Frontier Refining is shut down now, but a $105 million project going on behind the scenes has made it a work zone

"At the end of the whole process, we will have a plant that's been inspected and refurbished, and repaired and good for reliable and safe operation for another period of time," he said.

..."We will also have additional capacity to convert heavy oil into gas and diesel," he said.

While that won't increase the output of the plant, it will lessen the amount of asphalt the refinery produces.

Connecticut - GOP: Suspend Gas Tax

Legislative Republicans said today they will try to amend as many bills as possible in the final weeks of the session to suspend Connecticut's 25-cent-per-gallon state gasoline tax from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

Jet fuel shortage averted at Yellowknife airport

Midnight Petroleum's resupply arrived after the Merv Hardie ferry crossing at Fort Providence opened for the season. The company's supply of jet fuel had dipped so low last week that fuel was being rationed and pilots told to fly into Yellowknife with their own fuel cache.

Imperial Oil, which supplies Midnight Petroleum, blamed last week's fuel shortage on the Mackenzie ice crossing at Fort Providence closing a week earlier than expected this year. The fuel was stuck on the other side of the Mackenzie River.

Hercules Offshore Responds to Unrest in Nigeria

Hercules Offshore said that it is taking precautionary measures with its liftboat operations in Nigeria because of the current unrest arising out of the recently held local and national elections and the resulting decision of its customer, Chevron Nigeria Ltd., to temporarily cease certain operations to protect the safety of personnel. In response to the unrest, Hercules has developed a security plan with Chevron. Under the plan, Hercules Offshore will evacuate all non-essential expatriate personnel from Nigeria. Hercules Offshore will also move ten liftboats currently operating for Chevron to a more protected area in Nigeria and temporarily cease operating those vessels.

The changing face of oilsands mining

The landscape of the oilsands mining sector is rapidly changing, and so too is the technology to process the tons of ore. Oilsands operators can now choose a new mining technology – mobile crushing - to use at their mine sites, depending on a number of factors. As part of its next expansion – Voyageur South – Suncor has announced it will start to replace some of its truck and shovel fleet with these mobile units.

China's oilfield of dreams

The discovery of a large oilfield in Bohai Bay off northern China is of great significance for Beijing's oil-security strategy, which is the key to sustaining the country's economic development. No wonder Premier Wen Jiabao said he was so excited upon learning the news that he could not get to sleep that night.

Five Leaders Make Caspian Energy Security Agreement

Leaders from five European and Caspian Sea nations agreed Saturday to work together on energy security issues and on a possible extension to Poland of a pipeline carrying Caspian oil.

Petroecuador Plans to Militarize Oil Ops

Ecuador's state oil company Petroecuador plans to sign an agreement next week with the nation's armed forces to protect all oil production operations in the country, Petroecuador said in a statement.

The agreement aims to stop theft, the cutting of secondary pipelines and other attacks faced by Petroecuador's production subsidiary Petroproduccion.

Russia: where's it heading in nuclear?

The civil nuclear industry of post-Soviet Russia has been beset with funding problems. Now, with the overhaul of the industry, is the country’s new build programme realistic?

Russia's Energy Strategy

To be globally competitive Russia needs a viable energy strategy The issue of energy security continues to dominate Russia's agenda. In his annual address to parliament, President Putin stressed this topic, too. While highlighting Russia's role as the world's largest oil producer in 2006, Putin lamented the sluggish pace of developing the nation's refining industry, which lags behind world leaders. Questioning Russia's ability to extract the maximum value out of its natural resources, Putin ordered the government to develop a set of measures intended to stimulate growth of the domestic refining sector.

Part I: Planning for a Climate-Changed World

As the global picture grows grimmer, states and cities are searching for the fine-scale predictions they need to prepare for emergencies--and to keep the faucets running.

The Chrysler Challenge: Embrace Fuel Efficiency

German automaker Daimler announced that it was selling Chrysler, at a rock-bottom price, on the same day that retail gasoline prices hit a record high: $3.07, on average, according to the Automobile Association of America. The timing of these two events was coincidental, but it underscores the challenges facing Chrysler and other U.S. automakers: how to transition from the Age of the SUV to the Age of the Prius, the popular hybrid car made by Toyota.

Rigged to Blow - Kunstler

Last week, a reader sent me an elaborate Powerpoint show put together by a Peak Oil "optimist," someone who believes that there are vast recoverable reserves of oil waiting to be be tapped out there – as opposed to those like myself who don't think new supply will offset declines in the known oil fields of the world. It seemed to me that most of this optimist's case was based on the fantasy that the tar sands of Alberta and the oil sands of the Venezuelan jungle will make up for what we no longer get out of places like Ghawar in Saudi Arabia, Cantarell in Mexico, West Texas, and the other old standbys.

Saudi and Kuwaiti butane and propane prices increased by 30 dollars a ton

The increase in the prices of the two liquefied gas products is attributed to the prevailing high crude oil prices, which hover at 60 dollars a barrel and to difficulties in meeting demand on the part of petrochemical producers, as well as to supply side tightness.

New gas pains: where is it all leading?

