Recent Gas News/GasBuddy Blog

Bloomberg Businessweek -- Gov. Phil Bredesen announced Wednesday that Tennessee will offer a $2,500 rebate on the first 1,000 electric vehicles sold in the state.

The Democratic governor announced the rebate program in a speech to a Tennessee Valley Authority forum in Nashville. The Tennessee rebate will be in addition to a $7,500 federal tax credit for electric vehicles.

"This it makes it just a little bit easier for Tennesseans to be pioneers in trying out electric cars and making them accessible and affordable in the state," Bredesen said.  (go to article)

CNN -- Beijing, China (CNN) -- Nearly 200 commercial pilots in China falsified their flying experience, Chinese aviation officials have discovered.

The announcement follows one of China's worst plane crashes in six years, and highlights the high demand for pilots as the country has seen a boon in air travel.

Aviation officials began investigating pilot qualifications after the Shanghai-based China Business News broke the story. Implicated pilots have had their licenses revoked or have been ordered to take extra training, according to state-run media.

The investigation of pilot qualifications is part of an overhaul of airline safety, the Civil Aviation Administration of China said, according to the state-run China Daily.
 (go to article)

2.highlandstoday.com -- There's good news at the convenience store pump: Labor Day is over, which traditionally means gasoline prices will go down.
The national average price for gasoline has been falling through August, when it usually rises..

Now the crucial question: how low will it go?
A plunge in wholesale gasoline prices earlier this month continues to push down prices at the pump, PFGBest analyst Phil Flynn told the Associated Press. Gasoline supplies are nearly 12 percent above the five-year average, and demand is below pre-recession levels.

"We're going into the weakest demand period of the year, Typically, after Labor Day,.. demand drops and refineries begin a maintenance period as they.. prepare the switch..from the summer blend fuel to the winter blend. The winter blend fuel is less expensive  (go to article)

Bloomberg -- Oil advanced for a second day after an industry report showed U.S. crude inventories declined and the dollar weakened against the euro, boosting the appeal of commodities as an alternative investment.

Futures also rose as stocks climbed after improved demand for bonds from Portugal to Poland eased concern that Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis will derail the global economic recovery. U.S. crude stockpiles fell 7.31 million barrels last week, the American Petroleum Institute said. An Energy Department report today may show supplies increased.

“There continues to be this continued sense of relief that the economy doesn’t appear to be heading back into recession,” David Taylor, a market analyst at CMC Markets Ltd. in Sydney, said in an e-mailed note.

The October contract gained as much as 60  (go to article)

Globeandmail.com -- By Josh Wingrove

Excerpts

Fresh out of a dinner discussion about Canada’s controversial oil sands with the third-most powerful politician in America, Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach had a quick assessment of how it went: “Better than I thought.”

"The meeting ...came at a critical time in the energy trading relationship between the two countries. Washington is considering approval of the massive Keystone XL pipeline project,"

"...learn about the oil sands, one of her nation’s foremost sources of oil."

"...his province’s economy relies squarely on U.S. energy consumers. In 2008, the U.S. bought $79.5-billion in energy from Alberta."

"the meetings are a chance to counter the allegations that the oil sands are the dirtiest oil on earth."
 (go to article)

Bloomberg.com -- By Mark Shenk

The Energy Department decreased its crude oil price forecast for 2010 on reduced projections of economic growth in the U.S., the world’s biggest oil consuming country.

West Texas Intermediate oil, the U.S. benchmark, will average $77.37 a barrel this year, down from last month’s forecast of $79.13,

Prices will climb 6 percent to average $82 a barrel in 2011, the report showed.

Regular gasoline, averaged nationwide, will cost $2.76 a gallon from April through September, according to the report from the EIA,

Global Demand

The department raised its outlook for global oil consumption this year to 85.95 million barrels a day from 85.91 million last month. That’s up 1.9 percent from last year’s 84.33 million. Demand will climb to 87.36 million in 2011, 60,000 barrels a day  (go to article)

Los Angeles Times -- The ultimate sealing of BP's gulf oil well may not get underway until late this month or early October because experts want more time to analyze the well, fish out a broken pipe and possibly apply another cement seal on the top for "more insurance" against unlikely troubles, a top federal official said.

National spill-response chief Thad Allen, in a conference call with reporters Wednesday, reiterated his promise that there was "no threat" of oil leaks from the well now that a stronger blowout preventer had been placed on top of it.

