Free Republic

Russia cut gas exports to Europe by 60 per cent today, plunging the continent into an energy crisis 'within hours' as a dispute with Ukraine escalated. This morning, gas companies in Ukraine said that Russia had completely cut off their supply. Six countries reported a complete shut-off of Russian gas shipped via Ukraine today, in a sharp escalation of a struggle over energy that threatens Europe as winter sets in. Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, Romania, Croatia and Turkey all reported a halt in gas shipments from Russia through Ukraine. Croatia said it was temporarily reducing supplies to industrial customers while Bulgaria...

Moscow (AFP) - Russia's Gazprom giant on Wednesday urged the European Union to link up to its planned energy pipeline to Turkey or lose the gas that now transits Ukraine. Gazprom chief Alexei Miller reminded the new European Commissioner for Energy Union, Maros Sefcovic that the South Stream project to deliver gas to Europe through Ukraine has been scrapped. Hence, "the Turkish Stream is the only route along which 63 billion cubic metres of Russian gas can be supplied, which at present transit Ukraine. There are no other options," he said...

Taking direct aim at the oil-and-gas industry, President Obama on Wednesday put forth long-awaited regulations on methane emissions, setting an ambitious goal of reducing those emissions by 45 percent over the next decade. The move comes just days before the State of the Union address and underscores that, in the final two years of presidency, Mr. Obama is looking to cement his legacy on climate-change and environmental issues...

The Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party will present a unified front this year in favor of a transportation funding package, including about $1 billion of increased taxes and fees. Legislative DFL leaders unveiled a proposal Monday that dovetails closely with Gov. Mark Dayton's plan, along with that of advocacy group Move MN: almost $600 million per year in new gasoline taxes, plus $125 million in vehicle registration fees and hundreds of millions of dollars more for metro-area mass transit. The plan forestalls the possibility of a three-way fight among Dayton, the DFL majority in the Senate and House Republicans -- who oppose any...

A large number of US troops were observed leaving Fallujah on Tuesday, with speculation that the withdrawal was due to Sunday night's attack by Mujahideen who reportedly fired rockets loaded with Sarin gas at a nearby US base. Dozens of US vehicles loaded with American troops were seen leaving Fallujah on Tuesday morning, heading for the Iraqi capital of Baghdad. In a report filed at 4:25pm Mecca time Tuesday afternoon, the correspondent for Mafkarat al-Islam reported from International Highway 1, saying that hat he had witnessed more than 90 US vehicles including tanks, and armored vehicles, being transported on giant...

June 23, 2006: The revelation that Coalition forces have discovered about 500 shells containing chemical weapons (mostly sarin nerve gas and mustard gas) since 2003, most of which are pre-1991 Gulf War vintage, leads to the question as to why the U.S. waited so long to reveal this. The U.S. government has taken a beating for supposed failures to find weapons of mass destruction in the press, and from political opponents. There have been some discoveries that have made the news, most notably an incident in May, 2004, when terrorists used a 155-millimeter shell loaded with sarin in an IED....

Gas prices are plunging across the country, a product of surging U.S. energy production that has put the country in the same company as Saudi Arabia and Russia. However, in a strange twist of fate, that same dynamic is bringing to the fore a topic once thought to be anathema, especially in a Republican-dominated Congress: higher gas taxes. The drop in fuel prices has occurred for a record 102 consecutive days, according to the AAA, putting more than $14 billion of disposable income in consumers' pockets. However, the federal gas tax has been lodged at 18.4 cents for more than...

"You better believe it is gonna go down more," Alwaleed bin Talal said.Saudi royal prince Alwaleed bin Talal says in a new interview that the days of $100-a-barrel oil are a thing of the past, as oil prices continue to drop around the globe. Asked by USA Today if prices, recently below $50 a barrel, would continue to plunge, Talal answered: “If supply stays where it is, and demand remains weak, you better believe it is gonna go down more. But if some supply is taken off the market, and there’s some growth in demand, prices may go up. But...

Myles UdlandJanuary 15, 2015Good morning! It is a new week and crude oil is making new lows.(snip)(snip)

Washington, DC – Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell today issued a Secretarial Order calling for a comprehensive science-based strategy to address the more frequent and intense wildfires that are damaging vital sagebrush landscapes and productive rangelands, particularly in the Great Basin region of Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Oregon and California. The strategy will begin to be implemented during the 2015 fire season. Goals include reducing the size, severity and cost of rangeland fires, addressing the spread of cheatgrass and other invasive species, and positioning wildland fire management resources for more effective rangeland fire response. “Targeted action is urgently needed to...

