal to baths for some 40,000 people.  (go to article)

Bloomberg -- West Texas Intermediate crude fell for the first time in four days on speculation that prices climbed more than justified last week.

Futures declined as much as 0.8 percent in New York as U.S. equity indexes were little changed after advancing for four straight weeks. Oil futures and equities surged last week on signs that U.S. economic growth will accelerate, bolstering demand for fuel.

“Crude oil and other risk assets were a little overcooked,” said Bob Yawger, director of the futures division at Mizuho Securities USA Inc. in New York. “The rally in equities and oil at the end of the week isn’t sustainable.”

WTI oil for June delivery fell 51 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $95.51 a barrel at 9:17 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices rose 86 cents to $96.02 on May 17, th  (go to article)

Wall Street Journal -- NEW YORK--Oil futures fell slightly in thin trading Monday as traders weighed the recent rally in the stock market against high inventories and weak oil demand. Light, sweet crude for June delivery fell 31 cents, or 0.3%, to $95.71 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude on ICE Futures Europe slipped 28 cents, or 0.3%, to $104.36 a barrel. Monday's decline halted a three-session climb in oil prices, driven largely by a surge in the stock market that has boosted broader investor sentiment and lifted expectations of an improving U.S. economy. On Monday, U.S. stocks retreated slightly. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was recently down 0.1% at 1666.34, after posting a 2.1% climb last week on a string of better-than-expected quarterly earnings reports. "Oil got caught up in  (go to article)

GasBuddy Blog -- It's been a perilous week for motorists in the nation's midsection as gasoline prices have soared. There's good news: relief may soon be on the way.

Spot gasoline prices, which have a strong and direct impact on retail prices, have seemingly begun to move lower. As spot prices move lower, the decreases are passed on to wholesale channels, and finally, allow gas stations to drop their retail prices several days later.

But it all comes too late, as many areas have set all time record highs for gasoline prices. Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, and Oklahoma have all seen new statewide record high averages in the last week. Cities breaking their all time highs include Des Moines, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Fargo, Oklahoma City, Sioux...  (go to article)

Fuelfix.com -- SCRANTON, Pa. — Oil and gas development damaged the water supplies of at least 161 Pennsylvania homes, farms, churches and businesses between 2008 and the fall of 2012  (go to article)

Associated Press -- North Dakota's congressional delegation doesn't like a proposed new rule that would require energy companies on federal lands to publicly disclose chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing.

Fracking involves pumping water, sand and chemicals underground to break open rocks and allow oil and gas to flow. Critics fear it causes environmental harm.

Sen. John Hoeven says the proposed rule will add “a new layer of regulation and bureaucracy.” He says a better approach is to let states regulate energy development within their borders.

Sen. Heidi Heitkamp also believes the rule will cause delays and frustrations in permitting and drilling on federal lands, though she says it's a step in the right direction.

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NPR -- Tesla Motors, the American maker of luxury electric cars, has been riding a wave of good publicity.

Its Model S sedan (base priced at $62,400, after federal tax credits) was just named Motor Trend Car of the Year. Reviewers at Consumer Reports gave the lithium-ion battery powered vehicle a rave.

And the company, headed by billionaire innovator Elon Musk, 41, posted a profit for the first time in its 10-year history — powered in part by zero-emission environmental credits.

But Tesla also finds itself, and its business model, under sustained attack by a formidable foe: the National Automobile Dealers Association, one of the most powerful lobbying groups in Washington with a strong network of state chapters.
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USA Today -- Toyota is planning a giant increase in production of lithium ion batteries as prepares to use them in its flagship Prius sedan.

Toyota plans a six-fold boost in it use of the batteries, which are substantially lighter and more powerful than the nickel-metal hydride batteries it uses in the current Prius.

The report comes from Japanese newspaper Nikkei, which, citing unnamed sources, says Toyota and battery partner Panasonic will increase lithium-ion battery output capacity to 200,000 units a year.

Nearly all plug-in vehicles depend on lithium-ion batteries. Nickel metal hydride, which powered the first generation of hybrids, are cheaper, but are clearly on the way out.  (go to article)

CNN Money -- About 80% of the 1,000 people Bankrate surveyed said they have not increased their discretionary spending in response to falling gas prices this year.

erhaps it's because prices have been choppy?