To a lesser extent, the term "peak oil" is popping up in a surprising number of conversations these days. Google gives you almost five million hits on the term in under a second. The idea is that we're running out of cheap oil, and as it gets more expensive to extract, it becomes harder and harder to keep up with demand. The price climbs. Shortages are the norm. Gas-out may take on a whole new meaning.

US government fans homeland terrorism fear: Washington consensus plans for martial law, nuclear terror holocaust, behind closed doors

This rhetoric coincides with a larger effort on the part of elite policy shapers to manufacture, and sell, a nightmare scenario to an American public that is beginning to distrust its government, at the very moment that the real possibility of a resource-depleted post-Peak Oil American dystopia, the decline of the American empire, is beginning to hit home in earnest.

What Glows In the Dark

The problem I find with apocalyptic visions of life after oil is that they forget one small thing--human ingenuity...

In a nutshell, peak oil is going to drive us into the future whether we like it or not. The tricky part is figuring out what's on the energy horizon. And better still, how to profit from it. One of the rising successors to oil's throne is nuclear energy...

Iraq and Big Oil

The reason we went to war in Iraq was not to get their oil, but to stop them from producing oil. Peak oil is a myth. I’ll have to admit it was an idea that I once believed until I found out that the oil companies wrote the report that founded the idea of peak oil. The cold unvarnished truth is that Cheney and his Big Oil friends have manipulated this war from its inception until now, all to increase oil profits.

Panel: Climate change will hurt Africa

Global warming isn't just a matter of melting icebergs and polar bears chasing after them. It's also Lake Chad drying up, the glaciers of Mt. Kilimanjaro disappearing, increasing extreme weather, conflict and hungry people throughout Africa.

Logistically, Liz has a vision

The scope of the problem is very big, with climate change and the looming prospect of peak oil [supply]. Freight is also very reliant on road transport, so if we run out of petrol suddenly, what do we do?

Gas prices hit a new record at the pump

Gasoline prices hit a new record at the pump on Monday, but gas futures prices fell on concerns that $3 gas will crimp demand. Oil prices, meanwhile, rose on reports of refinery problems in the U.S. and abroad.

The average national price of a gallon of gas hit $3.073 on Monday, up almost a penny from Sunday's also record-setting price, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Gasoline is now well above the previous record of $3.057, set on Sept. 5, 2005, soon after Hurricane Katrina.

Traditional production unfit for half of Kuwait's oil reserves

More than half of Kuwait's oil reserves will not be produced through cheap traditional methods, Deputy Director General of the Kuwait Institution for Scientific Research (KISR) Dr. Nader Al-Awadhi said yesterday. Kuwait's oil reserves are estimated at about 95 billion barrels, among the biggest worldwide. Most production, if not all, is being produced through traditional methods, Al-Awadhi told a KISR workshop on "Managing Carbon Dioxide for Improving Oil Production" that started yesterday.

He expected that the traditional methods would produce 45 billion barrels, but could not be used for the rest (i.e. 50 billion barrels). Thus, emerges the necessity of developing new feasible environment-friendly methods for producing heavy oils, he said adding that oil production operations over the past years had focused on light oil.

OPEC sees ample crude stocks to cover demand

OPEC said on Tuesday that crude oil inventories were more than enough to cover fuel demand during the peak summer travel season, rebuffing calls from consumers for more supply.

The monthly report from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries also showed members were keeping a lid on supply, despite a rise in prices to above $66 a barrel from about $50 in January.

Qaeda Suspects Planned Attacks on Saudi Oil

Four suspected al Qaeda members arrested in Saudi Arabia last year had planned to attack the kingdom's oil facilities and other Gulf Arab oil producers, they said in confessions shown on Saudi television on Tuesday.

Saudi police arrested the four in April last year in connection with a failed attack two months earlier on Abqaiq, the country's biggest oil-gathering facility.

Conoco oil project slammed with huge tax bill

Venezuela said Friday it had levied the largest tax bill in the nation's history on an oil project led by ConocoPhillips, the lone holdout in President Hugo Chavez's oil nationalization crusade.

Venezuela nationalizes foreign oil rigs

The Venezuelan government of firebrand President Hugo Chavez said Monday it was taking control of oil rigs from multinational firms, in the latest of a wave of nationalizations.

With the consumption of oil exceeding new finds the Peak Oil crisis is almost upon us

The growth in oil demand now exceeds the rate of new discovery - meaning a looming crisis for the industrial world!

Bush: Air quality changes will take time

President Bush responded Monday to a Supreme Court ruling by ordering federal agencies to find a way to begin regulating vehicle emissions by the time he leaves office.

US: New Russian gas deal bad news for Europe

A pipeline deal signed at the weekend by Russia, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, giving Russia access to gas from the Caspian Sea, is bad news for Europe, US Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said here on Monday.

"Europe needs to diversify its energy sources and Europeans should take due note of this," Bodman told a press conference during a meeting of the International Energy Agency.

Arguments in federal gas mileage suit

Lawyers for 11 states and several environmental groups told a federal appeals court Monday that the Bush administration failed to consider global warming when setting new gas mileage rules.

Bush vies to wean US off foreign oil

President George W. Bush, facing mounting disquiet about global warming and sky-high fuel prices, Monday ordered his government to slash America's dependence on foreign oil.