News & Links

Wed, 22 Feb 2012, Oil prices rise on continued concern about Iran (AP)

FILE - In this Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2012 file citizen journalism image provided by the Local Coordination Committees in Syria, anti-Syrian regime activist Khaled Abu-Salah stands in front of flames and black smoke from a bombed oil pipeline, in Baba Amr neighborhood in Homs province, central Syria. Syrian troops intensively shelled rebel-held neighborhoods in the restive central city of Homs, on Friday and killed at least five people, activists said. Britain and France urged the opposition to unite and said it needs more international support to resist the deadly government crackdown. (AP Photo/Local Coordination Committees in Syria, File) THE ASSOCIATED PRESS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS HANDOUT PHOTOAP - Oil prices rose Wednesday on the expectation that world supplies could be squeezed further because of ongoing tensions with Iran.



Read More...
Wed, 22 Feb 2012, A look at Iran's role in world oil markets (AP)
AP - The tensions over Iran's nuclear program have pitted the West against the world's third-biggest oil exporter.
Read More...
Wed, 22 Feb 2012, How gasoline demand is faring (AP)
AP - U.S. motorists have bought less gasoline every week for the past 48 weeks, according to a survey published Wednesday by MasterCard SpendingPulse. At the same time, prices have risen. Those trends should continue, say industry analysts.
Read More...
Wed, 22 Feb 2012, Gas prices up for 4th straight week in W.Va. (AP)
AP - Gas prices in West Virginia are about 46 cents higher per gallon compared with a year ago.
Read More...
Wed, 22 Feb 2012, MOEK settlement brings money to Mississippi (AP)
AP - Mississippi's share of a settlement from a minority partner in BP's blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexico will go into the state's Pollution Emergency Fund.
Read More...
Wed, 22 Feb 2012, Shell: Nigeria can produce 4M barrels of oil a day (AP)
AP - Nigeria could produce as much as 4 million barrels of oil a day, but production remains held back by chronic problems with the nation's government and the rampant theft of crude from pipelines, a top official with Royal Dutch Shell PLC said Tuesday.
Read More...
Wed, 22 Feb 2012, Chesapeake posts 4Q earning more than double (AP)
AP - Chesapeake Energy Corp. said Tuesday that its fourth-quarter profit more than doubled as the company benefited from hedging positions that offset lower prices for oil and gas.
Read More...
Tue, 21 Feb 2012, Speed puts community colleges front and center (AP)

In this Friday, Feb. 17, 2012 photo, Brian Gasiewski, who received training at Macomb Community College, removes an external housing for an industrial shock absorber from a CNC (computer numerical control) machine at Fitzpatrick Manufacturing Co. in Sterling Heights, Mich. The high-tech job shop crafts high-precision parts for machines used in everything from robotics to aerospace to drilling. Macomb Community College lies a few miles down the road in this Detroit suburb. Sometimes it's hard to tell where one ends and the other begins. Community colleges, long the under-loved stepchildren of American higher education, still don't get the dollars of their four-year counterparts, but they're standing very much in the spotlight these days. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)AP - Fitzpatrick Manufacturing Co. is a high-tech job shop, crafting super-precise parts for machines used in everything from robotics to aerospace to oil exploration. Macomb Community College lies a few miles down the road in this Detroit suburb.



Read More...
Tue, 21 Feb 2012, Wall St loses steam after Dow crosses 13,000 (Reuters)

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange February 16, 2012. REUTERS/Brendan McDermidReuters - Stocks ended little changed on Tuesday, paring gains after the Dow topped 13,000 for the first time since May 2008, and as higher oil prices damped prospects for the economy.



Read More...
Tue, 21 Feb 2012, Oil price climbs on fear Iran may stop more oil (AP)
AP - Oil prices have climbed to the highest level since May on concerns that Iran will cut off more oil to Europe. Here's how energy contracts traded on Tuesday.
Read More...
Tue, 21 Feb 2012, Are commodity merchants "swap dealers" by any other name? (Reuters)
Reuters - Big energy companies like Royal Dutch Shell and commodity merchants like Cargill have a simple argument in pushing back against looming new swap market rules: We're not a bank, so don't regulate us like one.
Read More...
Tue, 21 Feb 2012, As Workers Contain Blowout, Government Approves More Arctic Drilling (ContributorNetwork)
ContributorNetwork - As crews in Alaska on Friday were trying to contain a blowout at a oil well on the North Slope, the Obama administration was announcing additional energy exploration off the Arctic was commencing with the approval of an emergency response plan submitted by Shell Gulf of Mexico for the Chukchi Sea area. Here are the details.
Read More...
Tue, 21 Feb 2012, Gas Prices Unlikely to Hit $5 a Gallon in 2012 (ContributorNetwork)
ContributorNetwork - COMMENTARY | Every year at this time, the media dutifully starts to speculate whether gasoline prices will hit record highs in the summer. Last year, it was about Libya and the Arab Spring. The year before that was about possible inflation caused by the Federal Reserve's quantitative easing.
Read More...
Tue, 21 Feb 2012, Lawsuit over Exxon spill sent back to state court (AP)
AP - A federal judge has returned to state court a lawsuit by Montana landowners whose property was contaminated with crude oil from a broken Exxon Mobil pipeline.
Read More...
Tue, 21 Feb 2012, Cabot, Williams announce new Marcellus pipeline (AP)
AP - A natural gas driller and a pipeline company are proposing to build a new pipeline to carry natural gas from Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale to the New York and New England markets.
Read More...
Tue, 21 Feb 2012, UGA scientists to study effects of Gulf oil spill (AP)
AP - Three university of Georgia scientists have received a three-year grant to study the effects of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill on the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem.
Read More...
Tue, 21 Feb 2012, RI gas climbs 4 cents; up for 8th straight week (AP)
AP - The price of gas in Rhode Island is up four cents from last week and 18 cents in the past month.
Read More...
Tue, 21 Feb 2012, Arkansas gas prices up 20 cents since January (AP)
AP - The average price for a gallon of unleaded gas in Arkansas is $3.43 — which is 20 cents higher than it was a month ago.
Read More...
Tue, 21 Feb 2012, Anchorage gas prices jump 26.3 cents in 1 year (AP)
AP - A consumer group says gasoline prices in Anchorage are 26.3 cents higher than they were a year ago.
Read More...
Tue, 21 Feb 2012, AAA: Average prices of gas in Washington $3.64 (AP)
AP - The AAA auto club reports the average price of a gallon of gasoline in Washington is $3.64.
Read More...