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Burning up cash: are UK energy suppliers ripping us off?

Forget wicked stepmothers, ugly sisters, and even bank bosses. The heads of Britain’s energy companies are rapidly becoming the new villains for today’s hard-pressed consumers. Ed Miliband’s promise in September to freeze energy prices for 20 months if Labour comes to power in the next election resonated across the country – and put the Conservatives on the back foot. Where your money goes Former prime minister Sir John Major’s suggestion this week of a windfall tax on energy companies kept the pressure on the coalition government. The rising cost of electricity and gas has now become a key battleground ahead of the next election, expected in 2015. Mr Miliband’s promise struck a chord with the public precisely because its trust in whether energy companies provide a fair deal has fallen with each increase in domestic tariffs. Too often, bills appear to jump quickly when wholesale prices rise, but only […]

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Rice Offers a More Modest Strategy for Mideast

WASHINGTON — Each Saturday morning in July and August, Susan E. Rice , President Obama ’s new national security adviser, gathered half a dozen aides in her corner office in the White House to plot America’s future in the Middle East. The policy review, a kind of midcourse correction, has set the United States on a new heading in the world’s most turbulent region. At the United Nations last month, Mr. Obama laid out the priorities he has adopted as a result of the review. The United States, he declared, would focus on negotiating a nuclear deal with Iran, brokering peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians and mitigating the strife in Syria. Everything else would take a back seat. That includes Egypt, which was once a central pillar of American foreign policy. Mr. Obama, who hailed the crowds on the streets of Cairo in 2011 and pledged to […]

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Wave of Car Bombs in Iraq Kills Dozens

BAGHDAD — Ten car bombs targeting Shiite neighborhoods hit the Iraqi capital Sunday morning. All 10 bombs went off within 40 minutes, starting from 9:30 a.m. Forty-one civilians were killed and more than 100 others were wounded, according to security and medical officials. Ambulances rushed to hospitals and security forces tightened measures around checkpoints to search each passing car, creating a traffic jam. Most of the bombings targeted public markets and bus stations. In Huriya, a neighborhood in the northwestern part of Baghdad, five people were killed and 12 were wounded when a bomb exploded in a parked car near a public market. In Abu Dshir in southern Baghdad, another bomb in a parked car went off near a public market, killing six civilians and wounding 13 others. Other car bombs targeted the districts of Saba al-Bor, Mashtal, Baladiyat, Ur, Bayaa and Nahrawan, where two bombs exploded. “I don’t […]

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Libya almost dares to long for Gadhafi

Members of the Revolutionary Committees Movement hold posters of Libya’s leader Muammar Gadhafi. “As you know, our nation is facing an enormous security challenge manifested by the proliferation of arms and the government’s inability to solve the problem … Many forces are working to undermine our efforts to establish a national military institution, and they are harming the training program the government adopted, with international forces, to build the army.” These words were written this week by Libya’s interim prime minister, Ali Zeidan, in a statement distributed to the Libyan media. Among the examples Zeidan lists in his long missive, he mentions that three important Libyan ports – as-Sidra, Ras Lanouf and Zwitina – have fallen under the control of armed militias, which are preventing their operation. “Our efforts to resolve the crisis by offering to pay for stolen arms turned into the authorities, enlisting influential tribal leaders, and […]

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Marathon struggles to exit Libya as unrest grows

LONDON Oct 25 (Reuters) – Libya has blocked efforts by U.S. company Marathon Oil to sell its stake in one of the country’s top oil ventures by moving to preempt a deal, sources said, highlighting the struggle investors face in cutting exposure to Libya’s unrest. Two years of turmoil since the Arab Spring and tough contract terms have prompted oil firms to reassess their role in Libya, and U.S. companies appear keenest to leave as they lack the proximity and infrastructure links that make North Africa attractive to their European peers. Sources told Reuters in July that Marathon was considering the sale of its stake in Libya’s Waha Oil Company, which has a maximum output capacity of 350,000 barrels per day (bpd) and produces the OPEC member’s main light sweet crude grade. Oil Minister Abdelbari Arusi later said Libya’s National Oil Corp (NOC) could buy Marathon’s stake though other […]

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Israel dismisses reports Iran halting higher-grade enrichment

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel on Saturday dismissed as "irrelevant" reports that Iran had halted its most sensitive uranium enrichment activity, and said Tehran’s nuclear program must be dismantled. A senior member of Iran’s parliamentary national security commission was quoted as saying Iran had stopped refining uranium above the 5 percent required for civilian power stations, as it already had all the 20-percent enriched fuel it needed for a medical research reactor in Tehran. But diplomats accredited to the U.N. nuclear watchdog said they had no confirmation Iran had halted enrichment of uranium to 20 percent – a sensitive issue because it is a relatively short technical step to increase that to the 90 percent needed to make a nuclear warhead. "The discussion on whether or not Iran has ceased 20 percent enrichment is irrelevant," said an Israeli official. Israel fears its arch enemy Iran is developing atomic weapons capability, […]

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Egyptian police use teargas on protests in Alexandria and Suez

