Energy News

Big Oil is using fake "Americans" to defend billions in tax subsidies. The American Petroleum Institute is running full-page ads in Politico and Roll Call that attack Congress for "new energy taxes": Congress will likely consider new taxes on America's oil and natural gas industry.

The number of rigs piercing North Dakota's oil patch has topped 100 for the first time in nearly three decades, the state Department of Mineral Resources said Wednesday.

NEW YORK, March 10 -- Crude oil prices remained elevated in New York, climbing close to $82 per barrel after the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said demand was rising.

BP PLC, Europe's second-largest oil company, is the leading candidate to purchase assets worth more than $5 billion from independent oil and gas producer Devon Energy, the Wall Street Journal said Wednesday.

DALLAS----Pioneer Natural Resources Company today announced that Scott Sheffield, Chairman & CEO, will present at The Howard Weil Energy Conference on March 23, 2010 at 11:35 a.m.

DANBURY, Conn., March 10, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FuelCell Energy, Inc. (Nasdaq:FCEL), a leading manufacturer of high efficiency ultra-clean power plants using renewable and other fuels for commercial, industrial, government, and utility customers, today announced subcontract awards totaling $2.1 million from Air Products (NYSE:APD). The prime contract to demonstrate a renewable hydrogen fueling station was awarded to Air Products by the California Air Resources Board and supported by the South Coast Air...

Former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan will be the star witness at a hearing of the congressional panel looking into causes of the financial crisis.

MP2 Energy LLC has gotten the green light to begin selling energy to commercial and industrial businesses in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas.

Dominion Resources Inc. is offering buyouts to 4,800 eligible workers and expects about 1,000 to accept the voluntary severance package.

California's Renewable Energy DebacleSeeking Alpha (blog)Instead of celebrating California's leadership in low-emission hydroelectric energy procurement, AB 32 excludes large hydro from the definition of.

NAIROBI, Kenya, March 10 -- East Africa is emerging as the next oil boom following a big 2006 strike in Uganda's Lake Albert Basin. Other oil and natural gas reserves have been found in Tanzania and Mozambique and exploration is under way in Ethiopia and even war-torn Somalia.

In situ oilsands developer Osum Oil Sands Corp. was assigned proved plus probable reserves of 320 million bbls in its engineering evaluation by GLJ Petroleum Consultants Ltd.

Calling it a "transition year," Pengrowth Energy Trust said 2009 production fell three per cent from the previous year and combined with lower commodity prices the trust's earnings, cash flow and revenues were all down from 2008 levels.

Questerre Energy Corporation reports that its previously reported equity issue of 20 million to 30 million shares was more than two times oversubscribed.

Flint Energy Services Ltd. was awarded a second contract by Suncor Energy Inc. to perform field construction, pre-commissioning and commissioning support at Suncor's Firebag 3, SAGD project near Fort McMurray, Alberta.

DALLAS, March 10, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mesa Energy Holdings, Inc. (OTCBB:MSEH), an exploration stage oil and gas exploration and production company, will be announcing new developments and updates relating to the Company's Java Field project, its recent focus on the Marcellus Shale in western New York and the formation of and appointments to the Company's Board of Directors and Advisory Board. Mr. Griffin, the Company's CEO, will also be offering his thoughts on the future of the natural gas industry...

With its Canadian drilling fleet capable of drilling deep horizontal wells, CanElson Drilling Inc. says its well positioned to grow in the domestic market, and the company is also aiming for international growth through its operations in the United States and Mexico.

Galleon Energy Inc. announced today it has recently performed a recompletion of a Duvernay shale well at Puskwa in the Peace River area of northwest Alberta. The company has approximately 619 (503 net) sections of land with Duvernay rights.

Husky Energy Inc. increased its proved reserves at year-end 2009 to 933 million bbls of oil equivalent from 896 million BOE at Dec. 31, 2008 while its proved plus probable gas reserves continued to slide.