The new equipment gives experts the luxury of taking a few extra steps to ensure that they will not encounter problems with the final "bottom kill." During this procedure, the original well's outer ring, or annulus, will be intersected underground with a  (go to article)

Yahoo! Sports -- Yep, that's Ron Artest being stopped by police for driving a tiny race car through Los Angeles. Vin Diesel would be proud.  (go to article)

Associated Press -- NEW YORK (AP) -- Oil prices followed stocks higher on Wednesday, as worries about European debt problems eased and buyers returned to the market.

Benchmark crude for October delivery rose 58 cents to settle at $74.67 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

At the pump, gasoline prices inched down to a national average of $2.68 a gallon, according to AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. That's about the same as a week ago and 10.2 cents above a year ago.

Shares of oil and gas companies climbed after Fitch raised its rating on BP. The troubled energy giant issued a report Wednesday taking blame for the big spill in the Gulf of Mexico, while saying other companies involved in the Deepwater Horizon disaster shared some blame. BP shares rose $1.18, or 3.2 percen  (go to article)

McClatchy -- BP, the energy giant responsible for the largest offshore oil spill in history, helped develop California's framework for teaching more than 6 million students about the environment.

Despite a mixed environmental record even before the Gulf of Mexico disaster, state officials included BP on the technical team for its soon-to-be-completed environmental education curriculum, which will be used in kindergarten through 12th-grade classes in more than 1,000 school districts statewide.  (go to article)

Economist -- "...Sugar has been grown in Brazil for 500 years, and the country is by far the world’s biggest exporter of it. But sugar now also forms the nucleus of a new agro-industrial and renewable-energy complex. Biofuels, mainly derived from sugar, are Brazil’s most important source of energy after oil. For a unit of energy, the production and use of sugar-based ethanol generates only two-fifths of the carbon emissions of petrol, and half those of corn-based ethanol, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency. And bioplastics made from sugar cane are poised to move from the laboratory to the corner store, with the launch of soft-drink bottles.

Yet the industry is struggling to turn all these economic and environmental benefits into reliable revenues...."  (go to article)

Gizmodo -- Aha! It looks like State Farm's app isn't the only app that helps keep you from texting while driving—there's SMS Replier too. And this app will know when you're driving.

So not only can you set customized replies, you can also choose how long you're doing the activity, so the phone will only reply "In a meeting" during the two hours that you set that you're in a meeting. (Would be nice if this synced up with your Google Calendar too, to automatically know what you're doing.)  (go to article)

NewScientist -- ELECTRIC vehicles are expected to stream onto the roads over the next few years, but some drivers may be put off by fears that they could be left stranded if their battery runs out of charge.

Zafer Sahinoglu at the Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and colleagues, think they have found a way to prevent this. They are developing a network of portable charging stations, which can be moved to wherever the demand for recharging is greatest.  (go to article)

Calgary Herald -- CALGARY -- Dana Petroleum has confirmed it will buy North Sea assets of Calgary-based Suncor Energy for $390 million with an effective date of July 1, 2010.

The U.K. explorer also rejected a hostile $2.57 billion US bid from Korea National Oil Corp., citing an independent valuation that said Dana was worth considerably more.

Dana said the Suncor deal supports the case for KNOC raising its bid.

"This whole issue is around value and value for all our shareholders and that's the only goal of the Dana management team," Dana chief executive Tom Cross said on a conference call with reporters.

Cross said that the valuation reached by the independent experts was based on information about its 100-plus licences in the North Sea and Egypt which had not previously been made public and to  (go to article)

GasBuddy Blog -- Do you know what type of fuel your vehicle manufacturer recommends? I'm sure you, like many people, know what type of gasoline is recommended- but I also know that some people ignore that suggestion. I also know looking at statistics that many more people are likely to ignore that recommendation (or even requirement) in times of economic uncertainty or a recession.

Its very interesting to compare gasoline sales (in grade- regular, mid-grade, and premium) during normal times to those times when the economy has been in recession.

For this comparison and analysis, I used gasoline sale data from the Department of Energy, which has kept records on gasoline sales by type of fuel going back to 1983 (in most cases). I also looked...  (go to article)

CBC -- As tens of thousands of dwarf seahorses flounder in the oil-infused Gulf of Mexico, a University of British Columbia researcher says their plight is a cautionary tale in the debate over permitting Big Oil's tentacles on the West Coast.