CAIRO (Reuters) – Police used teargas on Friday to disperse demonstrations by supporters of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Mursi in Egypt’s second city, Alexandria, and in Suez. Mursi’s supporters have staged frequent protests in towns and cities across Egypt, many of them following Friday prayers, since the army deposed him on July 3 in response to mass protests against his rule. In Suez, police fired tear gas to disperse around 4,000 pro-Mursi demonstrators, a local witness said. And in Alexandria, around 1,000 demonstrators backing Mursi and his Muslim Brotherhood blocked the Corniche, the main road along the Mediterranean seafront, and chanted slogans against the army and police, a witness said. Residents and drivers threw stones at the demonstrators to try to force them to let traffic through, which triggered clashes. Police responded by firing teargas to disperse the crowds. Two people were arrested, the witness said. Residents and pro-Mursi […]

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U.S. Energy Rigs Drop by One to 1,738, Baker Hughes Says

Rigs targeting oil and natural gas in the U.S. declined by one this week to 1,738, according to Baker Hughes Inc. (BHI) Oil rigs dropped four to 1,357, data posted on the company’s website show. The gas count rose four to 376, the Houston-based field services company said. Miscellaneous rigs fell by one to five. The U.S. total count has declined by 44 since Aug. 2 as producers adopted new technologies to shorten drilling times and boost well productivity in shale formations, weakening demand for new equipment. The amount of crude produced per rig in the U.S. has surged to a record in both North Dakota ’s Bakken and Texas ’s Eagle Ford plays, according to the Energy Information Administration. “New technologies for drilling and producing natural gas and oil have made traditional measures of productivity, such as a simple count of active rotary drilling rigs, obsolete,” the EIA, […]

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Freed politician, thousands protest in Bahrain

AP Photo MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) — Thousands of people have marched in the tiny Gulf kingdom of Bahrain, demanding more reforms in the country. Among the protesters Friday was prominent opposition figure Khalil al-Marzooq, freed Thursday as he faces charges of encouraging violence. He has denied any support for bombings and other attacks, which have been on the rise. Protesters chanted anti-government slogans Friday and some masked youths confronted police. An Associated Press journalist saw police fire tear gas at demonstrators. Bahrain has been gripped by nonstop unrest after the kingdom’s Shiite majority began an uprising in early 2011 calling for a greater political voice. Many protesters and other senior opposition figures have been jailed during crackdowns in the strategic island nation, which is home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet. © 2013 The Associated Press . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or […]

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Crude Rises for Second Day on Durable Goods Orders

West Texas Intermediate crude rose for a second day, paring the sixth decline in seven weeks, as orders for durable goods increased the most in three months and the U.S. stock markets gained. Prices advanced 0.8 percent after the Commerce Department said bookings for goods meant to last at least three years increased 3.7 percent. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index extended a third straight weekly gain as revenue from Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) and Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) topped estimates. WTI capped a third weekly loss as rising production boosted U.S. crude inventories. “The strong durable goods number would suggest strong demand for oil and that’s giving the market some support,” said Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at the Price Futures Group in Chicago . “What the bulls are hanging onto is that we probably will get a little bit of a rally because the market is pretty oversold. The […]

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Ethiopia sees oil and gas exploration, but rebels are a threat

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, Oct. 25 (UPI) — Amid East Africa’s oil and gas boom, the more adventurous oilmen are starting to gravitate toward the vast Ogaden desert region of Ethiopia, where drilling activity has been sparse since rebels attacked an exploration team in 2007, killing nine Chinese and 65 Ethiopians. Oilmen believe Ethiopia lies on the same oil-bearing strata as the massive discovery in Kenya by British-based Tullow Oil in early 2012. Initial estimates are that Ethiopia has oil reserves of around 2.7 billion barrels. That’s a modest enough total in global terms, but it’s a potential bonanza for an impoverished state like Ethiopia, which has been land-locked since Eritrea broke away to form an independent state on the Red Sea in 1991 after a 30-year separatist war. The Horn of Africa country has not produced any oil in commercial quantities since its first oil seep was reported in […]

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Scottish wind farm expansion to result in 102 megawatts of power

EDINBURGH, Scotland, Oct. 25 (UPI) — The Scottish government said Friday it has agreed to plans to expand a wind farm so it will generate more than 100 megawatts of power for consumers. “The proposed extension to the wind farm, which will be developed by Mid Hill Wind Limited, is to have nine turbines, bringing the total number of turbines to 34 and have a maximum generating capacity of 102 megawatts,” the government said. “The farm could power the equivalent of more than 48,000 homes in the area.” The government said 52 of the 56 applications under consideration for new energy projects are for onshore wind developments. Scotland has one of the most ambitious renewable energy targets in the world. It set a goal of generating 100 percent of its electricity from renewable resources by 2020. “Wind farms, like Mid Hill, provide considerable benefits to their local community and […]

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Association of American Railroads reports oil-by-rail increase

WASHINGTON, Oct. 25 (UPI) — The American Association of Railroads said 13,644 carloads of petroleum and petroleum products were carried on U.S. rail systems during the past week. The industry trade group said that equated to about 9.55 million barrels of oil and marked a 15.5 percent increase from the previous week. The AAR said a cumulative 564,733 carloads, or 395 million barrels of oil, were delivered by rail as of Thursday, a 34.8 percent increase from the same time last year. An accelerating pace of oil production in the United States has placed a burden on existing pipeline capacity, industry officials say. Oil production has increased in part because of gains from states including Texas and North Dakota. The AAR said its total for U.S. operations excludes deliveries from Canadian National Railway Co. and Canadian Pacific Railway. N.C. GOP official resigns after ‘lazy black people’ comment Orlando Bloom […]