Gas prices rose for 34 straight days at the beginning of the year, then fell through most of March and April. They have since risen again slightly. That said, gas is still cheaper compared to a year ago. As of Friday, a gallon of unleaded gasoline cost $3.62, according to AAA. That's about 10 cents lower than the same time last year.

Economists have welcomed this year's lower gas prices as an inadvertent stimulus. Many have said that cheaper gas could lessen the blow from the higher payroll taxes that went into effect at the start of the year.  (go to article)

USA Today -- General Motors is still in the "early innings" of its recovery, but it won't be long before it rejoins the S&P 500 largest companies and gets its bond rating back to investment grade, GM CEO Dan Akerson said Saturday.

Speaking at the commencement for business graduates at Notre Dame, Akerson noted GM's 13 consecutive profitable quarters and progress since its 2009 bankruptcy filing.

In prepared remarks, he said recovery has been built on "pillars are to design, build and sell the world's best vehicles, differentiate and strengthen our brands, maintain a fortress balance sheet and pursue profitable growth around the world."

Akerson, a U.S. Naval Academy graduate, says GM is benchmarking against the world's best, especially when it comes to its Cadillac brand. GM has made Cadillac ...  (go to article)

msn auto -- Chances are it's been a few years since you bought a new car. In those years, 40 mpg has become the new 30 mpg, as smaller conventional cars are increasingly able to crack the magic 40 mpg barrier on the highway. And if you consider hybrids, 40 mpg is downright mainstream.

So, should you dump your current ride and buy a 40 mpg car? Sounds like a silly question. Who wouldn't love to pass up the pump on a more frequent basis and save money in the process? Let's consider all the costs and capability trade-offs to see if you'd do better to stick with Old Faithful out in the driveway for a couple more years or choose a new vehicle that gets close to 40 mpg.  (go to article)

MarketWatch -- U.S. crude-oil futures slipped Monday, pulling back from gains in the previous session after a firmer view of the economy by consumers raised prospects for energy demand.

Crude oil for June delivery shed 183 cents to $95.84 a barrel in electronic trade during Asian hours.

Oil prices last week ended down by 2 cents a barrel.

The contract on Friday rose 86 cents, or 0.9%, to end at $96.02 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after preliminary consumer-sentiment data in May rose to its highest level in nearly six years. Separately, leading indicators in April showed the U.S. economy was still expanding.

The S&P 500 Index on Friday bounced to an all-time high after the release of the economic data, and the rally in the benchmark equity index “seems to have once again inspired ...  (go to article)

muskogeephoenix.com -- ..Steam-electric power plants account for more than half of all toxic pollutants discharged into America’s streams, rivers and lakes. Discharges from these plants often include mercury, arsenic, lead and selenium, pollutants that have been linked to neurological damage, cancer and damage to the circulatory system, kidneys and liver.

Toxic heavy metals like those targeted by the proposed rules do not break down in the environment. The accumulation of the pollutants contribute to the contamination of waterway sediments, impacting aquatic life and wildlife.

EPA officials estimate the rules would reduce discharges by 470 million to 2.62 billion pounds a year. They also would reduce water use by 50 billion to 103 billion gallons annually.

The EPA estimates most coal-fired power plants would  (go to article)

Reuters -- WATFORD CITY, North Dakota (Reuters) - In towns across North Dakota, the wellhead of the North American energy boom, the locals have taken to quoting the adage: "Whiskey is for drinking, and water is for fighting."

It's not that they lack water, like Texas and California. They are swimming in it, and it is free for the taking. Yet as the state's Bakken shale fields have grown, so has the fight over who has the right to tap into the multimillion-dollar market to supply water to the energy sector.

North Dakota now accounts for over 10 percent of U.S. energy output, and production could double over the next decade. The state draws water from the Missouri River and aquifers for its hydraulic fracturing, the process also known as fracking and the key that has unlocked America's abundant shale  (go to article)

cnbc -- Imagine a world where leftover corn, wheat and wood chips can be used to power your car.

That's the aim of cellulosic ethanol, a budding sector of the renewable fuel industry that finds itself struggling to reassert itself in a world of renewed popularity for oil and gas. The process aims to transform agriculture waste, most of which would normally be discarded, into a renewable source of fuel.

The process is heralded by ethanol advocates as a way to revive interest in a sector whose profile has declined recently. With the U.S. producing more natural gas and shale -and with critics questioning the wisdom of using food to power cars -enthusiasm for biofuels has fallen.

