Recent Gas News/GasBuddy Blog

Chicago Sun-Times -- The Illinois Senate voted Monday to undo a 23-year-old ban on the construction of new nuclear plants in a move one anti-nuclear activist predicted could turn Illinois into a “radioactive waste repository.”

Sen. Mike Jacobs (D-East Moline) said the legislation, which passed 40-1 and now moves to the House, is necessary to position the state for billions of federal dollars from President Obama’s administration for new nuclear plants and thousands of resulting construction jobs.

“The mood toward nuclear energy has cooled, and people aren’t as wary of it as they used to be,” said Jacobs, who has the Quad Cities nuclear plant in his district. “It’s proven itself to be a very safe clean technology.”
 (go to article)

Alternet -- Reason # 6
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6. Marijuana's legalization would simplify the development of hemp as a valuable and diverse agricultural crop in the United States, including its development as a new bio-fuel to reduce carbon emissions. Canada and European countries have managed to support legal hemp cultivation without legalizing marijuana, but in the United States opposition to legal marijuana remains the biggest obstacle to development of industrial hemp as a valuable agricultural commodity. As US energy policy continues to embrace and promote the development of bio-fuels as an alternative to oil dependency and a way to reduce carbon emissions, it is all the more important to develop industrial hemp as a bio-fuel source - especially since use of hemp stalks as a fuel source will not increase demand ...  (go to article)

Herlald Tribune -- Opening Florida's Gulf Coast to oil drilling would have almost no impact on prices at the pump or on the state's ongoing budget problems, a nonpartisan commission told a key committee of the Legislature on Monday.

While the House has heard similar arguments from environmental groups and others opposed to drilling, the report was significant because it came from the Century Commission for a Sustainable Florida, created by the Legislature five years ago to study Florida's long-term future on issues like water resources, growth management and energy.  (go to article)

Bloomberg Business Week -- March 16 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil traded below $80 a barrel in New York on concern demand in the U.S., the world’s largest energy consumer, hasn’t grown fast enough to justify the recent gain in prices.

“The recovery story has been priced into commodities,” David Moore, a commodity strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia Ltd., said in Sydney. “Some of the commodities, and oil is one, are getting up to high price levels relative to recent trading ranges and that has caused some investors to back off a bit.”

Crude oil for April delivery was at $79.70 a barrel, down 10 cents, in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 1:45 p.m. Singapore time. The contract lost 1.8 percent yesterday to $79.80, the lowest settlement since March 2.

The dollar was little changed agains  (go to article)

Physorg.com -- The growth of the electric vehicle sector has been hampered by the chicken-or-egg question of what should come first: zero-emission cars or the networks of recharging stations to keep them on the road.

Toyota, Nissan, Mitsubishi Motors and Fuji Heavy Industries have linked up with Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) as the organising members of the new grouping called "CHAdeMO".

The name is derived from a combination of the words "Charge" and "Move" and a pun on a popular Japanese phrase.

In total 158 companies and government bodies are members, including 20 foreign firms, among them Bosch, Peugeot SA and Enel SpA.

Standardizing charging infrastructure is vital to making electric vehicles popular, TEPCO chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata said.

"We need to make this protocol  (go to article)

Reuters -- SINGAPORE, March 16 - German luxury carmaker Daimler (DAIGn.DE) and its French rival Renault (RENA.PA) are in talks about taking equity stakes in each other to forge a long-term cooperation, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.

Citing two unidentified people briefed on the talks, the FT said the possible alliance would take the relationship beyond the ongoing talks about cooperation in the small cars business. It said the stakes would likely be below 10 percent in each other.  (go to article)

gas2.0 -- Over the past three years, the idea of using silicon in lithium-ion batteries to greatly increase energy storage capacity has been an on-again, off-again proposition. But some new announcements by different groups of researchers working on silicon-based lithium-ion batteries indicate that silicon may well be a viable charge-holding battery material.