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U.S. energy secretary calls for cut to economic ties to oil

WASHINGTON, Oct. 25 (UPI) — An increase in U.S. oil production doesn’t mean the economy is shielded from the global market, U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said. “It would be a misconception to think because of our increased domestic production that somehow we have become free of the global oil market, the global oil price and global oil price volatility,” he said during a speech Thursday at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. The Energy Information Administration, the statistics arm of the Energy Department, said in an Oct. 8 report U.S. crude oil production should increase from the expected annual 2013 average of 7.5 million barrels per day to 8.5 million bpd in 2014. The EIA said imports of foreign oil, meanwhile, have been falling steadily since at least 2005. Moniz said despite the increase in oil production, the economy continued to depend heavily on fossil […]

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Irish energy chief Pat Rabbitte attends launch of Tipperary wind farm

DUBLIN, Ireland, Oct. 25 (UPI) — A 40-megawatt wind farm now under construction in central Ireland will help the country move closer to its renewable energy targets, a government minister said. “Ireland has a challenging European Union renewable energy target to meet by 2020, which includes meeting 40 percent of electricity demand from renewable sources,” Energy and Natural Resources Minister Pat Rabbitte said Thursday at the launch of the wind farm in central Brukhana country in Tipperary. “We are making progress towards this target, however, and development of renewable generation of the scale we will see at Bruckhana is crucial for maintaining the rate of build necessary to achieve our EU target.” State utility company Bord na Mona is in charge of construction of the wind farm. No date for completion was given. The Irish government said it’s committed to meeting 40 percent of electricity demand through renewable resources […]

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White House, Congress Clash on Iran

WASHINGTON—The White House is pressing Congress to hold back on new sanctions against Iran, pitting the administration’s hopes for a re-energized diplomatic engagement against the growing concern of some lawmakers and foreign allies. The Obama administration is arguing that diplomatic efforts need more time to contain Tehran’s nuclear program. But a number of Republican and Democratic lawmakers want to bring a new sanctions bill targeting Iran’s oil exports and finances to a Senate vote by the end of next week. A similar bill cleared the House of Representatives in July and is waiting to be reconciled with the Senate’s. “Iran needs to immediately end its systematic noncompliance with the repeated demands of the U.N.,” said Rep. Eric Cantor (R., Va.), the House majority leader. “We all want negotiations to succeed, but time is clearly running out.” Senators have delayed action once already, after Wendy Sherman, the undersecretary of state, […]

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Energy Boom Puts Wells in America's Backyard

Over the summer, something sprang up in the view from Dorsey Johnson’s back deck north of Denver, where she watches sunsets over Colorado’s front range. It was a noisy, towering rig, drilling a new oil well. “There was clanking. There were trucks going by,” she says. All she wanted was for the rig to go away. Across the U.S., new oil and gas wells have turned millions of people into the petroleum industry’s neighbors. For many, the oil and gas companies are welcome newcomers bearing checks. Others consider the new arrivals loud, smelly and disruptive. The drilling boom is firing up resentment in some communities when one person’s financial windfall means their neighbors abut a working well. The Wall Street Journal analyzed well location and census data for more than 700 counties in 11 major energy-producing states. At least 15.3 million Americans lived within a mile of a well […]

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Energy Boom Puts Wells in America’s Backyard

Over the summer, something sprang up in the view from Dorsey Johnson’s back deck north of Denver, where she watches sunsets over Colorado’s front range. It was a noisy, towering rig, drilling a new oil well. “There was clanking. There were trucks going by,” she says. All she wanted was for the rig to go away. Across the U.S., new oil and gas wells have turned millions of people into the petroleum industry’s neighbors. For many, the oil and gas companies are welcome newcomers bearing checks. Others consider the new arrivals loud, smelly and disruptive. The drilling boom is firing up resentment in some communities when one person’s financial windfall means their neighbors abut a working well. The Wall Street Journal analyzed well location and census data for more than 700 counties in 11 major energy-producing states. At least 15.3 million Americans lived within a mile of a well […]

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Chinese Energy Deals Focus on North America

Chinese oil companies have been on a global shopping spree—especially in the rejuvenated North American oil industry. Since 2008, the companies have spent $44.2 billion to acquire U.S. and Canadian energy firms as well as oil and gas fields, according to merger-tracking firm Dealogic. That is more than these large, state-owned Chinese companies spent in Africa, Latin America, Europe or any other part of the world. Chinese companies have bought interests in U.S. shale ventures controlled by U.S. and European companies, acquired considerable properties in Canada’s gigantic oil-sands deposits and picked up some conventional oil and gas wells. The Chinese companies have been very quiet about the strategies behind their purchases, and their representatives in North America didn’t respond to repeated requests for comment. But experts say the Chinese are interested in Western technology advances, seek large-scale oil and natural-gas assets and may want to reduce China’s dependence on […]

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Crude-Oil Futures Mount Modest Recovery