Still, the world's largest economy produced about 13.3 billion gallons of ethanol, according to data from the  (go to article)

TODAY'S ZAMAN -- A triple pipeline project is to be constructed to carry northern Iraqi oil and natural gas to the Turkish border, according to the Habertürk daily.The triple pipeline will consist of two oil pipelines, which will carry 1.5 million barrels of oil on a daily basis, and a natural gas pipeline.

Each of the three pipelines will have different starting points in northern Iraq but will be joined together in the Silopi district of Turkey. The twin oil pipelines are expected to be extended further in Turkey to carry oil to international markets via other pipelines that exist and are planned.

Meanwhile, it had been announced earlier that Turkish Petroleum International Company (TPIC) had partnership talks with Exxon Mobil to search for and produce oil in six fields in northern Iraq.  (go to article)

The Motley Fool -- Most people don't realize how much GM actually took from taxpayers, and how little it's given back. If I told you GM has repaid only $6.7 billion out of the $49.5 billion in loans it was given, would you be surprised? If I told you the expected loss to the U.S. Treasury of roughly $12 billion isn't even a fraction of the real cost, would you believe me? If not, you might be in for a nasty surprise.  (go to article)

EurekAlert! -- Researchers have engineered a strain of electricity-producing bacteria that can grow using hydrogen gas as its sole electron donor and carbon dioxide as its sole source of carbon. Researchers at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst report their findings at the 113th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology.

"This represents the first result of current production solely on hydrogen," says Amit Kumar, a researcher on the study who, along with his co-authors are part of the Lovley Lab Group at the university.

Under the leadership of Derek Lovley the lab group has been studying Geobacter bacteria since Lovley first isolated Geobacter metallireducens in sand sediment from the Potomac River in 1987. Geobacter species are of interest because of their bioremediation, bioenerg  (go to article)

The Taos News -- MORA — The Mora County Commission’s April 29 ban on the extraction of oil and gas within its jurisdiction has raised some eyebrows around the industry and region.

Oil and gas companies seek access to once impenetrable geologic fortresses that guard precious domestic fuel deposits, and political heavyweights are forced to weigh in at local and federal levels.

Claiming to be the “first county” in the nation to block oil and gas extraction, the Mora County Commission passed the ordinance titled the Mora “Community Bill of Rights” or “Mora County Community Water Rights Local Self-Governance.”  (go to article)

Go Erke -- What do the Chevrolet Cruze, Jeep Grand Cherokee and Mazda6 have in common? Generally, not much.

But this year all three vehicles will be offered with optional diesel engines, an unprecedented proliferation of a technology traditionally offered by German automakers.

"There's no shortage of manufacturers investing in (diesel engines)," said Jeremy Acevedo, an industry analyst with Edmunds.com. "Now, they just need to resolve its image. For a lot of consumers here in America, they think of loud, gurgling cars pluming smoke."

Today's diesel is a far cry from Grandpa's. Billed as "clean" or, as Jeep calls it, "eco," modern diesel fuel is an ultra-low-sulfur formulation with dramatically lower emissions than previous-generation diesels while also offering a peppier driving experience and up  (go to article)

USA Today - One million plug-ins -- In 2008, then-presidential candidate Barack Obama promised 1 million plug-in vehicles on the road by 2015. It seemed like a typical campaign-trail promise, but Obama stuck to it, reiterating the promise in his 2011 State of the Union speech.

Seems like the campaign promise will come up a bit short.

Despite numerous federal, state and local tax incentives, plug-in sales have trickled. Between December 2010, when the first Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf plug-ins went on sale, and April 2013, U.S. shoppers have bought just more than 95,000 plug-in cars, according to the Electric Drive Transportation Association — this despite more than 10 plug-in cars on the market in at least some states.

A million plug-ins were "pie-in-the-sky," CNW Marketing Research President Art Spinella said.  (go to article)

ABC -- It is something none of us like to see... the price of gas on the rise.

Our area has been hit hard by rising gas prices.

Two large oil refineries in Chicago are temporarily closed for maintenance and accidents at other Midwest refineries have sent gas prices above four dollars a gallon in some places.

Many of us are already making plans for the long holiday weekend coming up.

But these rising gas prices could put a dent in some of our travel plans.

We met a few cross country travelers to see how the increase in gas prices is affecting their chance for fun.

Some travelers are already hitting the road and getting a head start to Memorial Day weekend.

But everywhere you look, gas prices are on the rise.

And while some drivers are trying not to let the rising gas prices get them down,   (go to article)

Bloomberg -- Enron Corp.’s 2001 collapse revealed the extent of its manipulation of spot gas prices. Twelve years later, European Union regulators may discover energy traders never learned the lessons of the scandal. BP Plc (BP/), Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) and Platts were visited by EU inspectors last week over allegations they “colluded in reporting distorted prices” to manipulate the published prices of oil and biofuel products, the European Commission in Brussels said after the raids. Shell, London-based BP and Statoil ASA (STL), three of Europe’s biggest oil explorers, are under investigation for potential manipulation of prices in the $3.4 trillion-a-year global crude market. The involvement of McGraw Hill Financial Inc. (MHFI)’s Platts, which publishes pricing data, hearkens back to other pric  (go to article)

Wall Street Journal -- Prices of many commodities are down this year, but U.S. oil futures have rallied. Skeptics say the mismatch is a sign of trouble. U.S. benchmark crude-oil futures ended Friday at $96.02, up 4.6% since the start of 2013. Oil is a standout in a mostly dismal year for commodities, as the Dow Jones-UBS UBSN.VX +1.65% Commodity Index has fallen 5.6%. The decline has been even steeper for gold, copper and other former darlings. Oil isn't a gusher compared with stocks, such as the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which is up 16% this year. But some analysts and investors say oil's rise is remarkable because it came despite several factors that often push prices lower. For example, U.S. economic growth is tepid, domestic oil stockpiles are at their highest in more than three decades, the unemployment  (go to article)

Washington Post -- "...the public is very misinformed on the issue, with the average American believing that scientists are split 50/50 on the cause of global warming."
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Guardian Newspapers Limited -- Bankers’ accusations of trader price-rigging are fuelled by revenge — the real fixers are in OPEC

The bankers have finally got their revenge. Oil traders claim that influential bankers, furious that that their sector has been squeezed by regulators since the 2008 crash, have persuaded Brussels that oil traders should no longer be able to operate without the same rigorous rules. According to the bankers, oil traders behave worse than money brokers. And so the Eurocrats raided the offices of BP, Shell and Platts, comparing their investigation into oil price-rigging with the one into the bankers’ Libor scandal.  (go to article)

Associated Press -- The Coast Guard will kick off hearings Monday on how a Royal Dutch Shell PLC drill barge used for Arctic Ocean exploratory drilling ended up aground off a remote Alaska island.

The Kulluk was under tow and bound from the Aleutian Islands' Dutch Harbor to a Seattle shipyard when it ran into rough Gulf of Alaska water. It broke from its towing vessel, and after four days of futile attempted hookups, ran aground New Year's Eve in shallow water off Sitkalidak Island, near Kodiak Island.
 (go to article)

Associated Press -- Authorities believe the driver who plowed into dozens of hikers marching in a Virginia mountain town parade suffered from a medical condition and did not cause the crash intentionally, an emergency official said Sunday.

Officials did not have a formal confirmation or any specifics on the condition, but based on the accounts of authorities and witnesses on the scene, they are confident the issue was medical, according to Pokey Harris, Washington County's director of emergency management. "There is no reason to believe this was intentional," she said.
 (go to article)

motley fool -- Most people don't realize how much GM actually took from taxpayers, and how little it's given back. If I told you GM has repaid only $6.7 billion out of the $49.5 billion in loans it was given, would you be surprised? If I told you the expected loss to the U.S. Treasury of roughly $12 billion isn't even a fraction of the real cost, would you believe me? If not, you might be in for a nasty surprise.

Consider that the only true loan GM received from the U.S. government was for $6.7 billion at 7% interest, which it has since repaid. The majority of the nearly $50 billion was in stock purchases by the U.S. Treasury at a price that GM didn't lose money when recently rebuying shares.

Also consider that GM was "gifted" tax losses from the "Old GM" corporation in amounts of $45 billion.  (go to article)

The Motley Fool -- The gushing oil well at Spindletop Dome in Beaumont, Texas, is one of the most iconic images in the history of oil. When the well hit paydirt, oil spewed 150 feet into the air at a staggering rate of 100,000 barrels per day.