The European Union condemns Israel's plans to build 1,600 housing units in East Jerusalem and calls on the Jewish state to reverse the decision, the EU foreign affairs chief said on Wednesday.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The S&P 500 rose on Wednesday as investors snapped up shares of bailed-out financial companies on hopes the sector may be poised for a recovery as the U.S. economy improves, while a drop in oil producer Chevron's stock pushed the Dow slightly lower.

Oil major Royal Dutch Shell and oil-trading giant Vitol have suspended gasoline sales to Iran, as policy makers explore fresh options in an effort to curb the country's nuclear program.

Oglethorpe Power Corp. plans to build a 605-megawatt, natural-gas-powered "combined-cycle" generating facility in Georgia to meet members' rising energy demands.

Denbury Resources completed its buyout of Encore Acquisition, the oil and gas company said Wednesday, one day after receiving approval from shareholders.

EQT Corp. will sell 12.5 million shares of common stock to accelerate development of its Marcellus Shale and other gas plays. (EQT)

Independent crude oil and natural gas producer Carrizo Oil & Gas Inc. said Wednesday its fourth-quarter loss narrowed as revenue rose 3.6 percent to partially offset hefty one-time charges.

US DOE unveils funding for marine energy development.

Penn Virginia Resource Partners LP said Wednesday that its PVR Midstream division and a subsidiary of Range Resources Corp. have agreed to build and run natural-gas gathering pipelines and compression facilities servicing Range's Marcellus Shale properties in north central Pennsylvania. (RRC) (PVR)

Dan Duncan has bought up another chunk of Enterprise GP Holdings Inc. units this week, adding to the large purchase the company's chairman made last week. (EPE) (EPD)

Energy stocks post slim gains ahead of the latest U.S. inventory figures, on the heels of a revised Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries outlook forecasting higher world oil demand for 2010.

PARIS, March 10 -- The International Energy Agency and technology officers from 30 global companies in Paris called Wednesday for dramatic action to usher in a low-carbon economy.

ERBIL, Iraq, March 10 -- Gulf Keystone Petroleum announced its subsidiary operating in the Kurdish region of Iraq examined the oil and gas potential at the Akri Bijeel block.

BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 10 -- German energy giant and Nabucco project member RWE signed a memorandum of understanding for oil and gas exploration in Azerbaijan, the company said Wednesday.

Turkey, S Korea envision tripling tradeEnergy is one of the key areas of cooperation where solar energy, power, hydropower and geothermal energy projects offer opportunities for Korean firms in.

MOSCOW, March 10 -- Shale and coal-bed methane gas projects in the United States could undermine the global status of Russian energy giant Gazprom, data indicate.

Solar developer FirstSolar of Tempe announced Tuesday that it has signed an agreement to sell power from an industrial-scale solar project planned for east of the Coachella Valley to Pacific Gas and Electric Company.

RigNet Inc. has opened a service center in Pennsylvania to take advantage of the oil and gas industry's flock to the Marcellus Shale.

AMARILLO, Texas----Exterra Energy Inc. today announced the beginning of the development of their Barnett Shale assets. Exterra will be partnering with Newtech Engineering to drill their 6 proven drilling locations in the Barnett Shale.

FMC Technologies Inc. has signed an agreement with Statoil ASA for the manufacture and supply of subsea production equipment to support the Marulk field. The award a calloff from FMCs existing fra

MIDLAND, Texas----Clayton Williams Energy, Inc. today provided a review of its ongoing developmental drilling programs in the Permian Basin and Austin Chalk , two of its core oil-producing areas, for 2009 and its outlook for 2010.

Exxon Mobil Corp. , BP Plc and Total SA are investing in assets that previously werena t worth their time or money after oil-rich nations reduced access to reserves and exploration drilling faltered.

Revi Sarkozy: 'Help poor countries go nuclear in energy crisis' POOR countries should be helped to build their own nuclear power stations to help fight climate change, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said yesterday.