NEW YORK –Crude-oil futures prices were modestly higher Friday, taking a respite from a $4-a-barrel slide this week on rising inventories and weak refinery demand. News of stronger-than-expected U.S. durable-goods orders helped front-month crude oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange move higher, but analysts caution the near-term outlook remains weak. Nymex prices got a lift as new orders for long-lasting items ranging from refrigerators to aircraft climbed by 3.7% in September, compared with economists’ calls for a 2.5% gain. “The number was higher than expected and that’s good for manufacturing and good for energy demand,” said Phil Flynn, analyst at Price Futures Group. Nymex December crude oil traded 68 cents higher, at $97.77 a barrel. Heading into Friday’s trading, December crude shed $4 a barrel since Monday under the weight of rapidly rising stocks and weak demand. Mr. Flynn said the market appears to be “a little oversold,” […]

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Brazil's Petrobras Pulls Plug on Refinery Joint-Venture with PdVSA

RIO DE JANEIRO–Brazilian state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PBR, PETR4.BR), or Petrobras, late Friday finally pulled the plug on a refinery joint venture with erstwhile Venezuelan partner Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PdVSA. While the firm failed to call PdVSA by name, Petrobras said that negotiations with “interested parties” had failed to reach an agreement within a fixed time-frame. The Abreu e Lima refinery under construction in Brazil’s Pernambuco state was incorporated, making it easier to find potential partners, Petrobras said. The $17 billion refinery project was beset with bickering and delays between Petrobras and PdVSA since the project was first launched in March 2008, as part of bilateral agreements signed between then-presidents Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Hugo Chavez. Petrobras, however, pledged to build the refinery alone after PdVSA failed to get loan guarantees from the Brazilian National Development Bank to pay for the Venezuelan company’s […]

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Brazil’s Petrobras Pulls Plug on Refinery Joint-Venture with PdVSA

RIO DE JANEIRO–Brazilian state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PBR, PETR4.BR), or Petrobras, late Friday finally pulled the plug on a refinery joint venture with erstwhile Venezuelan partner Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PdVSA. While the firm failed to call PdVSA by name, Petrobras said that negotiations with “interested parties” had failed to reach an agreement within a fixed time-frame. The Abreu e Lima refinery under construction in Brazil’s Pernambuco state was incorporated, making it easier to find potential partners, Petrobras said. The $17 billion refinery project was beset with bickering and delays between Petrobras and PdVSA since the project was first launched in March 2008, as part of bilateral agreements signed between then-presidents Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Hugo Chavez. Petrobras, however, pledged to build the refinery alone after PdVSA failed to get loan guarantees from the Brazilian National Development Bank to pay for the Venezuelan company’s […]

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Natural Gas Posts Third-Straight Gain As Cold Weather Boosts Near-Term Demand

–Natural gas futures finish higher for third straight day –Traders focusing on near-term cold temperatures in lieu of high supplies and production –Weather likely to turn milder next month, forecasters say By Brett Philbin NEW YORK–Natural gas futures rallied 2.2% on Friday, climbing for the third straight session, as traders looked past high supplies and to a brief cold spell that’s likely boosting demand for heating fuel. Natural gas for November delivery settled 7.8 cents higher to $3.707 a million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices have risen roughly 3.5% over the past three days, after sinking to a more than two-week low on Tuesday. The gains have come despite government data showing a larger-than-expected increase in inventories last week and weather forecasts predicting above average temperatures to start the winter season. “Longer-term forecasts have [in the past] been horrific or flat out wrong, but […]

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Angry Over Syrian War, Saudis Fault U.S. Policy

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Saudi Arabia has abandoned its traditional policy of discretion in recent weeks, signaling deep anger at the Obama administration’s Middle East policies and threatening to break with its most powerful ally and pursue a more robust and independent role in supporting the rebellion against President Bashar al-Assad of Syria. But privately, Saudi officials concede that their efforts to forge an alternative strategy in Syria have run up against the same issue the Americans face: how to bolster the military might of a disorganized armed opposition without also empowering the jihadists who increasingly dominate its ranks. And while Saudi officials have hinted at a broader diplomatic shift away from the United States, their options are limited there, too: Saudi Arabia is dependent on American military and oil technology, and the other countries the Saudis have courted — including France and India — can help only on […]

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Officials: Bombings in Central Iraq Kill 13 People

Wengenn in Wonderland Associated Press Bombings in central Iraq that targeted a market, a cafe and the homes of police officers killed 13 people Friday, officials said, the latest attacks in a wave of violence roiling the country. Police said the deadliest attack took place in Friday morning when a bomb went off inside a crowded outdoor market in the town of Youssifiyah, just south of Baghdad. The attack killed five shoppers and wounded 15 people, officials said. Earlier in the day, bombs exploded near several houses belonging to police officers in the central city of Baqouba, killing four people, including a woman, authorities said. The explosives appeared to have been planted just outside the homes. Ten people were wounded in that attack, officials said. Baqouba is a former al-Qaida stronghold some 60 kilometers (35 miles) northeast of Baghdad. In Baghdad’s eastern Basmaya district, officials said a bombing at […]

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US jet fuel exports to Europe could rise if import taxes end