If so, electric cars with a thousand miles of range are in striking distance.
Today’s lithium ion batteries use graphite anodes (in general terms, the anode is the part of the battery that holds the charge). Graphite is cheap and durable, meaning that batteries can be expected to last many thousands of charge cycles before breaking. But graphite is also not the best material for holding a charge — its relatively large size and structure mea  (go to article)

bloomberg.com -- Societe Generale SA, France’s second-largest bank, may as much as double financing this year for North American renewable power projects, supported by federal cash grants and loan guarantees.

Societe Generale, based in Paris, financed about $300 million of renewable projects last year, mostly wind power, Daniel Mallo, managing director of project and energy finance at SG Americas Securities LLC, said in a phone interview from New York today.

Mallo also said he expects more solar-energy clients in 2010 because the technology is more reliable and is available when demand is greatest.

 (go to article)

bloomberg.com -- The burgeoning U.S. wind-energy industry will fail to reach its potential without help from Congress in setting a national renewable-power standard and revamping the electric grid, governors from 29 states said.

A jumble of state laws should be replaced by a national edict, according to a report from the Governors’ Wind Energy Coalition, which includes California, Florida and Massachusetts. The plan would help spur development and efficiency, which would create jobs, curb greenhouse-gas emissions and reduce dependency on oil imports, the coalition said.

The absence of such a standard is hurting the U.S., the governors said. China installed more wind-energy generators last year than any other country, doubling the nation’s windpower capacity, according to data released by the World  (go to article)

Bloomberg -- Royal Dutch Shell Plc, vying with BP Plc to be Europe’s largest oil and gas company, will outline a plan tomorrow to increase output every year until 2020, a person familiar with the company’s strategy said.

Chief Executive Officer Peter Voser, due to brief investors at an annual strategy update in London, will say Shell has a pipeline of more than 20 projects with the potential to sustain low single-digit average annual production growth in the second half of the decade, the person said, asking not to be identified because the presentation hasn’t yet been made.  (go to article)

Bloomberg -- A proposed cut in Rio de Janeiro’s share of Brazil’s oil royalties will leave the state unable to carry out infrastructure projects tied to the 2016 Olympics, the president of Rio’s organizing committee said in a statement.
 (go to article)

Bloomberg -- Demand for OPEC oil may fall in 2010 even as the global economy improves because non-members will meet potential consumption increases, Libya’s top oil official said.

Global oil demand will rise by 900,000 barrels a day, which “will not be met by OPEC because non-members, for example the U.S. and Russia, are expected to increase their production,” Shokri Ghanem said in remarks published on the Web site of Libya’s National Oil Corp. today.

As a result, demand from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will not be stable and may even fall, Ghanem was cited as saying.  (go to article)

Bloomberg -- Saudi Arabia, the biggest and most influential member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, said oil prices are in the right range and there’s no need to change production policy.

“We are extremely happy with the market, the economy is doing well, it will do better down the road, so I don’t see any reason to disturb this happy situation,” Saudi Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi said late yesterday in Vienna, where OPEC meets tomorrow. “The price has stayed very well in the range of $70 to $80. It is in a very happy situation.”  (go to article)

Bloomberg -- OPEC doesn’t need to change its oil production quotas this week, and there’s no requirement for the group to pump at a higher rate than it already is, Libya’s top oil official said.

“There’s no need for any change,” Shokri Ghanem, chairman of Libya’s state-run National Oil Co., told reporters at his hotel in Vienna today. “The market is oversupplied. We’re going to call for compliance” with official quotas.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries meets March 17 at its new headquarters in the Austrian capital to determine production quotas for the next few months.  (go to article)

Washington Post -- Sure, homeowners can run a cord from an outlet to the environmentally friendly vehicle, but what if you don't have a garage? What if you live in an apartment and the landlord is not willing to pay larger electricity bills, as residents start clamoring for parking spaces near the power outlet?