The tiny creature is under threat of extinction after the massive BP oil spill last April, and isn't being helped by abrasive cleanup methods underway, said Amanda Vincent, director of the international Project Seahorse conservation group.
 (go to article)

Associated Press -- Oil prices skidded below $74 a barrel Wednesday as traders followed stock markets down on reports European banks may be saddled with more risky debt than previously estimated.

By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark oil for October delivery was down 16 cents at $73.93 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 51 cents to settle at $74.09 on Tuesday.

Most major Asian and European stock markets fell Wednesday following a 1 percent slide in the Dow Jones industrial average the day before, when reports claimed that EU stress tests of banks in July understated some lenders' holdings of potentially risky debt. Germany's top 10 banks will have to raise as much as $135 billion to meet new capital requirements, reports said.

Oil traders often loo  (go to article)

The Detroit Free Press -- BY BRENT SNAVELY AND TODD SPANGLER
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS

Eager to claim a bigger stake in the luxury car market, Lincoln is about to use an aggressive pricing strategy with an environment-friendly, gas-electric hybrid vehicle, the 2011 Lincoln MKZ.

Next month, the vehicle will appear on lots with a $35,180 sticker -- $795 below the price for a competitor, the 2011 Lexus HS 250h.

Car critics who drove the new MKZ last week published their first impressions today.

Toyota and its Lexus luxury brand dominate the U.S. gasoline-electric hybrid market with 69% sold in the first eight months of 2010. Ford was a distant second at 19.3% with its Escape/Mariner SUVs and Fusion/Milan sedans.

Lower gas prices have helped cut hybrid sales by 11% in the U.S. this year.
 (go to article)

CBC -- BP says a "sequence of failures" involving "multiple companies" led to the explosion and fire that killed 11 people and caused a massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

In a 193-page report released Wednesday and posted on its website, the company said the accident arose from “a complex and interlinked series of mechanical failures, human judgments, engineering design, operational implementation and team interfaces.”

The internal report was prepared by a team led by BP's head of safety and operations, Mark Bly.

The April 20 explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon rig led to the leak of millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf became the worst ecological disaster in the United States in recent memory.

BP's report will likely lay the foundation for its legal defence in future  (go to article)

Discovy News -- A team of Swiss researchers has released conclusive data showing that the environmental impact of an electric vehicle is much less than previously thought.

As any EV advocate will tell you that electric vehicles are extremely green when fueled from renewable energy such as solar or wind power. And even those fueled from non-clean power sources, such as gas, oil and coal are less polluting than gasoline cars.

But EVs have a sinful side that cannot be ignored. Batteries.

Some of the most vocal anti-EV spokespersons say that mining the minerals and metals used in electric car batteries is much more damaging to the planet than drilling for the oil that fuels gasoline cars.

 (go to article)

CNN Money -- In May, less than a month after the blowout of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, a key milestone was achieved with little notice: Total U.S. supplies of petroleum and products refined from it (including the Strategic Petroleum Reserve) surpassed 1.8 billion barrels, reaching the highest level in the last 20 years. Since then the total has continued to edge upward, hitting 1.87 billion barrels in the week ended August 27, according to the Energy Information Administration.

Despite the Iraq War and the resulting production disruptions, despite the moratorium on drilling in the Gulf....

the United States has more petroleum on hand today than it has had since at least the beginning of the first Gulf War.  (go to article)

NY Times -- The vice chairman of the Kia Motors Corporation, Chung Sung-eun, stepped down on Sept. 3 after recalls involving scores of vehicles worldwide for electrical problems.

President Lee Hyoung-keun will replace him, a Kia spokesman, Michael Choo, said Tuesday.

“The resignation came on the heels of recently announced recalls,” Mr. Choo said.

In light of the Toyota Motor Corporation’s prominent quality problems in the last year involving 10 million vehicles, Kia has acted properly and expeditiously, said George Magliano, director of automotive research at IHS Global Insight...  (go to article)

NY Times -- A new report from a University of Michigan researcher estimates that, even without going electric, U.S. cars and trucks could achieve an average efficiency of 74 miles per gallon by 2035. Compared to a federal 2005 Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) baseline, that’s a tripling of fuel economy.