Houston (Platts)–25Oct2013/527 pm EDT/2127 GMT A plan to end tariffs on jet fuel imports into Europe next year may open arbitrage opportunities for US traders and exporters. The European Commission is expected to soon unveil plans to make jet fuel imports into Europe permanently duty free from January 1. The proposal would remove a 4.7% tariff on cargoes into Europe, putting US jet fuel on a more level playing field with Asian and Middle East shippers who enjoyed the break. “Although the US will use most of the jet domestically, a [break] on the duty may bring some arbitrage opportunity as opposed to now where we will see zero moving in that direction,” a US market source said. The EC had been set on January 1 to impose the 4.7% duty — around $50/mt — on jet fuel imported from the Persian Gulf, India, Venezuela and Libya, basically treating […]

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Green Car Congress: Volvo Drive-E engines delivering NEDC fuel consumption in S60 sedan as low as 62 mpg US for diesel, 40 mpg for gasoline

« Audi pricing 2015 A3 sedan starting at $29,900 in US; diesel, PHEV coming | Main | Center for Automotive Research awarded Federal grant to study automotive bio-based materials cluster » Print this post Volvo Drive-E engines delivering NEDC fuel consumption in S60 sedan as low as 62 mpg US for diesel, 40 mpg for gasoline 124741_1_5 The new Drive-E diesel engine. Click to enlarge. Volvo is introducing the first engines—two gasoline and 1 diesel—in its new 2.0-liter, four-cylinder Drive-E powertrain family ( earlier post ) and has received official European NEDC certification on fuel consumption and CO 2 emissions when applied in the S60 sedan. Leading with the lowest fuel consumption is the Volvo S60 D4 diesel with 181 hp (135 kW) and manual gearbox, delivering class-leading CO 2 emissions at 99 g/km, which translates into fuel consumption of 3.8 l/100 km (62 mpg US ). A Volvo […]

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Green Car Congress: BMW introduces the 2 Series; power up, fuel consumption down by up to 21% over 1 Series, depending upon model

« Volkswagen opens new plant in Ningbo; 16th in China, with annual capacity of 300,000 units | Main | Audi pricing 2015 A3 sedan starting at $29,900 in US; diesel, PHEV coming » Print this post BMW introduces the 2 Series; power up, fuel consumption down by up to 21% over 1 Series, depending upon model P90133915 New BMW 2 Series Coupe. Click to enlarge. BMW has introduced an entirely new model series in the form of the BMW 2 Series Coupe. Offering both gasoline and diesel engines at launch (depending upon market), output is up by as much as 10 kW over the new car’s 1 Series predecessor, yet average fuel consumption in the EU test cycle has dropped by up to 21%, depending on the model. One four-cylinder gasoline engine and one four-cylinder diesel unit are available from launch, putting 135 kW/184 hp at the disposal of […]

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Baker Hughes: US drilling rig count edges down to 1,738

The US drilling rig count dropped a single unit to 1,738 rigs working during the week ended Oct. 25, Baker Hughes Inc. reported. A 4-unit gain in offshore rigs, bringing that total to 62, was offset by a 3-unit decline in land-based rigs to 1,659, and a 2-unit decline in rigs drilling in inland waters to 17. Gas rigs climbed 4 units to 376, which was nullified by a 4-unit dive in oil rigs to 1,357. Rigs considered unclassified lost 1 unit from a week ago to 5. Directional drilling rigs picked up 10 units to 249. Meanwhile, horizontal drilling rigs lost 1 unit to 1,098. In Canada, the rig count added 16 to reach a total of 404 rigs working. Rigs targeting oil comprised 14 of those gained, bringing that total to 249. Rigs targeting gas comprised the remaining 2 rigs gained, bringing that total to 155. Canada […]

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Much of Syria blacked out by rebel attack on gas pipeline: government

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Much of Syria, including the capital Damascus, was hit by a power cut late on Wednesday after rebels attacked a gas pipeline, state media said. "A terrorist attack on a gas pipeline that feeds a power station in the south has led to a power outage in the provinces and work to repair it is in progress," Electricity Minister Emad Khamis told state news agency SANA. A resident in the center of Damascus who asked to remain anonymous said "the whole city just went dark" and she could see the glow of a fire near the international airport and hear heavy machinegun fire. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based group that reports on abuses and battlefield developments using sources on both sides of Syria’s civil war, said the explosion was caused by rebel artillery that hit a gas pipeline near the airport. The Observatory […]

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U.S. factories hit by shutdown, China production rises

NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) – Factories in China boosted production this month, but U.S. manufacturing output fell for the first time in four years while the euro zone economy lost momentum, surveys on Thursday showed. The data suggested the world economy is still facing speed bumps as China tries to rebound from a slowdown and as growth in advanced economies remains fragile. One such hurdle was a partial U.S. government shutdown that lasted for the first 16 days of October. This likely disrupted factory output in the world’s largest economy and will probably end up slowing overall U.S. growth in the fourth quarter. According to financial data firm Markit, U.S. factory output contracted in October for the first time since late 2009 and the overall pace of growth was the slowest in a year. Markit chief economist Chris Williamson said the survey "suggests that the disruptions and uncertainty caused by […]

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Special Report: Help wanted in Fukushima: Low pay, high risks and gangsters