We've come a long way since that Spindletop gusher 112 years ago, and today's industry faces greater challenges finding new sources that can be sold at a reasonable rate of return.

On a recent conference call, Core Laboratories CEO David Demshur stated that outside some of the best spots in the U.S., oil producers in the U.S. will slow down exploration if oil prices are to remain below $90 for a sustained amount of time. Let's look at a few factors that might give some credence to Demshur's claim...  (go to article)

Smitsonian -- Visions of driverless cars zipping around on the highways of the future are nothing new. Visions of automated highways date back to at least the 1939 New York World’s Fair, and the push-button driverless car was a common dream depicted in such midcentury utopian artifacts as 1958's Disneyland TV episode “Magic Highway, U.S.A.” But here in the 21st century there’s a growing sense that the driverless car might actually (fingers crossed, hope to die) be closer than we think. And thanks to the progress being made by companies like Google (not to mention just about every major car company), some even believe that driverless vehicles could become a mainstream reality within just five years.  (go to article)

Business Insider -- Canada's oil sand mines will eventually produce up to 2 trillion barrels of oil and what that could mean for the environment has been debated for years. What's often overlooked though is a coke byproduct that results from refining the tar-like bitumen of the oil sands into oil.

Coke is a low-quality type of coal and the Marathon Petroleum plant in Detroit has made overlooking its role in the oil sands debate impossible to ignore. The refinery was built on the Detroit River more than 70 years ago but began refining Canadian oil sand deliveries just last November.

The coke waste started accumulating then. The New York Times writes that now the mound of coke towers three stories above the street, covers an entire city block, and is owned by Koch Carbon controlled by David and Charles Koch.  (go to article)

http://www.fivecentnickel.com -- Don’t ride your brakes. Driving with your foot on the brake not only wears out your brakes, but can also reduce fuel efficiency by 35%. Take your foot off the brake, and you can save the equivalent of $1.35/gallon.

Drive more smoothly. By accelerating and decelerating smoothly, you can improve your mileage by 33% on the highway and 5% around town. This works out to an equivalent of $0.68/gallon. See “Hack Your MPG” for my experience with driving smarter to save gas.

(tie) Check your air filter. Having a clean air filter can improve mileage by as much as 10%, or an equivalent of $0.39/gallon.
 (go to article)

Dallas Morning News -- Flower Mound resident Jay Squyres is passionate about going green.

He’s a proud owner of one of the first Tesla electric vehicles in the Dallas area. The car has “NO OPEC” emblazoned on the license plate.

But his strong — some might say extreme — commitment to solar energy has put him at odds with his homeowners association. It’s also prompted some officials to consider whether new regulations are needed to govern solar panels in residential areas.

Squyres is unapologetic about his quest to wean himself from fossil fuels.

“The state law says we can put [solar panels] on roofs and yards and they can’t stop them,” said the 44-year-old businessman, who was sued last year by the Wellington of Flower Mound Residential Association.

A mediated settlement was recently reached in the case.  (go to article)

Washington Post -- The Web site Insurance.com has created a tool that allows drivers to estimate the percentage rate increase for 14 common violations. It’s called the “Uh-Oh! Calculator.”

A ticket for not wearing your seat belt could increase your insurance rate by about 3 percent, according to Insurance.com, which provides consumer insurance information and quotes.

“We decided to develop the calculator because average rate increases for common traffic violations were not widely known or reported, yet everyone is curious about it,” said Michelle Megna, managing editor of Insurance.com. “Naturally, you know how much the ticket costs and you realize your car insurance rates are likely to go up, but after that, it’s a bit of a black hole. No one really knows what to expect in specific dollar amounts.”  (go to article)

kentucky.com -- The push for mass coal exports from Washington state, already facing a huge environmental battle, also could get hit with slowing Chinese demand for coal shipments.

The American coal industry, stung by a drop in U.S. demand, hopes to revive its fortunes by sending Rocky Mountain coal to Asia from proposed terminals near Bellingham and Longview, Wash.

But a recent report by Wall Street colossus Goldman Sachs says this will be a transformational year for China, with its seaborne coal imports dropping for the first time since the global financial crisis of 2007 and 2008 and continuing to decline in the coming years. China’s own coal production has spiked, Goldman Sachs said, along with investment in Chinese railroads to move its coal.