Reddy's firm is hoping that landlords and office building owners will turn to the product as electric cars such as the Nissan Leaf or Chevy Volt come on the market and property owners try to figure out how people will pay for the extra power consumption.

"The notion that your landlord would install a socket so that you could get free juice is a fantasy," said Reddy, "This is not like charging a cellphone."  (go to article)

TOday's Energy Solutions -- Canada might hold much of the world’s oil supply, but that is not stopping its entrepreneurial companies from being world leaders in second-generation biofuel technologies. More than 100 companies are in the race to prove their technology can replace fossil fuels with affordable and planet-friendly biofuels to heat homes and schools, and rev up industrial and transportation engines.

Despite decades of work, the majority of the next generation biofuels – which are made from materials that do not compete with food production – are still in the R&D stage. But, a few Canadian companies are among the dozen that are commercial or near commercial, and each has the potential to change the way the world fuels up.  (go to article)

http://www.cbc.ca/news/ -- Lower sales of North American-built passenger cars were offset by higher sales of trucks and overseas-built passenger cars as the number of new motor vehicles sold remained unchanged at 128,426 in January.  (go to article)

http://www.cbc.ca/news/ -- The companies proposing to build the $16.2-billion Mackenzie Gas pipeline again delayed its proposed startup date on Monday.  (go to article)

Reuters -- European carbon emissions futures rose above 13 euros on Monday, as German power and UK gas prices rallied, while the market shrugged off a decline in U.S. industrial output, traders said.

EU Allowances for December delivery were up 15 cents or 1.16 percent at 13.05 euros ($17.94) a tonne at 1605 GMT, having dipped to an intra-day low of 12.87 euros. Volume was at 4,023 lots.

Spot EUAs on France's BlueNext were up 17 cents or 1.34 percent at 12.90 euros a tonne.

"Crude is weaker and equity markets were lower but German power and UK gas seem to be strengthening," an emissions trader said.  (go to article)

Reuters -- Toyota Motor Corp said on Monday it had found no evidence to support the driver's version of a widely publicized "runaway" Prius episode a week ago, suggesting that authorities examine whether the incident happened as reported to police.

Toyota representatives convened a news conference in San Diego, near the site of the March 8 report of the "runaway" vehicle, to announce preliminary findings of its examination of the 2008 Prius driven by James Sikes.

U.S. safety investigators said earlier on Monday that they had found no evidence to support or disprove Sikes' version of events.

Sikes, 61, had reported in a call to 911-emergency operators that his Prius sped out of control for some 20 minutes before he could bring the vehicle under control with the assistance of the CHP.  (go to article)

CNN -- Exxon Mobil outlined plans Thursday that rely heavily on oil from tough to reach places, extracting it from the depths of the ocean, the frozen Arctic and the tar sands in Canada's frozen tundra.

Read the article  (go to article)

JuneauEmpire.com -- Democrats wary of bill that would structurally change state's system

By Tim Bradner | Alaska Journal of Commerce

An effort to make a structural change in the state's oil and gas production tax law is gathering momentum in the state Senate and could become a pivotal issue as the 2010 legislative session enters its final weeks.

Democrats in the state House don't like the bill.

Senate Bill 305 is designed as a platform to make more significant changes, such as lowering the tax rate, once the Senate sends the bill to the House, lawmakers said.

In a signal that the Senate intends to fast-track the measure, Senate President Gary Stevens gave SB 305 a referral to only one committee, the Finance Committee, waiving the usual procedure of sending major bills to at least two committees. Ordinari  (go to article)

CNNMoney -- Oil fell on Monday, as uncertainty over the debt crisis was renewed and the dollar strengthened against major currencies.

What prices are doing: Crude plummeted $1.75 to $79.49 a barrel on Monday.

What's driving the market: Prices took a nosedive, as traders kept a wary eye on global sovereign debt issues, after a report showed renewed worries over some countries' ability to sustain a recovery.

