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The U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation on Tuesday to impose sanctions on foreign companies that help supply gasoline to Iran, a move lawmakers hope will deter Tehran from pursuing its nuclear program. The bill authorizes President Barack Obama to levy sanctions on energy companies that directly provide gasoline to Iran along with the firms that provide insurance and tankers to facilitate the fuel shipments. The Senate is likely to approve a similar bill, but it is uncertain how soon it will vote.

Released on December 9, 2009 (Next Release on December 16, 2009) Short-Term Forecast is for Asian Oil Demand Growth With the emerging Asian economies rebounding from the global economic downturn faster than the G-7 economies, the Asia-Pacific region is the leading driver of global economic recovery and higher oil demand. Although the emerging Asian economies were generally less exposed to financial risks and credit default arrangements than the U.S. and European economies, many of them have taken strong stimulus measures throughout 2009 that are expected to boost domestic demand, financial credit, and greater investment in transportation and infrastructure. Growth in...

Has this been a trying decade for the average American, or what? It's bad enough that we've have had to cope with stagnant wages and tax increases at just about every level. But in the months ahead, we may have to deal with yet another nightmare: surging gasoline prices. Factors are lining up that could end up pushing gas prices back over $4 per gallon sometime next year. If you're already exasperated about prices at the pump, you're not the only one. Gasoline demand in 2009 has been comparatively low -- take 7.6 million Americans out of the workforce through...

<p>The most common deals under the government's $3 billion Cash for Clunkers program, aimed at putting more fuel-efficient cars on the road, replaced old Ford or Chevrolet pickups with new ones that got only marginally better gas mileage, according to an analysis of new federal data by The Associated Press.</p>

DETROIT (Reuters) - There's a simple way to get Americans to drive fuel-efficient cars, according to auto executives, but they are not going to like it -- sharply hike the gas tax. [snip] Gradually raising gas taxes to the point where fuel costs $4 to $5 at the pump will do more to stimulate demand in next-generation vehicles like General Motors Co's forthcoming Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid than any other policy initiatives...

We’ve been here before. The government mandates more fuel-efficient vehicles across the board, yet the American public continues to gravitate toward what’s big and powerful. Barring this era of greater responsibility and restraint, which might pass like a fleeting fancy with the recession, why not pick the bigger or more powerful car, we say? A lot of things are different this time around, though. Perhaps most remarkably, quite a few executives of automakers and major auto-supplier companies are voicing out in favor of higher fuel taxes—of more rigorous regulation of what types of vehicles can be built and sold—as a...

The US has every characteristic of a failed state.The US government's current operating budget is dependent on foreign financing and money creation.Too politically weak to be able to advance its interests through diplomacy, the US relies on terrorism and military aggression.Costs are out of control, and priorities are skewed in the interests of rich organized interest groups at the expense of the vast majority of citizens. For example, war at all cost, which enriches the armaments industry, the officer corps and the financial firms that handle the war's financing, takes precedence over the needs of American citizens. There is no...

<p>CATANO, Puerto Rico — An explosion at a Gulf gasoline facility Friday rocked a neighborhood outside Puerto Rico's capital, causing minor injuries and forcing evacuations as firefighters raced to prevent additional blasts.</p> <p>Several columns of black smoke and flames were rising from the Caribbean Petroleum Corp., a gasoline warehouse and distribution center on San Juan's bay that owns the Gulf brand in this U.S. Caribbean territory.</p>

Iran's oil minister has warned companies that sell gasoline not to halt deliveries to the Islamic Republic in response to Western sanctions moves, saying they would be dropped from its list of suppliers. The United States and its European allies are exploring ways of targeting fuel imports into Iran if the country continues to press on with its nuclear program. "If the suppliers of gasoline avoid exporting it to Iran...they will be eliminated from the National Iranian Oil Company's list of suppliers," business daily "Abrar-e Eqtesadi" quoted Oil Minister Massud Mirkazemi as saying. Iran, the world's fifth-largest crude oil exporter,...

Longview Lawn and Garden mechanic Jason Beasley said there's something distinctly different about gas blended with ethanol, and you can see that difference in as little as two weeks."The shelf life is reduced dramatically," Beasley said, referring to how long ethanol lasts before it can no longer fuel small engines. He said it doesn't prevent him from using ethanol. He just knows he can't store the fuel. Jimmy Isaac/News-Journal Photo (ENLARGE) Tricia Edson of Longview pumps gas Wednesday evening at Skinner's Grocery and Market. She said she and her husband buy ethanol-free gas to avoid damage to their vehicles and...