China, with its cities shrouded in smog, also is  (go to article)

cnbc.com -- The Obama administration's plan to expand exports of natural gas makes sense, and the price for the commodity shouldn't be kept artificially low, T. Boone Pickens said Wednesday on CNBC.

"The producers have gone out and drilled for the natural gas. They should be entitled to get the best markets in the world, so let them have it," the chairman of BP Capital Management and proponent of natural gas told "Squawk on the Street."

"Why would you try to keep natural gas prices down to favor other industries?" Pickens asked. "It doesn't make sense. When you export that natural gas, you're going to create a lot of jobs.

When asked about the response of U.S. companies, such as the private firm Koch Industries, to the prospect of rising natural gas prices, Pickens said they had already benef  (go to article)

Post-Gazette -- You've heard of house flipping. Now, lease flipping has come to Pennsylvania's natural gas fields.

A wave of investment firms hoping to cash in on drilling in the Marcellus Shale is appearing in deed books across the region. They operate much like traditional land agents, negotiating with landowners to secure rights to the lucrative shale gas underneath the acreage.

The difference? The landowners have already leased access to the land to gas drillers, and signing away the rights now can mean forfeiting any future royalties that may come with gas production.

"It's a gamble," said Martin Schardt, executive vice president of the American Association of Professional Landmen. "The landowner can get the money right now, or the company could drill on that land and it could be a real barn-burne  (go to article)

AP -- WASHINGTON (AP) — The Energy Department on Friday conditionally approved a Texas company's proposal to export liquefied natural gas, only the second such project allowed to move forward amid a production boom that has led to glut of domestic natural gas.

The action would allow Freeport LNG Expansion L.P. to export up to 1.4 billion cubic feet of liquefied natural gas per day from its terminal near Freeport, Texas, south of Houston. The DOE said granting such a permit for shipments to countries that do not have free trade agreements with the U.S. was in the public interest.

Freeport is the second export project to win Energy Department authorization, following the Sabine Pass LNG Terminal in Cameron Parish, La.

Energy companies are seeking federal permits for more than 20 export projects  (go to article)

WSJ --
Energy Firms Showcase Natural Gas Cars
North American energy producers are showcasing natural gas powered vehicles next month in an effort to drum up interest in using the fuel for mass-market passenger cars. Photo: BMW
 (go to article)

Bradenton Herald -- The oil industry is primed for resurgence in Southwest Florida.

Fueled by lofty oil prices, more efficient drilling techniques and the promise of untapped but also largely unproven reservoirs, at least a half-dozen companies plan to expand exploration across the region.

They've quietly spent between $10 million and $20 million over the last few years, by the estimate of one industry executive, to buy mineral rights covering massive swaths of Collier, Lee and Hendry counties.

Now, drilling is picking up, with companies reviving long-abandoned fields and low-producing wells in and bordering the Big Cypress National Preserve, the historic heart of oil operations that go back 70 years. They also aim to poke prospecting "wildcat" wells into new areas like a tomato farm in Immokalee and...  (go to article)

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette -- As a paid engineering intern the last two summers at Exxon Mobil's Joliet Refinery in Channahon, Ill., Megan DeGraaf worked on projects that her full-time colleagues considered low priority. But the results she produced on equipment and pipe designs were solid enough that the oil giant offered her a permanent position.

In August, the recent graduate of the University of Pittsburgh will join Exxon Mobil as a mechanical contact engineer at the Joliet downstream refinery where oil is processed for retail consumption.

Though she didn't set her sights on a career in energy when she enrolled at Pitt, Ms. DeGraaf joins a steadily growing number of women landing jobs in the burgeoning oil and gas industry.

Of 3,900 positions added in oil and gas nationwide in the first quarter of 2013, almost..  (go to article)

The Telegraph -- Up to 380,000 barrels of crude oil were previously produced by wells around the city of Raqqa and in the desert region to its east that are now in rebel hands - in particular Jabhat al-Nusra, the al-Qaeda off-shoot which is the strongest faction in this part of the country.

Now the violently anti-Western jihadist group, which has been steadily extending its control in the region, is selling the crude oil to local entrepreneurs, who use home-made refineries to produce low-grade petrol and other fuels for Syrians facing acute shortages.