IWAKI Oct 25 (Reuters) – Tetsuya Hayashi went to Fukushima to take a job at ground zero of the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. He lasted less than two weeks. Hayashi, 41, says he was recruited for a job monitoring the radiation exposure of workers leaving the plant in the summer of 2012. Instead, when he turned up for work, he was handed off through a web of contractors and assigned, to his surprise, to one of Fukushima’s hottest radiation zones. He was told he would have to wear an oxygen tank and a double-layer protective suit. Even then, his handlers told him, the radiation would be so high it could burn through his annual exposure limit in just under an hour. "I felt cheated and entrapped," Hayashi said. "I had not agreed to any of this." When Hayashi took his grievances to a firm on the next rung […]

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WTI Oil Fluctuates on the Way to Biggest Weekly Loss Since June

West Texas Intermediate swung between gains and losses as prices headed for the biggest weekly decline in four months, amid speculation that record U.S. crude production will further bolster stockpiles. Futures were little changed in New York after snapping a three-day losing streak yesterday. The U.S. pumped oil at the fastest rate since 1989, while stockpiles rose to the highest level since June, government data showed this week. Saudi Arabia , the world’s largest crude exporter, is reducing shipments in response to a possible year-end surplus in supply, according to a tanker tracker. “If stockpiles are high and trending higher, that’s going to be a concern for WTI,” said David Lennox , a resource analyst at Fat Prophets in Sydney. “There’s also a surge in U.S. domestic supply.” WTI for December delivery was at $97.10 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange , down 1 […]

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Oil’s $5 Trillion Permian Boom Threatened by $70 Crude

Bryan Sheffield, a third-generation oil wildcatter in Texas ’s Permian Basin, knows what he’ll do if crude drops to $80 a barrel: shut down half his drilling rigs and go on a takeover hunt for weaker rivals. Sheffield is among producers who’ve together invested $150 billion in the Permian since 2010 seeking their piece of an oil trove estimated to be worth as much as $5 trillion. As the money pours in, risks are mounting of a bust as analysts including Marshall Adkins of Raymond James & Associates Inc. forecast crude is heading down to $70 a barrel next year, a price that would slow drilling in the most expensive U.S. shale formation. While traditional wells have been drilled in the Permian since the 1920s, shale producers have become giddy over the potential of the region’s vast overlapping layers of oil-soaked shale rock. Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (PXD) estimated […]

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If New York Freezes in January Blame Siberian Snow Now

Snow falling over Siberia is raising the prospect for frigid temperatures in New York come January. The weather half a world from Central Park can set off atmospheric events that result in icy air descending from the North Pole in December and January, driving U.S. temperatures down and natural gas and heating oil use up, according to Judah Cohen, director of seasonal forecasting at Atmosphere & Environmental Research in Lexington, Massachusetts . “It’s the best winter predictor that we have,” Cohen said in a telephone interview. “We haven’t made a forecast yet, but we’re watching it closely and the snow cover has definitely been above normal so far.” The more ground covered by snow across northern Europe and Asia at the end of October, the greater the chances of triggering a phenomenon known as the negative phase of the Arctic Oscillation . That would flood North America, Europe and […]

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WTI Crude Increases From Four-Month Low as Equities Rise

West Texas Intermediate crude increased from a four-month low as equities advanced on corporate earnings and Chinese manufacturing data. Futures rose 0.3 percent and the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index neared a record after a preliminary index of Chinese manufacturing gained more than forecast this month, while U.S. factory output expanded at a slower pace than estimated. WTI fell as much as 0.9 percent earlier on government data that showed yesterday that U.S. crude supplies gained 6.8 percent to 379.8 million barrels in the five weeks ended Oct. 18. “We dropped close to a four-month low and there was no follow through, which suggests that the $16 move down over the last two months is sputtering out,” said Gene McGillian , an analyst and broker at Tradition Energy in Stamford , Connecticut . “Inventories have climbed almost 25 million barrels in the last five weeks, which sent prices lower. […]

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Iraq Plans Bond as 3.3 Million Barrels a Day Gushes: Arab Credit

Iraq plans to sell bonds for the first time since 2006 as surging oil revenue pushes borrowing costs lower even as sectarian violence in the nation escalates. “We formed a committee to decide on the details for the bond issue , which will most probably be of medium- to long-term maturity,” Deputy Finance Minister Fadhel Nabi said in an Oct. 22 phone interview from Baghdad . “The joint committee from the Finance Ministry and the central bank will also decide on the timing, which can be within a year,” he said, declining to give more details. Iraq, with the world’s fifth-largest oil reserves, boosted income from crude sales by 23 percent from June to August and earned $6.5 billion in September, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The country is pumping 3.3 million barrels a day amid attacks that killed more people in the first nine months of this year […]

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Rail shipment of crude oil to increase, Canadian Pacific official says

CALGARY, Alberta, Oct. 24 (UPI) — Crude oil deliveries by rail are expected to increase, Canadian Pacific Executive Vice President Jane O’Hagan said in a third-quarter statement. “Over time we will see increasing volumes of heavy crude moving with different economics and drivers of demand than the lighter Bakken crude that we predominately move today,” O’Hagan said Wednesday, the Platts energy news service reported. The Bakken shale formation is spread out over parts of U.S.-Canadian border. It is a different grade from the heavier oil found in the Athabasca region spread in Alberta province. Canadian Pacific has transported 65,000 carloads of crude oil, or approximately 45 million barrels of oil, so far this year. The company expects to reach 90,000 carloads of crude oil by year’s end, Platts reported. Crude oil deliveries by rail are increasing in North America because production has outpaced existing pipeline capacity. No injuries were […]