Could the U.S. block sales of refined gasoline to Iran as a way of ratcheting up pressure on Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Iranian regime? That's a prospect U.S. politicians have talked up for months. But as the U.S., Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China prepare for crucial talks with Iran in Geneva on Oct. 1, there's a growing realization that the strategy might not work. "The hype around blocking gas is hugely overdone," says Richard Dalton, who was British ambassador to Iran until 2006 and is now an associate fellow at the London think tank Chatham House. "People use this...

An early morning fire at Tesoro Corp's 100,000 barrel-per-day refinery in Wilmington, California, has been extinguished, according to local media.

Energy: We balk at importing "dirty" oil from Canada, but others aren't so reluctant. Exempt as a "developing" nation from Kyoto-like agreements, China has decided to help Canada develop its energy-rich oil sands.The Financial Post reports that PetroChina International Investment Co. has struck a deal to buy a 60% interest in Athabasca Oil Sands Corp.'s McKay River and Dover projects for $1.9 billion. China has been establishing energy beachheads around the world in its quest to keep its growing economy fueled. With possible conflict brewing between Israel and Iran, Beijing recognizes the need for reliable suppliers like Canada in an...

Energy Policy: A new study shows that Waxman-Markey will increase prices at the pump, deepen our dependence on foreign oil and shred our ability to turn crude into gasoline. Even fuel-efficient cars will still need fuel.Oil may bubble up out of the ground, but gasoline does not. It's made in those ugly little NIMBY places called refineries we are loath to build anymore because we're too busy trying to save the Earth rather than our economy and American jobs. When Hurricane Katrina shut down 20% of our refining capacity in a single day and raised gas prices in a single...

Get ready for the sugar shock. Raw sugar futures have almost doubled this year amid fears of a shortage, which could lead to slightly higher prices for candy but also a spike in the price of ethanol. Much of the rise in sugar prices has come in just the past few weeks as drier-than-normal weather in India, the world's largest consumer, threatens to leave production there far short of demand... The bigger impact may be felt at the gas pump, where the sugar shortfall is likely to drive up the cost of ethanol, increasingly used as a substitute for gasoline....

An Australian man burst into flames after a policeman hit him on the bridge of the nose with his Taser. Sound ridiculous? Not so much if you know the man was arrested on suspicion of huffing gasoline.The man pretty immediately went up in flames, and the officer, recognizing that a man becomes significantly less dangerous once he's on fire, went to the suspect's aid, patting him all over (and getting burned himself) to quell the flames. While the officer tried to help the flammable man, he was hit by rocks thrown by a young woman also on the scene, also...

Biofuels are a controversial topic. Some support switching to using natural gas (primarily methane), a substance that is in great abundance in America. Others, particularly corn farmers and the U.S. Department of Agriculture suggest switching to an ethanol-based economy. Still others advocate using sugar cane in more limited ethanol or biodiesel deployments. All of these approaches, though, share fundamental inefficiencies -- they require a car engine redesign to full take advantage of them. Modern dual mode vehicles can lose 15 percent or more efficiency. Houston, Texas-based Terrabon believes they have the answer. They have refined and improved on a Texas...

Minnesota has been an unofficial testing ground for using ethanol to fuel vehicles, but after years of steady increases, interest appears to be waning. Despite a push from the governor and an increase in the number of so-called flexible-fuel vehicles on the road — which can run on either gasoline or a mostly ethanol blend — sales of E85 have dipped in recent months, beyond the normal decline in winter months. In February, sales of E85, a cleaner-burning fuel consisting of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline, hit their lowest mark since 2006, according to a new report by...

Gasoline markets exhibited the first signs that an extended rally in pump prices is nearing an end after 52 straight days on the rise. Gasoline futures started falling midweek after a government report showed a huge surplus. Already, wholesale gasoline prices in key markets like the Gulf Coast and Chicago had begun to fade. Should prices continue to fall on the New York Mercantile Exchange, cheaper gas may be on the way for motorists.

There are several studies that prove this. UCSB's study is rather bold right up front in it's findings: Next time you step on a glob of tar on a beach in Santa Barbara County, you can thank the oil companies that it isn't a bigger glob. That's pretty clear, isn't it? There's a study out there from the US Government which has taken note of seepages and compared them with leaks that happen from offshore oil rigs and notes that rigs leak less than the ocean floor does. The Brits have also noticed the positive benefits of offshore riggery, though...