Halliburton Co., the world's second-largest oil field-services provider, said it doesn't feel the need to make a major acquisition after two of its top rivals announced takeovers. "We feel no compulsion to go out and do any large transaction," Tim Probert, president of global business lines and corporate development at Halliburton, said in an interview today in Houston.

New Standard Energy New Standard will accelerate the progress of its shale gas exploration acreage in Western Australias Canning Basin following an internal and external review of the shale gas pros

The ins and outs of tomorrow's energy grid will be tested on an unprecedented scale in Chicago. Local utility ComEd, a subsidiary of Exelon Corporation, will use $5 million in Recovery Act funding to institute the program, which will initially outfit 8,000 homes with advanced smart meters in order to test how well consumers manage their energy consumption when monitoring and programming are available. The project will also include outfitting 100 homes with distributed solar power systems, creating...

Tullow Oil plc Tullow the independent oil and gas exploration and production group announces its results for the year ended 31 December 2009. Results summary The reported financial results for

A new report by the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries has said that uncertainty over future rates of global demand for oil derivatives, the fluctuation of construction material costs and pressure arising from environmental protection laws could lead to the delay or cancellation of new oil refinery projects in several Arab countries, Kuna has reported. In its monthly report, Oapec said that despite efforts by the Arab refining industry, the pace of development is very slow.

Syria: Syrian deputy foreign minister, Faysal Mekdad, has said his country wants to pursue nuclear power to meet growing energy needs, the Associated Press has reported. 'The peaceful application of nuclear energy should not be monopolized by the few that own this technology but should be available to all,' Mekdad said at a nuclear conference in Paris.

Saudi Arabia: China's largest oil refiner, Sinopec, is considering setting up a joint venture with Saudi Aramco and US-based ExxonMbil to build an oil refinery able to process 12 million tonnes of crude per year in Fujian, China Daily has reported, citing a source familiar with the deal. The complex would also produce one million tonnes of ethylene per year. The three companies have started a feasibility study on the project.

Iran: Iran's Opec governor has said that Opec may not necessarily boost output if oil demand rises, as producers outside the group could increase their production, Reuters has reported. 'Opec must consider the increase in crude oil output by non-Opec countries before making any decision regarding the stability of the global oil market,' Mohammad Ali Khatibi was quoted as saying. 'Any rise in the demand for oil in the wake of improvement in the global economic situation would not necessarily mean that Opec...

The CEO of San Antonio-based Valero said that to restore acceptable margins, refiners will have to trim 2 million barrels per day of capacity on top of cuts totaling 1.5 billion barrels per day last year.

Chevron Corp. will cut 2,000 refining and marketing jobs worldwide and plans to sell its refinery in England to deal with the recession's effects on gasoline sales, company executives said Tuesday.

Khalid Al-Falih, CEO of Saudi Aramco: "I don't think any of us will see, at any time in our lives, fossil fuels meeting less than 70 percent of total energy demand."

NEW DELHI, March 10 -- Deals on defense and nuclear energy are likely to be concluded during Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's trip to India, defense industry sources said.

Methane is a more powerful greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide and sediments in some parts of the Arctic are starting to vent significant amounts of methane as their temperatures increase.

Qatar: Qatar Gas Transport Company (Nakilat), the world's largest LNG shipping company and the integral transportation link in the LNG supply chain for the State of Qatar, is proud to be a Bronze Sponsor of the Doha 2nd International Maritime Defence Exhibition (Dimdex) 2010 being staged at the Doha Exhibition Center from March 29th to 31st, 2010.

Think of renewable energy, and you're likely to envision power from above, such as from the sun or wind. In fact, industry insiders often distinguish between above-ground sources like solar and wind power and below-ground sources like oil and coal. But while geothermal energy gets far fewer headlines a?? and far less venture capital a?? than solar or wind power, it actually supplies more megawatt-hours than either of these other renewables.