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Falklands oil prospecting firms to merge, aim to boost finds

STANLEY, Falkland Islands , Oct. 24 (UPI) — Two of the companies drilling for oil in the Falkland Islands’ South Atlantic waters are merging and further corporate patch-ups may not be far behind, industry analysts said. After several fits and starts, and investor jitters over the prospecting firms’ lackluster performance in the early phase of Falklands oil quest, the British Overseas Territory’s oil economy is stabilizing, analysts said. The oil-fueled optimism in the territories bodes well for companies and existing shareholders and is certain to draw more cash into the venture, made controversial and risky by Argentina disputing both the territory’s British rule and the mainly British oil companies’ right to prospect for oil. Britain and Argentina went to war over the islands in 1982 after an Argentine military junta briefly captured parts of the territories. The 74-day Falklands War led to deaths of 649 Argentine and 255 British […]

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China expands pollution plan

BEIJING, Oct. 24 (UPI) — China will launch an air pollution inspection program, the Ministry of Environmental Protection said. Areas to be targeted include Beijing and regions around Tianjin, Hebei and Hunan provinces, and the Yangtze and Pearl river deltas, state-run news agency Xinhua reported Thursday. Inspections, to begin this month and continue through March 2014, are intended to determine how local governments are enforcing China’s Airborne Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan, initiated last month. That plan imposes stricter limits on the levels of PM2.5, airborne particles measuring less than 2.5 microns in diameter. Companies violating air pollution control regulations will be shut down, Xinhua reports. The announcement came as the Chinese city of Harbin, about 780 miles northeast of Beijing, had been blanketed by thick smog since Sunday, resulting in the closure of roads, schools and a major airport. Harbin’s PM2.5 levels on Tuesday reached levels of […]

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Energy Administration says U.S., Canada far ahead in shale production

WASHINGTON, Oct. 24 (UPI) — The United States and Canada are the only countries producing commercial quantities of shale natural gas, a U.S. energy agency said. Last year, the last full year for which statistics are available, U.S. production averaged 25.7 billion cubic feet per day and Canada produced an average of 14 billion cubic feet per day, the Energy Department’s Energy Information Administration said. Nearly all of the U.S. production came from five areas in the central United States and approximately 15 percent of Canada’s production came from the Muskwa-Otter Park shale formation in northern British Columbia and the Montney basin, spread out over British Columbia and Alberta, the agency said. The EIA, in a report Wednesday, said China is the only country outside of North America that has reported lucrative deposits of shale natural gas. Shale gas in China, however, accounts for 1 percent of its total […]

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Tunisia Opposition Gives Rulers Ultimatum

TUNIS—Tunisia’s opposition gave the ruling Ennahda party a Friday morning deadline to resign or face broader protests, while demonstrations throughout the country turned violent, with antigovernment activists setting Ennahda offices on fire. The National Salvation Front, a coalition of opposition parties, called on more of its supporters to step up a campaign of civil disobedience, which on Thursday involved a general strike in two cities, if the government remains. Some in the opposition, including the country’s largest labor group, the Tunisian General Labor Union, have stayed on the sidelines, hoping the conflict could be resolved with dialogue. In a troubling sign that the country was slipping further out of government control, the National Guard Union, representing police, also took to the streets Thursday, mourning the deaths of eight officers killed in clashes with militants the day before. The police were joined by thousands of students, who marched on two […]

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Violence Reverses Gains in Iraq

BAGHDAD—A flurry of recent attacks by al Qaeda-linked militants in Iraq—strengthened by their alliance with jihadist fighters in Syria—is threatening to undo years of U.S. efforts to crush the group, widening sectarian conflict in the Middle East. The chaos across the border in Syria and Iraqi Sunnis’ feeling of discrimination under the Shiite-led government has reignited the kind of intense sectarian strife that brought Iraq to the verge of civil war in 2006-2007. A security vacuum left by the withdrawal of American combat troops in December 2011 is also helping the fighters regain a foothold. The civilian death toll so far this year is nearly double last year’s, up to over 5,700 from at least 3,200. In July 2013 alone, 1,057 people were killed—the deadliest month for Iraqis in five years. Iraqi security officials say al Qaeda-linked fighters from the militant group Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, or […]

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BP Ramps Up Drilling After Asset Sales, Legal Costs

LONDON—Three years after BP PLC’s Deepwater Horizon disaster, the oil company is still fighting to keep damage claims and regulatory fines in check. But outside the courtroom, BP is spending to leave behind one of the biggest retrenchments in its 100-plus-year history. Chief Executive Bob Dudley has said the company has increased its investment in exploration. BP projects annual capital spending over the next several years to be $24 billion to $27 billion—at least 25% higher than 2011 levels as the company pours cash into projects in Angola, Azerbaijan, Indonesia and elsewhere. Company executives say the spending is part of an effort to recover from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill—and get back to its mission of finding and pumping oil. BP’s turnaround will be challenging. The oil industry as a whole is struggling to find new deposits to replace what it pumps. At the same time, […]

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Alberta Regulator: Energy Development at Risk if Enforcement Wanes

CALGARY–The head of Alberta’s new energy regulator said the government body must balance the energy industry’s desire for faster project approvals against the enforcement of environmental laws or else risk losing support at home and abroad for exploiting the province’s vast oil and gas resources. “We’ve got to get this right because this is a world-class resource, but we can lose the ability to develop it if we can’t demonstrate that we’re doing it in a responsible fashion,” Gerry Protti, chairman of the Alberta Energy Regulator, said in an interview Wednesday. Energy-rich Alberta has been keen to tout its environmental credentials amid a heated debate about the impact of oil-sands production in its boreal forests and growing global crude-oil consumption. Vocal environmental opposition has stalled major projects to expand the province’s market access, notably TransCanada Corp.’s TRP.T +0.22% TransCanada Corp. Canada: Toronto $ 46.24 +0.10 +0.22% Oct. 24, 2013 […]

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Sanction Side-Step: Iranian Oil Flows Back Into China – China Real Time Report – WSJ

After a three-month break, China has resumed importing Iranian fuel oil, a practice that has helped it avoid U.S. sanctions designed to punish countries that import crude oil from Iran. China is unique in that it has a significant amount of small refineries, called teapot refineries, that are configured to process fuel oil — a cheap byproduct of refining — rather than crude oil. This gives China the ability to make more valuable fuels such as gasoline and diesel without the need to raise imports of crude oil. Associated Press A service station worker updates fuel prices at a Sinopec gas station in Beijing The U.S. has stepped up sanctions ( pdf ) against Iran over the past decade in response to Western charges that Tehran is seeking to develop nuclear weapons — charges the Iranians deny. In late 2011, Congress passed a law penalizing financial institutions that conduct […]

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Australian Wildfires Damage Asciano's Rail Network – Update

By Rhiannon Hoyle SYDNEY–Rail and port operator Asciano Ltd. (AIO.AU) said wildfires raging across eastern Australia had damaged its rail network there, disrupting its coal-haulage operations even as it forecast an improvement in full-year profits. A spokesman for the company said Friday that one of Asciano’s rail lines–which transports coal from the Blue Mountains west of Sydney to the coast, largely for export to Asia–closed on Oct. 18 as fires broke out in New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state. The line should be back up-and-running next week, he said. “The recent bush fires have caused extensive damage on the Western line in southern southeast Australia and will impact volumes hauled in October,” Asciano said in a stock exchange filing. Asciano hauls coal across New South Wales state, including from several big mines in the Hunter Valley, to export facilities like the Port of Newcastle, the world’s largest coal […]

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Australian Wildfires Damage Asciano’s Rail Network – Update

By Rhiannon Hoyle SYDNEY–Rail and port operator Asciano Ltd. (AIO.AU) said wildfires raging across eastern Australia had damaged its rail network there, disrupting its coal-haulage operations even as it forecast an improvement in full-year profits. A spokesman for the company said Friday that one of Asciano’s rail lines–which transports coal from the Blue Mountains west of Sydney to the coast, largely for export to Asia–closed on Oct. 18 as fires broke out in New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state. The line should be back up-and-running next week, he said. “The recent bush fires have caused extensive damage on the Western line in southern southeast Australia and will impact volumes hauled in October,” Asciano said in a stock exchange filing. Asciano hauls coal across New South Wales state, including from several big mines in the Hunter Valley, to export facilities like the Port of Newcastle, the world’s largest coal […]

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U.S. Natural-Gas Futures Settle Up as Weather Trumps Stock Build

–EIA data show inventories rose 87 bcf vs forecast of 79 bcf –As expected, stock build tops year-earlier, five-year average for week –Weather outlooks battle rising supply in setting market course (Adds price chart.) By David Bird NEW YORK–Natural-gas-futures prices settled modestly higher Thursday as hopes for stronger demand from a near-term Midwest cold snap overshadowed a bigger-than-expected rise in inventories. The Energy Information Administration said gas inventories rose by 87 billion cubic feet in the week ended Oct. 18, compared with a rise of 79 bcf in a Wall Street Journal survey of 12 analysts. The rise exceeded the highest estimate, for an increase of 84 bcf. It also topped the increase of 64 bcf in the same week last year and the five-year average rise of 67 bcf for the week. “That’s a huge miss” said Matt Smith, analyst at Schneider Electric. The data accelerated earlier weakness, […]

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Grangemouth future uncertain despite union climbdown – FT.com

Unite general secretary Len McCluskey outside the Grangemouth plant on Thursday ©Getty Unite general secretary Len McCluskey outside the Grangemouth plant on Thursday The future of the Grangemouth refinery and petrochemical plant was hanging in the balance on Thursday night despite the Unite union accepting demands for a pay freeze and changes in working conditions. Len McCluskey, Unite general secretary, said after talks with management that the union had accepted “warts and all” the Ineos demands in an attempt to save Scotland’s most important industrial complex from closure. The climbdown, a significant defeat for the union, came less than a day after Ineos said it would shut the petrochemical plant at the complex, with the loss of 800 jobs and review the future of the refinery. However, it remained unclear on Thursday night whether Jim Ratcliffe, chairman and main shareholder of Ineos, would drop the closure plan or reopen […]

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