 (go to article)

Piladelphia Inquirer -- Phila.-area gas prices creeping up

INQUIRER STAFF AND ASSOCIATED PRESS

The average for a gallon of regular no-lead was up 1 cent over the weekend in the five-county Philadelphia area, according to AAA Mid-Atlantic.

The average there was $2.82. South Jersey's average was unchanged, at $2.62, after slipping up - and then down - 1 cent during the weekend.

The national average was up by 1 cent, to $2.79.

Diesel averages were up 2 cents, to $3.15, in the Philadelphia area; unchanged, at $2.82, in South Jersey; and unchanged, at $2.92, at the national level.

Prices at the pump have been increasing for weeks - up 6 cents in the Philly area, 13 cents in South Jersey and 17 cents in the nation overall.

As AAA noted, prices go up at this time every year, what the auto club refer  (go to article)

The Associated Press -- NEW YORK — Oil prices tumbled to near $79 a barrel Monday, dragged down by a stronger dollar and increasing investor concerns about energy demand.

Energy prices fell across the board, with benchmark crude contracts for April delivery sliding $1.65 to $79.59 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier, crude dipped as low as $79.16. It's been nearly two weeks since prices dropped below $80.

MF Global analyst Mike Fitzpatrick said, "A great deal of skepticism is creeping into the market about the sustainability of a market recovery," which has fueled concerns that consumers will keep their cars parked and watch their energy use closely.  (go to article)

GasBuddy Blog -- For those who are looking to purchase a used car anytime in the future, one thing always comes to mind- vehicle history reports. While these reports may provide you with a sense of security, they don't always reveal everything in a vehicle's past history.

We've been taught to ask for a vehicle history report, even pay upwards of $40 to find out where a car has been, if its a lemon, if its been wrecked, etc. But there's no substitute from having a neutral mechanic check it over. The last thing you want to find out is that the used car you just purchased has been in a massive wreck, leaving the question of structural integrity in the air.

I have a new avenue for folks who are sick of paying big bucks for little in additional...  (go to article)

The Detroit News -- China is urging its automakers to upgrade quality and set up accountable recall systems to handle defects, amid growing awareness of such issues following Toyota's recent recalls.

Chinese vehicle sales surged 45 percent last year, to over 13 million units, making China the world's biggest auto market. Sales growth this year remains in the double digits so far, prompting local automakers to announce major expansion plans.

As they rush to meet surging demand, car makers need to guard against "blind expansion," the Ministry of Information and Technology said in a statement issued on the eve of today's World Consumer Rights Day."China has become a world automobile producing and consuming power, but it should also be noted that the industry still lacks core technology..."  (go to article)

gas2.0 -- I’ve had my fair share of trucks. I know they need to put up with a lot of abuse and neglect. These things are built to be used. Electric cars are coming, and soon, but it might take trucks a bit longer to catch on. Ford is taking a stab at it with its electric Transit Connect van, and Nissan is talking about an electric NV200. But neither is a pickup, and I haven’t seen too many electric trucks demonstrated. There aren’t even any truly viable hybrid pickups.

ALTe has a clever solution that sounds promising. At the World Truck Show, they unveiled an F-150 plug-in hybrid demonstration pickup with a 4-cylinder engine and a 25 kWh battery pack that they make some impressive claims about. For starters, a 52-mile all-electric range, and better gas mileage than most diesels.
I’m hopefully sk  (go to article)

The Detroit News -- BYD, the Chinese automaker with backing from billionaire Warren Buffett, says its net profit more than tripled last year as the company's F3 sedan topped the country's list of best-selling autos.

BYD is among several Chinese automakers whose fortunes have risen as sales took off last year, largely thanks to government tax cuts and subsidies aimed at boosting demand, especially for energy-efficient small vehicles.

BYD's net profit soared to 3.79 billion yuan ($555.5 million) in 2009, the automaker reported late Sunday, up from 1.02 billion yuan the year before.