Canadian Solar Inc. ("the Company," "Canadian Solar" or "we") (Nasdaq: CSIQ), a leading vertically integrated provider of ingot, wafer, solar cell, solar module and other solar applications, today announced the activation of a 540kW ground-mount photovoltaic (PV) solar electric system at Minturn Huller Cooperative, Inc., a premier almond huller and sheller for more than 260 almond growers in Central Valley, Calif. The new solar installation, featuring Canadian Solar's high-performance modules, began...

Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, R.W. Beck, has been awarded a blanket purchase agreement (BPA) by the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Golden Field Office to support The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy's Biomass Program. The agreement expires September 30, 2015 and has a ceiling value of $21 million.

It's no surprise that professionals working in any renewable energy field are aware of the practical, carbon-saving benefits of installing solar energy in their own homes. For Tony Almond, boss of Planet Energy Solutions, that meant a double dose of solar power a?? with both solar photovoltaics and solar thermal panels installed at his property in Welwyn, Hertfordshire (UK).

ET Solar Group Corp. ("ET Solar"), a Nanjing-based photovoltaic ("PV") system turnkey solution provider and integrated manufacturer of PV products, announced a 31MW module sales agreement with Umwelt Sonne Energie GmbH ("USE") in Germany.

SARASOTA, Fla., March 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sunovia Energy Technologies (OTC Bulletin Board: SUNV) and Fifth Third Bank announced today that they have finalized a partnership whereby eligible customers can now finance the costs of purchasing and installing Sunovia's LED products.By installing Sunovia's LED Light Fixtures, which are sold under the brand name EvoLuciaR, customers generally save more than 50% in energy and more than $500 in bulb replacement and maintenance costs during the life of the...

KNOXVILLE, Tenn., March 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- With solar panels and wind turbines popping up across the region, the Tennessee Valley Authority's homegrown renewable energy program, Generation Partners, now has enough power to meet the annual electricity needs of a fairly large subdivision. Fueled by TVA incentives and federal tax credits, participation in Generation Partners http://www.tva.gov/greenpowerswitch/partners/ has tripled since last spring from 69 to 194 installations -- 181 are solar and...

Growing biomass in space? That's right. Right now an experiment is underway on the space station to see if microgravity can affect the growth of Jatropha curcas, a tropical flowering plant. According to Popular Science , "This first-ever experiment to test a possible biofuel in microgravity aims to improve cell structure, growth and development in the Jatropha curcas plants. An identical set of samples that represent the experimental control are located at the University of Florida's Tropical Research and...

ROSEMEAD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Southern California Edison (SCE), an Edison International company (NYSE:EIX), and SunPower Corp. (Nasdaq: SPWRA, SPWRB) announced today that SunPower has won a contract to provide solar technology for generating up to 200 megawatts, or 80 percent, of the solar power capacity needed for the utility's large solar photovoltaic installation program.During the next five years, SCE plans to install, own and operate 250 megawatts of solar generating capacity, most of it on...

MARLBORO, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Evergreen Solar, Inc. (Nasdaq: ESLR), a manufacturer of STRING RIBBONT solar power panels with its proprietary, low-cost wafer manufacturing technology, announced today the promotion of Peter Rusch to Vice President of Sales for Europe, Africa and the Middle East. It also announced that Thomas Hofmann has been promoted to the Director of Sales for Europe. In this newly-created position, Rusch will oversee market development, sales strategy and implementation in the three...

ThermaSource wins drilling contract in NicaraguaSanta Rosa geothermal company ThermaSource Inc. said Tuesday it won a contract to drill new wells at a growing geothermal energy complex in.

Chevron has put up for sale a petrochemicals refinery in Pembroke, west Wales, that employs 1,400 people. It said the move reflected global overcapacity in refining and its mission to locate more production in fast-growing Asian markets.

The problem facing Chevron, and almost everyone else in the world of Big Oil, is that the price of crude oil has been rising faster than they can jack up fuel prices.