Governor Dayton wants to build billions of dollars worth of roads and bridges during the next 10 years, but he's not doing much bridge-building with House Republicans. At a news conference, he slammed their $750 million transportation plan that doesn't call for any new taxes. "The panel of experts I convened said there's a $6 billion shortfall over the next 10 years and their response yesterday was $200 million from the general fund and $550 million from la-la land," Dayton told reporters at a news conference Friday morning. Dayton also accused Republicans of not even wanting to solve the problem.

The fiscal impact of the ethanol mandate is huge — Michaels estimated it totals “billions, easily” in direct and indirect money — but it has come under attack by liberals as well as conservatives and appears to have lost some of its clout on Capitol Hill. For example, the Environmental Protection Agency — which administers the Renewable Fuel Standard — is considering a cut to the amount of ethanol blended into the nation’s gasoline supply. ... a growing number of environmentalists want the ethanol requirement eliminated, too. ... In 2007, Congress passed and President George W. Bush signed into law...

It's getting serious now: On Wednesday, West Texas Intermediate futures tested a low of $46.83 a barrel before rebounding. That's down nearly 57 percent from the summertime high of $107.68 and pushing toward the depths last seen during the 2008 financial crisis and recession that followed. Wholesale gasoline futures tested a low of $1.31 a barrel. The wipeout in energy prices has been covered on all angles in recent months — including my recent piece on the negative repercussions for the U.S. economy, corporate earnings, and energy independence. Now, the focus is increasingly turning to how bad the damage could...

Gov. Mark Dayton walked into unfriendly territory Wednesday to pitch his plan for a gas tax increase to fund transportation needs. Surrounded by business leaders at a Minnesota Chamber of Commerce dinner, Dayton reiterated his call to raise $6 billion over 10 years by applying the sales tax to gasoline and imposing a series of fee increases. But minutes before Dayton took the stage, a chamber leader repeated the position of the business group: Road work should be paid for without raising taxes and fees. "I know there are things about state government and my administration's policies that you don't...

When prominent members of both political parties talk about the possibility of taxing fossil fuels – you know something serious has shifted in U.S. politics. On Monday morning, former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, a largely pro-business Democrat, published a column in The Washington Post calling for the imposition of a carbon tax.

(WASHINGTON, December 29, 2014) Average gas prices in two states – Missouri ($1.93) and Oklahoma ($1.98) – have dropped below $2.00 per gallon for the first time since 2009. The national average has fallen 95 days in a row for a total of $1.06, and prices have plummeted $1.38 (nearly 40 percent) since the start of June. The national average price for regular unleaded gasoline is $2.29 per gallon, and motorists are saving 11 cents per gallon compared to one week ago, 49 cents compared to one month ago and $1.02 per gallon compared to this same date last year....

Stefano Pozzebon and Reuters January 5, 2015 U.S. crude and Brent futures dropped to fresh 5-1/2-year lows on Monday as worries about a surplus of global supplies amid weak demand continued to drag on oil markets. At 11.30am GMT (6.30am ET) Brent was trading at $55.35 a barrel, losing 2%. Previously, it temporally slipped as low as $55.16, its the lowest values since May 2009. Here is a chart of how it looked at 11.30am GMT (6.30am ET): Brent 5.1.15 11.30am Investing.com U.S. crude slid as low as $51.40 a barrel, also its lowest since May 2009, and at 11.35am...

Recent Price Plunge Looks Good After Years of High Costs, but Fill-Ups Were Less Expensive From 1986-2003 U.S. gasoline prices are the lowest they’ve been in five years. And they feel even cheaper because they come on the heels of the highest gas prices consumers have paid in three decades.In 2012, the national annual average for a gallon of regular unleaded gas—the yardstick for gauging prices—hit a high of $3.77, capping a series of years in which the average exceeded $3 a gallon. Before that, the last time the average was so high was in the early 1980s, when, adjusted...

The average price for a gallon of gas has dropped for 99 days in a row, with six states – Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma and Missouri – having average prices under $2 for the first time since 2009, according to price surveys Friday. Prices have plummeted about 40 percent since the start of June. Put another way, the Auto Club estimates that Americans are saving $500 million -- per day, each day – compared to the high prices paid last spring, allowing that money to be spent with businesses other than oil companies or just kept in the savings...

Minnesota's highway needs can't be met without more tax revenue, Gov. Mark Dayton said Tuesday -- setting him up for a possible clash with the new Republican majority in the House. Dayton is finalizing his 2016-17 budget proposal, which aims to raise what he says is the $6 billion Minnesota's roads need over the next 10 years. The plan calls for a 6.5 percent wholesale surtax on gasoline -- separate from the existing 28.5 cents-per-gallon tax already levied. That means the tax would bring in more money when gas prices increase. "Our transportation systems are getting worse," Dayton said. "Anybody...