Although the company did not report profits by segment, BYD said its 21 billion yuan ($3.06 billion) in revenues from its auto division last year accounted for 53 percent of its total sales, up from 32 percent in 2008.  (go to article)

Los Angeles Times -- Lawsuits over the last half-century are credited with such innovations as impact-absorbing dashboards and steering columns, and gas tanks that won't explode when a car is rear-ended.

On a summer day in 1911, Donald MacPherson was driving his Buick runabout to Sarasota Springs, N.Y., when the wooden spokes snapped on a rear wheel, flipping the open car and trapping him under the rear axle.

In what would become a landmark ruling in product liability law, the New York Court of Appeals in 1916 awarded MacPherson $5,025 in compensation -- about $115,000 in today's dollars -- and established the automaker's "duty of care" to ensure customers are sold a safe product.  (go to article)

Road&Track -- I assume the laws of physics still apply in Toyota’s “unintended acceleration.” In particular, F=ma, “force equals mass times acceleration,” implies that acceleration depends on a continued applied force.

With this in mind, I am puzzled by the rare mention of the N or Neutral position of a car’s automatic transmission gear selector. Seemingly, Neutral deftly takes the car’s engine, throttle and accelerator pedal out of the acceleration equation.
Misaligned floormats and malfunctioning accelerator pedal dampers are implicated in throttles failing to return to their closed position. But what about Neutral in the gear selector?

A Minnesota car speeds up in reverse, crosses a street and destroys a neighbor’s tree; this, despite efforts of braking. What about Neutral?
 (go to article)

Toledo Blade -- OAK HARBOR, Ohio - Only six years after putting Davis-Besse back in service, FirstEnergy Corp. is having problems with the reactor head it brought down from a mothballed nuclear plant in Midland, Mich., to replace the damaged lid had led to a worldwide probe of nuclear operations, including reforms nationally.
 (go to article)

Technology Review -- Natural gas may be the cleanest fossil fuel, but it can be an unnecessary pest when it's produced as waste from remote offshore oil wells. Brazilian state oil company Petrobras is fueling a race between two developers of modular chemical reactors that could turn this "associated gas" into synthetic crude.

U.K.-based Compact GTL will unveil a commercial partnership today with Sumitomo Precision Products, a Japanese industrial company with which Compact GTL is building a gas-to-liquid (GTL) pilot plant to be delivered to Petrobras by this summer. Nipping at Compact GTL's heels, meanwhile, is Columbus-based microreactor developer Velocys, which announced plans last month to build a pilot plant for Petrobras using its potentially more compact design.  (go to article)

The Telegraph -- The Carbon Trust has announced it is working with the University of York to research how using microwave technology could turn garden and wood waste into biofuel.

Using microwaves, the waste is heated in the absence of oxygen through a process called pyrolysis.

The research will look at how this process could be used to produce a biofuel to blend with fossil fuel or use as a pure fuel.

According to the Carbon Trust, the carbon footprint of this new pyrolysis biofuel could potentially save 95 per cent of carbon compared to fossil fuels.  (go to article)

The Phoenix Business Journal -- The folks at Ford Motor Co. are singing a cheery tune as the blue oval company trumped rivals in sales in the U.S. and Canada last month.

So I checked in with a couple execs to see exactly what they are singing on their daily commute. More specifically, I asked for their favorite car songs, putting the kibosh on “Mustang Sally,” since that’s my favorite (ode to a 1966 GT fastback I wish I still had) and really just not a fair answer for Ford guys.

Mark Fields, executive vice president and president, Americas, for Ford is thinking Cadillac with “Back in Black” by AC/DC.  (go to article)

Bloomberg.com -- Crude oil for April delivery fell as much as 80 cents, or 1 percent, to $80.44 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and traded at $80.82 as of 12:38 p.m. London time. Brent crude oil for May settlement, the most active contract on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange, dropped 30 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $79.66 a barrel.  (go to article)

NPR.org -- What are the ties between Toyota and the US Congress?
You will be surprised.
Read or listen to the story...  (go to article)

Reuters -- Australia's Arrow Energy is set to reject as too low a $3 billion joint takeover offer from Royal Dutch Shell and PetroChina, a newspaper reported, a move that could prompt the bidders to return with a higher, hostile bid.

