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20 Sep 2011 00:33

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U.S.: Good news: Gas prices are down, but not from a year ago

  • $3.60 the average price of gasoline in the U.S.
  • -35¢ the decrease in price from May’s peak
  • +87¢ the increase in price from a year ago source
  • » What caused the increase? To put it simply, many analysts point to the civil war in Libya for inflating the price of gas, as it took 1 million barrels of oil out of the supply chain each day, raising the price of oil by $20 per gallon at its high point. The recent successes the rebels have had since NATO started its air strikes exactly six months ago tonight have helped to bring the prices down to more manageable levels. Seasonal factors are also at play, and with Labor Day behind us, gas prices should continue to decline through Christmas.
Posted by samimain • 0 Comments • Permalink

19 May 2011 17:18

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U.S.: Senate bill to expand offshore oil leasing fails

  • 42 “yes” votes in Senate vote to start offshore oil lease sales again source
  • » And 42 votes is, obviously, not enough. The Senate GOP brought this vote to the floor, and as it lost comfortably by eight votes, they probably considered it doomed to fail from the get-go. As such, this looks like a show vote, less designed to impact policy (though I’m sure the GOP wouldn’t have minded getting it through) than to court political favor. As increased offshore oil drilling would have minor if any effect on the domestic gas prices (global market and all that), this bill serves two goals: make people think Democrats are keeping gas prices high, and remind big oil that despite recent talk of stripping industry subsidies, the Republican Party still has their back.
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

19 Apr 2011 00:06

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U.S.: Gas Rising: Six states in the US pay at least $4.00 per gallon

  • $4.48 average cost per gallon for gas in Hawaii, the most expensive in the nation
  • $3.54 cost per gallon in Montana, the state with the cheapest gas
  • 26 days straight; that’s how long gas prices in the US have been rising source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 Mar 2011 16:06

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U.S.: President Obama argues for less imported oil

  • 25% the percentage of global oil production that’s consumed by the U.S.
  • 2% the percentage of global oil reserves under the control of the U.S.
  • 1/3rd the reduction in fuel imports Obama wants for the next decade source
  • » So, how do we get there? The nitty-gritty policy proposals President Obama spoke on seemed hauntingly familiar, with emissions standards, electric car production, (safety reviewed) nuclear power and natural gas all figuring into his pitch. These are all worthwhile possible answers or supplements to reduce foreign fuel imports, but will Congress has the desire, or failing that the collective will, to act on issues they’ve to this point been pretty willing to pass on? Especially with a Republican-led House, whose leadership is demonstrably opposed to emissions standards, it’s a worrisome possibility that this effort, like so many over the last thirty years, will fall by the wayside.
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Mar 2011 23:46

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World: Libyan rebels sign oil export deal with Qatar

  • We are producing about 100,000 to 130,000 barrels a day. We can easily up that to about 300,000 a day.
  • Libyan rebel spokesman Ali Tarhouni • The rebels have reportedly signed a deal with Qatar under which they’ll export oil to the nearby country. Ahh, oil politics, we’ve missed you. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Mar 2011 16:08

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Tech: Probe: Blame design flaws, not just BP, for Gulf Oil Spill

  • Hey, let’s not forget about this: A report compiled by risk management firm Det Norske Veritas on last year’s oil spill in the Gulf came out today. (They were hired by the federal government, not BP, by the way.) They claim that design flaws scuttled the blowout preventer; as the well lost control, the drill pipe bent and buckled, which blocked the shear rams. Shear rams are the means by which the blowout is supposed to be prevented, as they’d cut through the drill pipe to safeguard against the well’s pressure level. Sadly, these sort of industrial fail-safe systems don’t always work as well in reality as in theory. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Mar 2011 10:41

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Biz, World: The single most cringe-worthy quote on Japan you’ll see today

  • Japan has some of its industry curtailed, like auto and steel — but that’s not going to last too long. People are starting to realize that there [sic] economy is not going to be shut down for long — and they’re going to have to start to look for alternative fuel sources.
  • INFA Energy Brokers CEO Brad Schaeffer • Suggesting that Japan will have to switch its energy sources to an alternative source. But Schaeffer means “alternative” in the way one might call a band like Nickelback “alternative” — see, he thinks that Japan should move to oil. “Remember, they need to get their nation back on their feet,” he says. “They aren’t worrying about their carbon footprint so much. They’re thinking we need to get oil here now – so we can get our generators up and running.” While there’s some grain of truth here, we wonder how much of what he’s saying is wishful thinking, seeing that he’s the CEO of an energy-brokering company. Quotes like these? They seriously make us cringe. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

07 Mar 2011 01:02

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Biz: Mideast ripple effect: Gas prices’ second-highest spike ever

  • 32.7¢ the increase in gas prices in the past two weeks, caused by the drama in the Middle East – the second-largest jump on record
  • 38.44¢ the largest jump in gas prices on record, which happened in 2005 – immediately after this storm called Hurricane Katrina source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Feb 2011 22:33

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U.S.: The downside of placing a moratorium on deepwater drilling

  • 8,000 jobs lost due to recent oil drilling restrictions source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 Feb 2011 01:08

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U.S.: Texas company: Give us money and trees, and we’ll give you fuel

  • $1 billion to make gasoline out of wood chips source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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