The ability of Jabhat al-Nusra to profit from the oil locally, despite international sanctions which have hindered its sale abroad, will be particularly worrying to the European Union, which has voted to ease the embargo but at the same time wants to...  (go to article)

National Post -- Last Friday, a bizarre object fell from the skies above Vernon, B.C., and lodged itself in the trees on the edge of an elementary school field. When the dust settled, curious students found themselves gazing at the smashed remains of a Maverick, an experimental flying car resembling a miniature vintage roadster. Even stranger than its appearance, however, are the Maverick’s origins: Developed by Steve Saint, the son of an famed American Evangelical missionary who was killed by Ecuadorian tribesmen, the car was conceived in part as a high-tech way to conduct missionary work in some of the most remote corners of the world.

It’s a road-worthy, street-legal vehicle styled after a PT Cruiser or a Dodge Prowler; they were going for a 1950s look. And when we want to fly, we basically need to f  (go to article)

NewsOK HASTINGS, Neb. (AP) -- A Hastings ethanol plant that announced in February that it would temporarily shut down will not reopen.
The Ag Processing Inc. cooperative said Friday that it is permanently shutting down the 55-million-gallon-a-year plant, citing the plant's age and high utility costs associated with running it.

Officials had cited a slowdown in the economy, high corn prices and low oil prices for the temporary shutdown.
Matt Caswell, vice president of corporate relations with AGP in Omaha, said the company didn't see "any turn-around in the industry anytime soon."
Most of the plant's 43 employees found jobs within AGP's other operations in Hastings. AGP also operates a soybean processing plant, vegetable oil refinery and an AminoPlus production facility in the city.
APG says none of those facilities...  (go to article)

USA Today -- Making 1 million of anything is quite an achievement. But 1 million Jeeps is truly special.

It happened Friday at Chrysler Group's Toledo Assembly Complex in Ohio. As soon as the 2013 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 10th Anniversary Edition rolled off the line, there was a big celebration.

Symbolizing the cooperation that made it happen, the black Jeep was driven by a Chrysler Group vice president, Mauro Pino, and the United Auto Worker's Jeep Unit chairman, Local 12, Dan Henneman.

After all, the Jeep Wrangler is a symbol of America. Its forerunner having played a crucial role in winning World War II, today's Wrangler stands for blazing new trails and rugged American know-how. It's a product of the heartland.

"Every Jeep Wrangler sold to customers around the world is born in Toledo, Ohio," ...  (go to article)

Quad-City Times -- Lea Kaskadden of Davenport pulled up to the pump at the Sara Mini Mart at River Drive and Myrtle Street in Davenport in one of two SUVs she and her husband drive. Attached to this SUV was the couple’s boat.

The cheap gasoline was $3.89 a gallon.

“We’re filling up the SUV before gas goes any higher,” Kaskadden said, adding that she could not believe how fast fuel has risen in the past couple of weeks.

But it was the boat they wanted filled, she said, “before we put it in the water. On the river, gasoline is 50 to 60 cents a gallon higher.”

Sara Mini Mart store manager Aban Baral said the price of gasoline at his store has gone up about 60 cents in 10 days.

“We’re having trouble keeping stocks of gasoline because people are trying to buy it before it goes up even more,” Baral said....  (go to article)

Motley Fool -- First up are exploration and production companies, or E&Ps, which are tasked with actually finding the shale oil and getting it out of the ground. While they're in the riskiest part of the business, they can offer considerable upside, provided commodity prices don't collapse.

Over the past few years, many E&Ps have seen continuous efficiency improvements through pad drilling and other techniques, which has helped them lower costs while maintaining strong rates of production growth. In North Dakota's Bakken shale, for instance, Continental Resources, the leading producer in the play, reported a $1 million decline in its average well costs and 58% growth in production last year, while Kodiak Oil & Gas, an oil and gas junior that also has a major presence in the Bakken, said its well ...  (go to article)

CS Monitor -- The US Department of Energy approved Friday the country's first liquified natural gas (LNG) export terminal since 2011.

It's a shift in policy that opens up America's newfound – and vast – natural gas resources to world markets. Advocates say they will improve the US trade balance and provide a boost for the natural gas industry, creating more jobs. The announcement is also a boost to key US allies, especially Japan, which has been lobbying the Obama administration to allow LNG exports as it transitions away from nuclear power.

But US consumers and manufacturers have benefited from the oversupply in the form of lower energy costs. Natural gas prices, which in March 2012 reached a 13-year low, will soar with the increase in foreign demand, critics warn. There are environmental concerns, a  (go to article)