A stream of analysts' comments suggesting the offer is too low, coupled with how long it has taken Arrow to assess the offer, have triggered speculation the proposal will be rejected, the Australian Financial Review said on Monday.

"A rejection by Arrow could precipitate a formal bid by Shell and PetroChina, which will allow shareholders to make a decision," said John Young, energy analyst at Wilson HTM Investment Group.  (go to article)

U.S. NEWS & World Report -- To hear the media tell it, everyone wanted a hulking, gas-guzzling Cadillac Escalade before the recession hit. Now, humbled, we all want a tiny, fuel-sipping Nissan Versa. Neither picture is quite true.

As many car-shopping Americans have discovered, the right solution for many of us splits the difference – a compact SUV. Today’s small sport ‘utes are marvels. Most are built on the same platforms as small or midsize cars, making them as easy to drive as sedans – and just as fuel-efficient. The average fuel economy in the Affordable Compact SUV class is about 21 mpg in the city and almost 27 mpg on the highway – similar to wha  (go to article)

Automotive News -- The Cadillac Converj concept, like Bob Lutz, is fading away. In January, General Motors' vice chairman told members of the Society of Automotive Analysts that the plug-in hybrid concept would be produced sometime after 2012.
 (go to article)

USA Today -- Some states are seeing fewer people than hoped take advantage of federal rebates for energy-efficient appliances.
As of late last week, Georgia, Indiana, Wisconsin and Michigan had issued less than 25% of their funds despite offering rebates for at least a month.

"We thought it would be a little faster," says Shane Hix of the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority.

The rebates are part of a $300 million stimulus program aimed at boosting the economy, similar to last year's cash-for-clunkers auto program, and the nation's energy efficiency.

Not every state is experiencing slow demand. And the difference may be the size of the rebates.

Minnesota and Iowa offered bigger rebates, $100 to $250 or more, on key items, including refrigerators, dishwashers and clothes washers....  (go to article)

National Post -- CALGARY -- Energy companies have served notice they will boost spending in Alberta as a result of royalty rate cuts, although none has made a written commitment, the province's energy minister said on Friday.

Alberta Energy Minister Ron Liepert also said the moves, announced on Thursday after months of industry complaints over the previous fiscal regime, are aimed at getting Alberta into shale gas development, a booming part of the energy sector that has largely passed the Canadian province by.
 (go to article)

Hattiesburg -- Last month the state College Board gave Southern Miss permission to use $2 million in state bonds for an energy retrofitting project, i.e. applying new technology to existing equipment.
It's not a done deal, just one of several options the school is considering to trim its energy bill, budgeted at $8.5 million from its education and general funds for FY 2010.
If implemented, the retrofitting project would be a sizable overhaul for the university.
"It's not an inexpensive thing to do. If it was, we would have done it already," said physical plant director Rusty Postlewate.
 (go to article)

Bloomberg -- March 15 (Bloomberg) -- OPEC is increasing oil drilling at the fastest rate in 2 1/2 years even as production exceeds its quotas by the equivalent of a supertanker of crude a day and delegates prepare to pledge no increase in output.

“OPEC will have to show its mettle,” said Leo Drollas, deputy director of the CGES in London, which was founded by former Saudi oil minister Sheikh Zaki Yamani. The consultant predicts Brent crude will fall 25 percent to $60 in the fourth quarter of this year. “If they can’t hold discipline, we’re looking at prices going to $50 by 2015.”

 (go to article)

Detnews.com -- By Brian J. O'Connor

A clean diesel car can be good for the environment -- but will it end up cleaning out your wallet? With mileage that can be as much as one-third better than comparable gasoline engines -- hitting more than 40 mpg on the highway -- clean diesel engines can take a big bite out of your car's carbon footprint.