When gas tops three dollars a gallon and beyond, will the media blame Obama as it did Bush? On Obama’s inauguration day the average price of a gallon of gasoline in the US was about $1.80. It’s been climbing ever since. Let’s review the news from the past. On April 26, 2006, the Gallup News Service, in an article entitled “High Gas Prices Could Fuel a Further Decline in Bush’s Ratings,” the author wrote: “[T]he prospect of gas prices averaging more than $3 per gallon nationwide this summer could cause Bush's rating to sink even further. In the past, presidents...

Storage tankers across the globe may be brimming with oil that no one is buying because of the global economic downturn, but the traditional laws of supply and demand don't always apply to oil prices. Drivers have faced rising prices at the gas pump in recent months, as investors and oil-producing countries hoard supplies in anticipation of a global economic recovery later this year.

The Waxman-Markey bill is making just about every segment of the oil and natural-gas industry unhappy. Oil refiners would be hit, because they would likely be among the largest buyers of emissions allowances. In addition to covering their own emissions, the refineries that turn crude oil into gasoline, diesel and other fuels will be responsible for the carbon emissions from transportation. That puts the industry on the hook for some 44% of U.S. carbon emissions, according to the American Petroleum Institute, but it would receive just 2% of the emissions allowances available under the bill. Refiners would have to buy...

I admit to being confused.

During a recent flight from Denver to Grand Junction, Colo., I found myself sitting next to Harold L. Bennett, a 78-year-old civil engineer from Albuquerque. In addition to being on his way to a business meeting in Vernal, Utah, Bennett was on his way to securing the nation’s energy future. Before the 55-minute journey on the twin-prop aircraft ended, I learned three important things from Bennett: * First, I learned he has held the patent on the world’s only Clear Coal™ — not “clean coal” — technology since the early 1970s and has improved it twice; * Second, I learned...

THE Environmental Protection Agency is preparing to make an important and far-reaching decision this year that will affect more than 500 million gasoline engines powering everything from large pickups to family cars to lawn mowers: whether to grant the ethanol industry’s request to raise the maximum amount of ethanol that can be added to gasoline. ... Specifically, ethanol producers are asking that the maximum ethanol content in the most common blend of gasoline be increased from 10 percent — a limit set about three decades ago — to as much as 15 percent. The blend the industry hopes will become...

WASHINGTON — U.S. scientists have combined a discovery from a French garbage dump with breakthroughs in synthetic biology to come up with a novel method for turning plant waste into gasoline, without the need of any food sources. A synthetic biology lab at the University of California San Francisco identified a compound able to use biomass to produce a gas that can be converted into a gasoline chemically indistinguishable from fossil-fuel based petroleum.

Generally when people try to reduce Auto emissions they create a device that will clean the fumes after they leave the engine. Two years ago when Zion Badash was only 16 he came up with a device that solves the problem before the gas is consumed, and it works by getting the engine to burn he gas more efficiently producing less waste and higher MPG. The problem is that the combustion engine is not 100% fuel efficient, meaning that is does burn all the fuel. Unburned fuel is then emitted via the exhaust pipe as pollutants released into the atmosphere....

This month, Barack Obama announced his desire to eliminate nuclear weapons from the face of the Earth. The bold gesture was widely applauded. But is such a dream possible -- or even desirable? The National Post has asked leading pundits and experts to weigh in on the U. S. President's vision. Barack Obama's recent call for a "world without nuclear weapons" represents a daunting challenge in an era of increased nuclear proliferation. No more so than in the Middle East, where Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons is stirring similar ambitions throughout the region. At least 12 Middle Eastern countries, including...

Highlights: The price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil averaged $100 per barrel in 2008. The global economic slowdown is projected to reduce the average price to $53 per barrel this year. Assuming an economic recovery next year, WTI prices are expected to average $63 in 2010. Regular-grade gasoline prices have increased to more than $2 per gallon, rising slowly but steadily since the beginning of the year in conjunction with rising crude oil prices and refiner margins recovering from recent near-historic lows. During this summer driving season (April through September) regular gasoline retail prices are projected to average...

WASHINGTON – Gasoline prices are expected to be relatively low this summer, so motorists might want to take to the road despite the dismal economy if the federal government projections hold. The Energy Information Administration said regular-grade gasoline is expected to average $2.23 a gallon during the April-through-September driving season, although it will likely fluctuate and could jump to more than $2.30 a gallon during the peak driving period in late summer. But that's still a bargain compared with last summer, when gasoline cost an average of $3.81 a gallon. Much lower crude oil prices, which are projected to averaged...