Under the researcher’s fuel economy projections, the average car in 2035 would save 5,254 gallons over its lifetime compared to a similar 2005 vehicle, and would emit 47 tons less carbon dioxide......  (go to article)

Bloomberg -- Oil in New York will trade in a $5 range in the short term as prices are locked in a “stalemate,” according to broker Newedge.

Crude for October delivery is stuck between $70.76 and $75.59 a barrel as price movements illustrated by candlestick charts show a narrow gap between the daily opening level and closing for trading on Sept. 3 and Sept. 7, said Veronique Lashinski, a Chicago-based analyst at the brokerage. That means neither buyers with expectations of rising oil nor sellers expecting a decline are able to influence direction, she said.

“The last two days’ price action featured small-bodied candlesticks which illustrate a stalemate between the bulls and the bears,” she said in a report yesterday. “Our bias is neutral in the short term.”  (go to article)

Domestic Fuel -- Did you know that 60 cents of each gallon of E85 purchased stays in the state of Iowa? I didn’t know that until I participated in the Iowa Corn Fed Game Day pump rally at Riverside, Iowa to get people “pumped up” for the upcoming Iowa State versus Iowa football game. Another way to look at this is for each gallon of E85 you purchase, 85 cents stays in America; whereas if you purchase E10, only 10 cents stays in America while 90 cents heads out of our borders.

Here are two more interesting facts. Did you know that Iowa is ranked #9 in the country; yet non-ranked Iowa State has the most difficult schedule this year?  (go to article)

CNN -- BP on Wednesday is expected to release findings of an internal investigation into the Gulf oil disaster, the oil giant said.

The report comes nearly five months after an April 20 explosion aboard an oil rig left 11 men dead and spewed millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico over an 87-day period.

A federal task report on Tuesday said scientists have found a decline in oxygen levels in the Gulf following the BP spill, but no "dead zones."

Levels of dissolved oxygen in deep water have dropped about 20 percent below their long-term average, according to data collected from up to 60 miles from the well at the center of the worst oil spill in U.S. history.

But much of that dip appears to be the result of microbes using oxygen to dissolve oil underwater, and the decline is  (go to article)

The Street -- Oil prices may trade lower this week on rising inventories. Last week, U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that crude oil stockpiles rose. Meanwhile, Baker Hughes(BHI) rig count stands at 977, up 4 from the penultimate week. Rising rig counts and higher refinery utilization shows an increase in production, leading to a decline in oil prices.

However, major economic releases are expected to be positive for the economy, which may improve oil prices to some extent later. Overall, oil prices are expected to end the week on a negative note.

Crude futures for October delivery declined 0.75% after hitting a low of $71.53 per barrel, and ended the week on a bearish note at $74.60. Crude is trading below the major trend line resistance and has a potential to fall further. Momentum ind  (go to article)

The Associated Press -- LAS VEGAS — With clean-energy legislation trapped in a political deadlock, renewable-energy advocates called big business the new leader in the nation's green revolution during a national summit meeting Tuesday.

John Podesta, president of the Center for American Progress, said untapped potential in the sustainable energy market could revive the stalled economy and end the recession.

"The focus now has got to be on getting these worlds and mechanisms together to finance innovative, renewable technology," Podesta said.

The Center for American Progress Action Fund and Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid hosted the third in a series of national clean-energy summit meetings Tuesday at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. More than 40 people rallied outside the event, with some  (go to article)

CNBC -- Oil fell for a third straight session on Wednesday, with the U.S. benchmark depressed by brimming petroleum stockpiles, as the dollar jumped and Asian equities declined on investor attempts to reduce risk exposure.



The dollar gained almost 1 percent against a basket of currencies while Japan's Nikkei average fell 2 percent on renewed concerns about European banks and the global economy, which pulled global stock markets down from one-month highs on Tuesday.

The euro was on the defensive as the latest scare over the euro zone banking system slapped it to lifetime lows against the Swiss franc and Australian dollar.

U.S. light, sweet crude [US@CL.1 73.71 -0.38 (-0.51%) ] for October fell 32 cents to $73.77 a barrel by 0013 GMT. The front-month contract pared losses on  (go to article)

CNBC -- U.S. crude oil pared losses and Brent crude turned positive after a deadly explosion ripped through a Mexican oil refinery, raising concerns that Mexico, a top U.S. crude supplier, would have to import more fuel.


AP
text deleted


U.S. product futures surged after news of the blast at the 275,000 barrel-per-day Cadereyta plant, Mexico's third biggest and most sophisticated refinery.

Mexico, which already relies on imports for more than 40 percent of domestic gasoline demand, could now be forced to boost fuel imports significantly.

"This should increase Mexico's demand for imports from the United States - one of the key things that will eventually drag down record U.S. oil product stocks is export demand  (go to article)

TheStreet -- Crude prices are expected to decline this week on bearish technical indicators, rising inventories and improving refinery utilization rates. Meanwhile, natural gas is likely to trade higher on bullish technical trends and higher demand.

Oil prices may trade lower this week on rising inventories. Last week, U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that crude oil stockpiles rose. Meanwhile, Baker Hughes(BHI) rig count stands at 977, up 4 from the penultimate week. Rising rig counts and higher refinery utilization shows an increase in production, leading to a decline in oil prices.

However, major economic releases are expected to be positive for the economy, which may improve oil prices to some extent later. Overall, oil prices are expected to end the week on a negative note.
 (go to article)

Reuters -- Tue Sep 7, 2010 4:54pm EDT

* Worries over Europe's banks help pressure crude
* Mexican refinery blast lifts RBOB, heating oil
* Coming up: API inventory data Wednesday

NEW YORK, Sept 7 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures fell on
Tuesday amid renewed concerns about Europe's banks and the euro
zone economy that pushed equities lower and helped strengthen
the dollar.

But the day's losses were sharply pared as crude futures
got support from gasoline and heating oil futures, which
rallied following news of an explosion that ripped through a
major Mexican refinery.

The news spurred speculation that the blast could force
Mexico, which already relies on imports to meet more than 40
percent of its domestic gasoline demand, to significantly
increase fuel imports.
 (go to article)

Wild Singapore News -- Lester Kok Straights Times, 4 Sep 10;
...
Battizer, which started in March, used the same technology to develop a quick charger for electric vehicles (Evs). It then took its vehicle charger to FTD Technology, the local distributor of India-made Ampere electric scooters. In the test, the scooters' batteries were charged fully in just one hour, a fraction of the normal four to eight hours ... . ... . The charging time is shortened, the battery remains cool while charging and the e-scooter's performance is much better than before,....
... this quick-charging innovation is critical for EVs, especially in countries like India and Indonesia, where electrical supply can be disrupted at any time.
 (go to article)

Star Chronical -- Taxi driver Dwight "Barron" Jones zipped into a Valero Corner Store in San Antonio last week when he saw fuel was selling for $2.199 a gallon.

The startling price — 27 cents cheaper than regular gasoline - was for E85, a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent conventional gasoline.

Jones has used the blend in the past at other E85 pumps in San Antonio, and said he was glad to see a new one.

"I think this will save me a little bit of money," said Jones, who owns his taxi, a 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan, and often fills up twice a day.

The use of E85 is about to get more exposure, as San Antonio-based Valero Energy Corp. recently announced it will add E85 pumps to all of its new Valero Corner Stores as they're built throughout its system  (go to article)

Associated Press -- WASHINGTON – Federal scientists are reporting the best possible scenario for BP's leaked oil: Microbes are munching the underwater oil, but not robbing the Gulf of Mexico of much needed oxygen or creating so-called "dead zones."

Oxygen levels in some places where the BP oil spilled are down by 20 percent, but that's not nearly low enough to create the dead zones where fish can't live, according to a 95-page report released Tuesday.

Trying to disperse the oil underwater is like walking a tightrope. In an unusual move, BP released 771,000 gallons of chemical dispersant at the leaking well head, about a mile deep, instead of just on the water surface to break up the oil into tiny droplets.

That makes it easier for the oil-eating microbes to do their job, but in doing so they deplete  (go to article)

Courthouse News Service -- Wisconsin can once again enforce a minimum markup on gas prices after the 7th Circuit dissolved an order barring the markups, citing a lack of evidence that they violate federal antitrust regulations.
Flying J, a Utah-based gas supplier, challenged the Wisconsin Unfair Sales Act, which requires in-state gas dealers to mark up prices by at least 6 percent. The markup allows competitors to meet, but not beat, others' prices.
Flying J said the law stifled competition by blocking it from selling gas in Wisconsin for less than the statutory requirement.
The Federal Trade Commission and the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute have both concluded that the law prevents competitive price-cutting and encourages price collusion at the expense of Wisconsin consumers.
A feder  (go to article)

CleanTechnica.com -- I wrote a piece over a month ago on the possibility of getting a nationwide renewable energy standard (RES) passed despite the demise of comprehensive climate and clean energy legislation in the Senate. Since then, though, I thought the possibility of getting an RES through an almost nonfunctional Senate sort of faded into oblivion. Apparently not, according to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).
Reid, who had said just before the Senate’s August recess that he doubted an RES could get 60 votes, said last Tuesday that an RES “is ‘absolutely’ in the mix as he tries to salvage energy legislation this year,” The Hill’s Energy & Environment Blog, E-2 Wire, reports.

