Has Shale Broken OPEC’s Grip?
The Energy Report: The price of Brent is holding steady above $100/barrel ($100/bbl) while West Texas Intermediate’s (WTI) price is slipping back […]
Wind Power Rivals Coal With $1 Billion Order From Buffett
The decision by Warren Buffett ’s utility company to order about $1 billion of wind turbines for projects in Iowa shows how a drop in equipment costs is making renewable energy more competitive with power from fossil fuels. Turbine prices have fallen 26 percent worldwide since the first half of 2009, bringing wind power within 5.5 percent of the cost of electricity from coal, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co., a unit of Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., yesterday announced an order for 1,050 megawatts of Siemens AG wind turbines in the industry’s largest order to date for land-based gear. Wind is the cheapest source of power in Iowa, and the deal indicates that turbines are becoming profitable without subsidies, according to Tom Kiernan , chief executive officer of the American Wind Energy Association trade group. That’s a boost for suppliers including Siemens, […]
New Mercedes-Benz C-Class drops weight, adds new engines, diesel hybrid, w/ plug-in to come; up to 20% cut in fuel consumption
EIA: light duty vehicle energy consumption to drop 25% by 2040; increased oil production, vehicle efficiency reduce US oil and liquid imports | Main | GM investing nearly $1.3B in 5 US plants; supporting new V6, 10-speed transmission » Print this post New Mercedes-Benz C-Class drops weight, adds new engines, diesel hybrid, w/ plug-in to come; up to 20% cut in fuel consumption 13C1007_002 The new C-Class. Click to enlarge. Mercedes-Benz has launched its new C-Class, featuring a lightweight design concept with weight savings of up to 100 kg (220 lbs); excellent aerodynamics; and new, economical engines along with a hybrid model. The C-Class is the top-selling model series from Mercedes-Benz; sales of the preceding model, which was launched in 2007, total more than 2.4 million. Ordering for the C-Class sedan have begun in Europe, with the model range initially comprising the C180, the C200; and the diesel […]
Oil dips on China data, caution on US Fed meeting
The price of oil dipped slightly on Monday as a report on manufacturing in China signaled that a recovery in the world’s No. 2 economy would continue to be uneven. Benchmark U.S. crude for January delivery edged 23 cents lower, or 0.2 percent, to $96.37 a barrel at midday in Asia in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. China’s massive manufacturing sector grew at a slightly slower pace in December, according to a preliminary survey by HSBC. The purchasing managers’ index report found that the growth rate slowed marginally from the month before, though it was still high enough to indicate that China’s economy is continuing to recover since slowing to 7.5 percent growth in the second quarter. Investors were also staying on the sidelines ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s meeting to decide on whether to maintain its $85 billion in monetary stimulus. Expectations are growing […]
Brent Oil Rises; Rebels Refuse to Open Libya’s East Ports
Brent crude rebounded from the biggest weekly loss since October after Libyan rebels refused to hand over control of three oil ports to the government. Futures rose as much as 0.7 percent. The North Sea grade slid 2.5 percent last week on speculation the ports, shut since July, would be reopened. Ibrahim Al Jedran, a Libyan rebel leader, told a news conference yesterday that the oil-export terminals of Es Sider, Ras Lanuf and Zueitina will remain shut after the government rejected his conditions. Output from the country, which holds Africa ’s largest proven reserves, fell to 210,000 barrels a day last month, the lowest level since 2011. “The news out of Libya is a bit of a hiccup,” said Michael McCarthy , a chief strategist at CMC Markets in Sydney. “What we are seeing is a trader reaction.” The ports remaining shut is “short-term positive” for Brent prices, he […]
Bombs, suicide attacks in Iraq kill at least 21: police, medics
Suicide attacks and bombings across Iraq killed at least 21 people on Monday, medical and police sources said, the latest in a series of attacks that has brought violence in Iraq to its highest level in five years. The deadliest attack took place in Baiji, 180 km (112 miles) north of Baghdad, where four bombers wearing explosive belts took over a police station after detonating a parked car bomb outside the building, police sources said. Two blew themselves up inside the station, killing five policemen. The other two took control of the station for about an hour before detonating themselves as Iraqi special forces raided the station, the sources said. "We believe that the attack was aimed at freeing the detainees who are being held in the building next door," said Major Salih al-Qaisi, a police officer who was at the scene. "All militants were killed […]
Attacks in, around Baghdad kill at least 9 people
Iraqi officials say bombings in and around Baghdad have killed at least nine people and wounded 28. Police officials say a parked car bomb exploded at an outdoor market in Baghdad’s central Sadriyah neighborhood Monday, killing four people and wounding 11. They say another bomb went off near a bus station in the nearby al-Nahda area, killing three people and wounding seven. A car bomb in a parking lot in the southeastern Bayaa neighborhood and a bomb in the eastern suburb of Hussainiyah killed two civilians and wounded 10. Medical officials confirmed the figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to media. At least 233 people have died in attacks across Iraq so far this month, according to an Associated Press count. © 2013 The Associated Press . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, […]
Gunmen in Iraq Kill an Official and His Family
Unidentified gunmen stormed the house of a Health Ministry employee in a city north of the capital on Sunday and killed him, his wife and their three children, the police and medical officials said. Other attacks across the country left at least 14 more dead, officials said. The ministry employee lived in Sadiya, a largely Sunni city in Diyala Province, about 60 miles north of Baghdad. The attackers entered the house early Sunday morning and killed all five members of the family, including the couple’s two sons, who were 10 to 15 years old, and a daughter, said to be 8. Witnesses said they saw three masked gunmen. Also on Sunday, gunmen in a car in Salahuddin Province opened fire on an army checkpoint, killing three soldiers, the police said. The attack was one of several that day, underscoring the deterioration of the country’s security since the […]
Libya’s Oil Sales Constrained as Eastern Ports Remain Shut
A Libyan rebel leader refused to hand over control of three oil ports to the government, keeping a lid on the North African nation’s crude sales in a development that shored up international prices. Ibrahim Al Jedran told a news conference yesterday that the oil export terminals of Es Sider, Ras Lanuf and Zueitina, closed since the end of July, will remain shut after the authorities rejected his conditions, including a demand to share oil revenue with his self-proclaimed government in the east. “We failed in making our conditions implemented, so we confirm that we won’t open the oil ports,” he said, speaking in the eastern city of Ajdabiya. “We now officially mandate the Executive Bureau of the Cyrenaica Region to start what it has been tasked with and preserve this wealth,” he said, signaling that the eastern region known as Cyrenaica may […]
Saudi Royal Blasts U.S.'s Mideast Policy
A leading Saudi prince demanded a place for his country at talks with Iran, assailing the Obama administration for working behind Riyadh’s back and panning other recent U.S. steps in the Middle East. Prince Turki al-Faisal, an Arab royal and a brother of Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal, said Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states were stunned by the secret American-Iranian diplomacy that led to the breakthrough deal between Iran and other world powers last month. His comments in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, rare in their bluntness, came on the sidelines of a security conference here at which he publicly blistered the U.S. for its role in Syria and in the region. The Arab royal said the failure by Washington and the United Nations to take decisive steps to end the violence in Syria—which has claimed over 130,000 lives—bordered on "criminal negligence." Last week, the State Department […]