Gas prices may not go up as much this spring and summer as expected. Traditionally prices jump in the spring and summer and AAA Auto Club South had offered $2.50 and $3 as potential summer prices. But the increase may not grow as much as previously predicted as U.S. gasoline inventories ended in March higher than normal for this time of year. The auto club pointed to a U.S. Department of Energy report that listed a continued decline in demand for gas, along with the availability of imported gas and the increasing use of ethanol as factors that have reduced...

postcrescent.com cannot be posted due to copyright complaint. http://www.postcrescent.com/article/20090407/APC0101/904070431/1979

An environmental group filed suit on Thursday to strike down the US average fuel economy standard for model year 2011 cars and light trucks that was issued March 27 by the Obama administration. The rule requires the vehicles to achieve an average standard of 27.3 mpg. The Center for Biological Diversity filed the lawsuit in the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. The group said in a statement that the standard is below the "maximum feasible level" required by the Energy Policy and Conservation Act. While the Bush administration's standard for model year 2011 proposed in 2008...

Surveillance video from a Phoenix gas station shows a man burst into flames when he lights a match while his friend pumps gas. According to the station's manager, the driver of the vehicle was pumping gas when his friend walked up and struck a match. The match caused an explosion, enveloping the match man in flames. WATCH - Click here to see the surveillance video. Surveillance video catches explosion on camera. When it happens a woman climbs out of the drivers side window, and someone rushes to grab a child from the backseat. Employees were able to get the pumps...

($) 1…2…3? With the U.S. average retail price for regular gasoline now above the $2 per gallon mark, many Americans may be wondering if even higher gasoline prices await this summer. Does the surge over $2 per gallon signal a re-run to the $3 level or higher this summer, adding to the budgetary strain already experienced by average consumers? Although future market conditions are highly uncertain, EIA does not see gasoline prices climbing to such levels this year. It does seem likely, however, that gasoline prices will average more than $2 per gallon this summer. On average, prices of crude...

High gasoline prices, much like 100-degree July days in Houston, have become a fairly predictable part of the summer in recent years. But this year, Americans should get some relief, if not from the heat, then at the pump. Gasoline prices will continue to increase as the summer driving season approaches but should still remain well below levels seen in recent years, when prices broke first the $3, and then the $4 a gallon barriers. “For retail prices, I expect we’ll see the national average for regular grade gasoline near $2.25 gallon by the May-June period, and about $2.25 to...

As a general rule, economic sanctions are a poor foreign policy instrument: hard to enforce (think Burma), prone to corruption (think Oil for Food), rarely effective (think Cuba). But in the case of Iran, let's make an exception. We say this after five years of futile diplomatic efforts -- spearheaded by the Europeans and backed by the Bush Administration -- to persuade Iran to abandon its nuclear programs and comply with binding U.N. Security Council resolutions. Now the only thing standing between the mullahs and a bomb is either punitive sanctions or a military strike, probably Israeli, which could engulf...

American gasoline demand may keep falling even as the economy recovers due to ambitious U. S. policy pushing alternative fuels and efficiency --a prospect that could force oil refineries to close. The outlook in the U. S. refining sector has reversed course since the heady days of 2002-07 when profits were soaring to all-time peaks and the government was pushing for construction of new plants to meet voracious demand. "It's more than just a business cycle," said Joanne Shore, lead analyst for the U. S. Energy Information Administration. "We know that this is a long-term change for gasoline demand." U....

SACRAMENTO – Gil Moore has been steadily selling off his gas stations across the state, unwilling to risk hefty fines or shutdown orders for not replacing old nozzles that release unhealthy toxins with every gallon pumped. “What a nightmare,” said Moore, who has sold about two dozen stations in the San Diego area and may shed another three amid the additional costs in a tough economy. Moore is one of many gas station owners in California dreading Wednesday – a long-standing state deadline for retrofitting pumps with technology that's cleaner, but more expensive.

SACRAMENTO — An issue that briefly brought President Barack Obama ridicule on the campaign trail last year is gaining traction in California, where air regulators are seeking to mandate proper tire inflation as a way to reduce fuel consumption. The state Air Resources Board today adopted a resolution requiring auto repair shops to check tire pressure every time drivers bring in their vehicle for maintenance, oil changes and smog tests. The next step is to develop detailed rules to implement the mandate, which will take effect in July 2010. Regulators say widespread awareness of having properly inflated tires could lead...