Reid did not name the two Senators, but he said that two Republicans have expressed interest in an RES and he is going  (go to article)

The Economist -- N 1995 Alfa Romeo ignominiously pulled out of America, having managed to sell only 400 cars there that year. Yet this month the sporting Italian marque, which is celebrating its centenary, was the star of the annual Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in California, a show for classic and concept cars that is perhaps the most prestigious of its kind in the world. Alfa brought over seven cars from its museum in Milan, but none of its current offerings. It is testimony to the enduring power of a brand that has a wonderful history but which for many years has over-promised and under-delivered. There are signs, however, that this may be changing......  (go to article)

Gas 2.0 -- The hunt for a commercially viable biobutanol could finally be over thanks to an inspired, if ironic, bit of recycling by scientists working at Edinburgh Napier University in Scotland.

They’ve taken the two main waste products from the Scotch whisky production cycle and brought them together in a process which outputs biobutanol, long heralded as a next generation biofuel because it produces up to 30% more power than ethanol and can be used in existing combustion engine cars without modification.

The process has now been patented by the University which has also set up a limited company to leverage the commercial possibilities of the invention.

Professor Martin Tangney, Director of the Biofuel Research Centre at Edinburgh Napier University, believes the biofuel could be sold at garages  (go to article)

GasBuddy Blog -- As summer comes to a close, so does the peak demand season for motor gasoline in the United States. Typically, gasoline prices weaken in the autumn months as demand for gasoline drops. Here are some supply and demand numbers from this summer and how this year compared to last year and years past.

We began summer 2010 (Memorial Day weekend) with nearly 219 million barrels of gasoline in inventories. This compared to 203 million in 2009, 209 million in 2008, 198 million in 2007, and 209 million in 2006.

We're finishing summer 2010 (Labor Day weekend) with 225.5 million barrels of gasoline available. This compares to 205 million in 2009, 194 million in 2008, 191 million in 2007, and 206 million in 2006.

Demand...  (go to article)

Associated Press -- Motorists should see pump prices slide again after they spending a little more to fill their tanks over the Labor Day weekend.

The national average for a gallon of unleaded regular was $2.682 Tuesday, according to AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. That's 0.5 cent higher than a week ago and 9.9 cents higher than a year ago.

Drivers in the West, Illinois and New York state saw the highest prices over the weekend, ranging from $2.794 to $3.525 a gallon. The lowest prices were in Texas, parts of the Midwest and the South.

Analysts expect retail prices to fall now that the summer driving season has ended with plentiful supplies still in storage. In addition, consumers are watching their dollars carefully as unemployment remains high.

"Demand probably did pick up  (go to article)

Detroit Free Press -- BY MARK PHELAN
FREE PRESS COLUMNIST

American society as we know it was born a few feet off Woodward Avenue in Highland Park.

The Highland Park plant is where the mainspring of the 20th Century was wound," said Bob Casey, John and Horace Dodge curator of the transportation collection at the Henry Ford museum.

Thousands drive past the historic Ford Highland Park Model T Assembly plant every day, unaware of its significance. Now an online contest could make the plant a magnet for visitors to the Detroit area.

The Woodward Avenue Action Association has nominated the plant for This Place Matters, a national online competition for a $25,000 grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. You can vote for the Highland Park plant at

 (go to article)

USA Today -- American taxpayers are likely to be losers when it comes to the first public offering of General Motors stock, Reuters is reporting.

Reuters, quoting six unnamed people, says the initial round is likely to be priced below what would be needed to put the the federal government on track to make a full recovery of the $50 billiion it sunk into GM last year to try to save it. But in later years, subsequent offerings may be priced at levels that would allow taxpayers to be fully paid back for saving the world's largest automaker.

