Category: News

August 29 2017

World’s Biggest Wind Turbine Maker Waves Oil Industry Goodbye

By Peter Levring In another sign that the petroleum era is drawing to a close, Denmark is selling off its last oil company with barely a peep. Once considered a strategic asset, on a par with national carriers or shipyards, the oil and gas division of A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S is being bought by French giant Total SA. The […]

August 28 2017

Harvey Recharges Offshore as Crippled Houston Counts the Cost

By Joe Carroll and Thomas Black It keeps getting deeper for Houston, the epicenter of the U.S. oil industry. As floods inundated the nation’s fourth-largest city Monday, with more than a foot of rain likely still to come through Friday, predictions of damage ranged as high as $100 billion. Wall Street and Washington braced for […]

August 28 2017

China Is Creating the World’s Largest Power Company

China’s creating the world’s largest power company. The government of President Xi Jinping approved the merger of Shenhua Group Corp., the country’s top coal miner, with China Guodian Corp., among its largest power generators, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission said Monday. With assets of 1.8 trillion yuan ($271 billion), the new entity will be […]

August 28 2017

Virtual Currency May Boost Australia’s Grassroots Solar Trade

By Jason Scott An Australian company is introducing its own version of bitcoin that will let homeowners and businesses sell excess energy generated from their rooftop solar panels to neighbors, without a middleman taking a cut. As of Monday, Perth-based Power Ledger had sold about 57 percent of the 100 million so-called “power tokens” offered […]

August 25 2017

Harvey Set to Overpower Wind in State Generating the Most

By Brian Eckhouse, Chris Martin, and Ryan Collins One of the worst things that can happen to a wind farm is too much wind. Hurricane Harvey was packing top winds of 115 miles (185 kilometers) an hour on Saturday, according to a National Hurricane Center advisory. That’s more than twice the 55 miles-an-hour speed that prompts […]

August 25 2017

Amazon Gold Dispute Heats Up With Lawmaker Threatening to Involve the Pope

By R.T. Watson and Gabriel Shin Brazil’s latest move to allow mining in the Amazon is sparking a war of words as the government calls opponents alarmists and a lawmaker threatens to seek the Pope’s help to protect forests and communities. After Wednesday’s announcement to strip protection from a national reserve between the northern states of […]

August 25 2017

Oil Rises, Gasoline Gains Ease Ahead of Hurricane Harvey

By Jessica Summers Oil rose and gasoline eased gains amid anticipation of Hurricane Harvey. Crude futures in New York settled 0.9 percent up, paring a weekly loss to 1.3 percent. Gasoline futures eased gains, after surging as much as 4.6 percent during Friday’s session. Several oil and natural gas platforms have shut as the storm […]

August 25 2017

Cuomo Bets on NYC Traffic-Fee Plan as Transit System Crumbles

London, Stockholm and Singapore charge motorists to use the most congested streets. Now Governor Andrew Cuomo is risking his political capital on a pitch to do the same in New York City. Cuomo, a Democrat, has scored Republican support on tough issues in the past, including raising the minimum wage and legalizing gay marriage. The transportation […]

August 25 2017

Hurricane Raises Flooding, Power Loss Fears for Texas Refiners

The biggest fears for Texas refiners in the path of Hurricane Harvey: floods and power outages. Harvey is forecast to become a Category 3 storm by the time it slams into the Texas coast late Friday. A storm surge of as much as 12 feet may bring salt water pouring into coastal terminals and refineries, […]

August 25 2017

Shell Joins Solar Push in Coal Country of World’s Top Exporter

Royal Dutch Shell Plc is investigating a solar power project in an Australian region better known for its fossil fuels, particularly coal. The company is studying the feasibility of a solar development on its land in the Western Downs area of Queensland, which is subject to a final investment decision, a spokeswoman said by email. […]