Released on March 25, 2009 (Next Release on April 1, 2009) All Eyes on OPEC Recently, EIA and other oil market forecasters have been paying close attention to how the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is adjusting to lower global oil demand and weaker oil prices brought on by the global economic recession. Crude oil prices are now almost $100 per barrel off their peak level last year, and most forecasters, including EIA, are projecting 2009 global oil demand to be over 1 million barrels per day (bbl/d) lower than in 2008. In response, OPEC has met four...

While U.S. gasoline demand (measured as deliveries) ticked up 2 percent for February, perhaps in response to lower prices, February diesel demand plunged 12 percent and jet fuel demand dropped 6.6 percent from a year ago, reflecting the faltering economy, according to API’s Monthly Statistical Report. Overall, total oil-product demand fell 3 percent from a year ago, marking the lowest demand for a February since 1999. With demand off, refinery inputs fell – by 2.9 percent from a year ago – to their lowest February level since 2002. Even so, industry gasoline production averaged over 8.8 million barrels per day,...

There was a post around here today, as there have been similar ones in the past, about the cost of oil, gasoline and natural gas. Some argued that gasoline prices are still too high, they are dreaming and just plain wrong. If you want to see a good layperson oriented view of the oil business you should spend 30 minutes or so looking at these slides. I don't agree with all Matt says but this is pretty much the straight poop. If you don't believe this presentation, you are delusional. There is no other polite option for you. As you...

Europe's growing gasoline surplus will continue to find a home via exports to North American markets in the coming decade despite a weakening of demand for the fuel in the US, delegates to a refining conference in Paris heard this week. According to oil consultants Wood Mackenzie, US refiners are increasingly vulnerable to an expected glut of global refining capacity which, together with falling demand for gasoline, is expected force heavy run cuts at US plants. Faced with cheap imports from Europe, US east coast refiners in particular are seen lowering their crude throughputs, mitigating the effect of weaker demand...

TOWSON, Md. – A jury is awarding about $150 million to nearly 300 people who sued Exxon Mobil over wells contaminated by a gasoline leak north of Baltimore. The Baltimore County jury awarded a majority of the families in the lawsuit about $1 million each for emotional distress Thursday. Other damages cover declining home values and lifetime medical monitoring. The jury didn't find Irving, Texas-based Exxon Mobil committed fraud, and therefore couldn't impose punitive damages. The plaintiffs had sought several billion in damages. About 26,000 gallons of gasoline leaked from a gas station in 2006 in the town of Jacksonville.

Released on March 11, 2009 (Next Release on March 18, 2009) Changing Expectations A lot has changed over the last several months, here in Washington with the new Administration, and across the U.S. and the rest of the world as economic conditions continue to deteriorate. It has been the latter change that has impacted EIA’s short-term global oil market forecast. In the latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), just released yesterday, EIA is projecting 2009 global oil demand to be 3 million barrels per day lower than we projected as recently as six months ago, in our September 2008 STEO. Why...

The ethanol industry is putting pressure on the Obama administration to allow higher levels of ethanol in gasoline, a step that auto makers and some public-health advocates have resisted amid concerns it could harm engines and air quality. On Friday, an ethanol trade group led by Wesley Clark, the retired Army general and 2004 Democratic presidential candidate, petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency to allow the ethanol levels in gasoline blends to be as high as 15%, up from the current 10%. Without the increase, the group said the U.S. won't be able to meet a congressional mandate requiring some 36...

Released on March 4, 2009 (Next Release on March 11, 2009) The Bakken Formation Helps Increase U.S. Proved Reserves of Oil This Week In Petroleum for January 28, 2009 noted that North Dakota had the Nation’s third largest increase in proved reserves of crude oil in 2007, 70 million barrels (17 percent). Most of this increase came from development of the Bakken Formation. What is the Bakken Formation and why does it matter? What is the Bakken Formation? The Bakken Formation contains a major onshore unconventional oil resource in Montana, North Dakota, and Saskatchewan, Canada. It has three distinct layers,...

President Barack Obama's first budget includes $15 billion a year for renewable energy programs and an ambitious plan to raise $646 billion from a carbon reduction proposal. "Because our future depends on our ability to break free from oil that's controlled by foreign dictators, we need to make clean, renewable energy the profitable kind of energy," Mr. Obama said Thursday morning. "That's why we'll be working with Congress on legislation that places a market-based cap on carbon pollution and drives the production of more renewable energy." The plan uses money from a cap-and-trade program — which would allow companies to...