The Treasury could take three years to sell down its remaining shares in GM, well into the next presidential term, and it would be years as well before taxpayers are made whole, if they ever are, on their investment, the news agency says.  (go to article)

CBC News -- U.S. President Barack Obama is asking Congress to approve at least $50 billion US in long-term spending on the country's roads, railways and runways in a pre-election effort to show he's trying to stimulate the sputtering economy.

 (go to article)

CSP News -- Nearly half (45%) of U.S. households are diligently seeking lower gas prices, The Nielsen Co. has found. The economy has consumers looking for cost savings across the board, even as they revert to some pre-recession habits, it said.

"Although gas prices are not as high as they were in mid-2008, they have been edging up for some time and continue to impact how consumers shop and buy," said Todd Hale, senior vice president, Consumer & Shopper Insights, Nielsen. "Even though gas prices are reasonable relative to recent years, consumers continue to employ money-saving strategies, such as using coupons and gas purchase incentives, as means to deal with gas costs given overall economic concerns."  (go to article)

Brand X Daily -- Eco-conscious travel is about to become a lot easier. Beginning as early as January, electric cars will be available at the nation's two largest auto rental companies. Enterprise Rent-A-Car, North America's largest car rental firm, unveiled plans last week to offer about 500 Nissan Leaf all-electric cars, initially at dealerships in Los Angeles, San Diego, Portland and Seattle.

The announcement came a few months after Hertz, the world's largest car rental company, said it planned to offer Nissan Leafs next year at a handful of locations in the U.S. and Europe, including New York, Washington and San Francisco. A fully charged Leaf has a range of about 100 miles.  (go to article)

nytimes.com -- Energy efficiency is a way to meet the world’s growing energy needs, just like building more power plants — except that it costs less, emits no carbon dioxide or radiation, and does not rely on scarce resources in potentially hostile places.

Efficiency is often confused, detrimentally, with conservation. Conservation connotes making do with less — turning down the heat or driving a smaller car. Efficiency means getting more bang per buck. For example, California’s 35 years of efficiency standards for appliances have created refrigerators that use 75 percent less electricity than models from the 1970s. Yet today’s refrigerators are larger, have more features and cost less in inflation-adjusted dollars.

In transportation, “we could double fuel economy for light-duty vehicles by 2035  (go to article)

TopNews -- High unemployment rates in the US have had a bad impact on the oil prices from Monday itself.

During the starting of the week itself, the price of crude oil slipped close to $74 per barrel in the Asian markets backed by the fear that the US economic figures will reduce the demand for oil in near future.

Price of benchmark oil for October was down by 35 cents to end at $74.25 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange as per the Singapore time. For the contracts the decrease was of 42 cents and it settled at $74.60.

As per the data published by the US Labor Department on Friday, the jobless rate in the country was at 9.6 per cent as against 9.5 per cent in the month of July. What is worrying is that the US has spent huge sums in form of stimulus package to be able to get the figures do  (go to article)

Eco-Business -- Singapore, September 7 - Efforts to harness the sun’s energy are spreading in the heartland.

The Housing Board recently bought solar photovoltaic panels worth about $2.3 million for various residential estates. In total, the panels are expected to produce 170 megawatt-hours of energy each year which, said an HDB spokesman, would represent about $40,000 in savings a year per precinct.

The HDB began installing solar panels in the estates of Serangoon and Wellington in December 2008. Since then, the price of solar panels has dropped by more than half, from $5.17 a watt-peak to $2.33 a watt-peak.

While there are many options for renewable energy - hydropower, biofuel and wind among them - solar power could become a significant energy source in Singapore.

 (go to article)

NY Times -- Germany extends the life spans of their 17 nuclear plants while alternative energy sources are developed.

New taxes levied on utility companies will be used to help develop renewable energy sources. Germany can not afford to get rid of nuclear power because “It is a bridge”.

German law, passed by a previous government in 2002, requires the last nuclear power plant to be shut by 2022. That decision, bitterly resented by the nuclear energy companies, was largely supported by the German public, which has a deep aversion to anything nuclear, a sentiment that intensified after the nuclear accident at Chernobyl.

A survey in July found that 81 percent of Germans said the country could not do entirely without nuclear power, up from 59 percent five years ago.
 (go to article)

CNBC -- Tropical Storm Hermine strengthened in the Gulf of Mexico Monday as it approached landfall near the U.S.-Mexico border, but oil and gas operations in the Gulf were unaffected.



 (go to article)