The new diesels are much improved over the models that appeared in the late 1980s, with lowered tailpipe emissions and quieter performance that refutes diesels' reputation as noisy stinkpots. But the premium cost of diesel models and diesel fuel mean they also can take a bite out of your wallet.

In many cases, it can take years for drivers to see real savings from the improved mileage of a diesel, notes John O'Dell, senior editor of the Green Car Advisor at Edmund  (go to article)

Bloomberg.com -- Hedge-fund managers and other large speculators increased their net-long positions, or bets that oil prices will rise, for a fourth week, according to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

The wagers that prices will climb outnumbered those that prices will fall by 109,314 contracts in the week ended March 9, according to the commission’s Commitments of Traders report on March 12.

“The best buying came again from managed money covering shorts and getting long,” said Peter Beutel, president of trading adviser Cameron Hanover Inc. in New Canaan, Connecticut. “The economy looking stronger and equities markets moving higher are the factors pushing prices higher.”

Open interest rose 50,806 contracts to 1.3 million during the period, according to the CFTC report.
 (go to article)

Businessweek.com -- Crude oil declined for a second day on speculation fuel inventories may remain high as supply from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries outpaces the recovery in global demand.

Oil fell after Iran’s OPEC governor Mohammad Ali Khatibi said the market may be oversupplied later this year if the group, meeting March 17, fails to comply with output limits. A report today may show industrial production in the U.S., the world’s biggest energy consumer, was little changed in February because of harsh weather, according to a Bloomberg survey of analysts.

“Global demand may be increased gradually this year but there’s plenty of available supply,” said Ken Hasegawa, a commodity derivatives sales manager at broker Newedge in Tokyo.  (go to article)

The Detroit News -- An initial investigation by federal safety investigators has raised questions of whether a highly publicized incident of a runaway Toyota Prius in California could have happened, saying they could not replicate it during testing.

According to a draft of the memorandum by congressional investigators obtained by The Detroit News on Sunday, a review by Toyota officials and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration investigators of a 2008 Toyota Prius has not be able to duplicate the incident. Last Monday, owner James Sikes said the vehicle sped out of control to more than 90 mph before a California Highway Patrol officer helped him come to a safe stop.

NHTSA and Toyota investigators inspected the vehicle and took it out for a test drive last Wednesday and Thursday.  (go to article)

wired.com/autopia -- There are some 1 billion cars on the planet, and when you get right down to it, they’re all essentially the same — a box on wheels propelled, more often than not, by an internal combustion engine. Get past the marketing and one’s as good as another.

There are a couple of sound designs that would last for ages. No car is perfect, but here are 10 that are damn close. They are designs that have stood the test of time, and if these 10 cars were the only 10 cars ever built, there would still be something for just about everyone.

We know you’re eager to get to the list and start flaming us. Before you do, bear this in mind: We aren’t saying these are the 10 damn-near perfect cars. You almost certainly have your suggestions that didn’t make the list.  (go to article)

Reuters -- HOUSTON, March 14 - Independent U.S. refiner Tesoro Corp (TSO.N) is evaluating the future of its 93,500 barrel per day (bpd) Kapolei, Hawaii refinery, according to reports in Honolulu newspapers.

The review is part of a general review of the company's seven refineries, which are based in the western United States, Alaska and Hawaii, and could lead to the Hawaii plant becoming a fuels terminal, the reports said.

The Honolulu Advertiser quoted Tesoro Senior Vice President Lynn Westfall as saying the Hawaii refinery lost money in 2009 and was continuing to lose money this year.  (go to article)

San Jose Mercury News -- Alas, shifting a Prius into neutral is not as simple as with most models, as my neighbor Emmett discovered. He's a technology lover, one of those guys who loves to figure out how things work and why.
He took his 2006 Prius through some neighborhood streets at low speeds and tried several times to shift into neutral. He failed the first four times before finally succeeding.  (go to article)