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China’s auto sales growth tumbles in January

China’s auto sales growth tumbled to 7 percent in January amid an economic slowdown and curbs imposed to fight smog and traffic. Drivers in the world’s biggest auto market bought 1.85 million passenger vehicles, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said Thursday. It was the first time monthly sales surpassed 1.8 million. Auto sales growth is forecast to decelerate sharply from last year’s 15.7 percent expansion to about 8 to 10 percent. Sales grew 17 percent in December. Chinese leaders see auto manufacturing as a driver of economic development. But rapid growth has left Beijing, Shanghai and other major cities choking on smog. Some cities have responded by limiting the number of new vehicle registrations. China’s auto market is the world’s most crowded, with major global automakers and dozens of small Chinese brands jostling for sales. Intense competition is squeezing indigenous Chinese automakers that have less […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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China's Jan. auto sales at record high

China’s auto sales logged a new monthly record in January in a sign of robust demands in the world’s biggest auto market, new data showed Thursday. Sales amounted to 2.16 million units last month, a year-on-year rise of 5.99 percent, while output increased 4.44 percent to 2.05 million units, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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China’s Jan. auto sales at record high

China’s auto sales logged a new monthly record in January in a sign of robust demands in the world’s biggest auto market, new data showed Thursday. Sales amounted to 2.16 million units last month, a year-on-year rise of 5.99 percent, while output increased 4.44 percent to 2.05 million units, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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New Delhi orders probe on gas pricing

New Delhi’s government called for a criminal probe of charges against federal oil minister Veerappa Moily, Reliance Industries Ltd.’s Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani and others following complaints of irregularities in the pricing of natural gas in the Krishna-Godavari basin. The capital city’s chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said Tuesday the Anti-Corruption Branch of the Delhi government was asked to probe the issue based on complaints filed by former Cabinet Secretary T.S.R. Subramanian, former Navy chief Adm. Tarun Tahiliani, a lawyer and a former expenditure secretary, Press Trust of India reports. The issue relates to the federal government’s plans to allow producers to increase the price of natural gas to around $8 per million metric British thermal unit from the current price of $4.20, from April 1. Kejriwal said the complaint alleged "collusion between some union ministers and Reliance Industries Ltd." that purportedly […]

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The $2.2 Billion Bird-Scorching Solar Project

A giant solar-power project officially opening this week in the California desert is the first of its kind, and may be among the last, in part because of growing evidence that the technology it uses is killing birds. U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz is scheduled to speak Thursday at an opening ceremony for the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating Station, which received a $1.6 billion federal loan guarantee. The $2.2 billion solar farm, which spans over five square miles of federal land southwest of Las Vegas, includes three towers as tall as 40-story buildings. Nearly 350,000 mirrors, each the size of a garage door, reflect sunlight onto boilers atop the towers, creating steam that drives power generators. The owners of the project— NRG Energy Inc., Google Inc. and BrightSource Energy Inc., the company that developed the "tower power" solar technology—call the plant a major feat of engineering that can light […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Chevron's Pennsylvania Natural Gas Well Still Burning After Blast

A fire at a Chevron Corp natural gas well in western Pennsylvania was being left to burn on Wednesday after an explosion early Tuesday left one worker injured and another missing, state officials said. Flames shot from the head of the Lanco 7H well, which is 50 miles south of Pittsburgh in the Marcellus shale region and emergency workers were unable to get near on Wednesday. The fire could continue indefinitely as gas flows up the well from underground, said John Poister, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. "There’s a large amount of gas in the well, and it could burn, if we just sat there and watched it, for months or years," Poister said. Chevron said it did not know how long the fire would continue. Putting the flames out will probably involve some sort of smothering, possibly with foam […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Chevron’s Pennsylvania Natural Gas Well Still Burning After Blast

A fire at a Chevron Corp natural gas well in western Pennsylvania was being left to burn on Wednesday after an explosion early Tuesday left one worker injured and another missing, state officials said. Flames shot from the head of the Lanco 7H well, which is 50 miles south of Pittsburgh in the Marcellus shale region and emergency workers were unable to get near on Wednesday. The fire could continue indefinitely as gas flows up the well from underground, said John Poister, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. "There’s a large amount of gas in the well, and it could burn, if we just sat there and watched it, for months or years," Poister said. Chevron said it did not know how long the fire would continue. Putting the flames out will probably involve some sort of smothering, possibly with foam […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Husky Energy Is First To Ship Canadian Oil to India

Husky Energy Inc. said Wednesday it shipped Canada’s first-ever batch of oil to India as it and other Canadian producers seek to boost crude exports to more markets outside of the U.S. Calgary-based Husky exported one million barrels of crude to state-owned Indian Oil Corp. from its White Rose offshore oil field in eastern Canada late last year, a move the company described as a test run and a precursor to increased exports to refiners in India. "The sale to India did open up a potentially very large market for us," CEO Asim Ghosh said in a conference call. Husky, which is majority owned by Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing, is one of Canada’s largest oil producers and has upstream operations off the coast of Labrador and Newfoundland and also in the oil sands of Alberta in Western Canada. The company produced 224,000 barrels a […]

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BP Drops Plans to Invest in China Refinery Project, IEA Says

BP Plc dropped plans to invest in a refinery in China and “dismantled” a team assigned to the project late last month, said the International Energy Agency . BP had considered investing in the 200,000 barrel-a-day Qinzhou plant operated by PetroChina Co. (857) , according to the IEA, an energy adviser to developed nations. The refinery in the southern province of Guangxi started operations in 2010 and is currently being upgraded to handle a wider range of feedstock, it said in its monthly Oil Market Report today. David Nicholas, a BP spokesman in London , declined to comment on the report today. Chinese and international oil companies are reconsidering their refinery-investment plans as the Asian nation’s oil consumption expanded at the slowest pace in six years in 2013, according to the IEA. About 4.3 million barrels a day of primary distillation capacity was scheduled for completion by 2018, “by […]

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Eni's Net Profit Drops 14%

Eni SpA’s fourth-quarter net profit dropped 14% on the year, as the Italian oil and natural gas company suffered disruptions to its large business in Africa, weaker refining results and the appreciation of the euro against the U.S. dollar. Despite the profit decline, Eni said Thursday it will increase its 2013 dividend by 1.9% on the year as it seeks to attract investors with higher payouts who are nervous about the underlying business trends and weak results from its gas activities. In January, Eni kick-started its share buyback program worth up to €6 billion ($8.16 billion) in another shareholder-friendly measure. Eni joins its peers in reporting dismal earnings for the last quarter, as production disruptions in Africa, an explosion of costs and increased competition in refinery activities, amid weak demand, hit results. France’s Total SA said Wednesday that net profit for the period fell 31%, Royal Dutch Shell […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple