Recent Gas News/GasBuddy Blog

San Jose Mercury News -- This may come as a shocker to many Californians, but fewer motorists appear to be using hand-held cellphones as they drive along state highways and city streets.

In a survey released Wednesday by the Office of Traffic Safety, the percentage of drivers using cellphones -- hand-held or hands free -- has fallen from 10.8 percent in 2012 to 7.4 percent this year. The largest drop, 33 percent, was from those holding a cellphone to their ear in violation of state law.

But at the same time, the number of motorists who take their eyes off the road when texting rose to 2.5 percent from 1.7 percent. While that may not seem like a lot, safety officials warn it is a troubling trend especially since it is harder to detect a texting driver who often will hold their phone in their lap and out of sight.  (go to article)

nbcnews.com -- Shirley Bowman noticed the smell after 8 a.m. on June 14, 2012, her 61st birthday. In Baton Rouge, where the petrochemical industry dominates the landscape, foul odors resembling burnt rubber or propane are perennial. But this odor, caustic and potent, seemed especially foul — “like some sort of chemical,” she recalls.

..She soon suspected the cause: A leak of “steam-cracked” naphtha, a liquid mixture of volatile petrochemicals, occurring at the ExxonMobil Baton Rouge petrochemical complex a half mile away.

The leaky valve dumped 411 barrels into the underground system, company records filed with the state show. The liquid traveled a mile before pouring into a separator pit, vaporizing along the way, and releasing tens of thousands of pounds of benzene and other toxic chemicals into the  (go to article)

bloomberg.com -- British Columbia, the Canadian province whose official slogan to its own beauty is “Super, Natural,” is invoking another saying: “No more supertankers.”

That’s potentially big trouble in a nation where oil exports amount to $73 billion annually and the industry employs more than 550,000 workers. It’s also a bad omen for nations, notably China, that have invested billions in Canadian oil projects with expectations that they will one day be able to buy vast quantities of heavy Canadian crude.

To do that means not just pumping it from the vast tar sands -- thought to hold as many as 170 billion barrels -- lying mainly to the east in the neighboring province of Alberta. It also means building pipelines to carry that heavy oil, known as bitumen, west to the coast. From there, fleets of super  (go to article)

Eu observer -- EU energy policy must shift towards diversifying supply, with natural shale gas likely to be part of the mix, EU leaders said at a summit in Brussels on Wednesday (22 May).

UK Prime Minister David Cameron offered robust support for European exploitation of shale gas, telling journalists: "No regulation must get in the way."

"Europe has 75 percent as much shale gas as the US, yet the Americans are drilling 10,000 wells per year while we in Europe are drilling less than 100," he noted.

He added it is "no surprise that over the last decade Americans have increased their energy from shale from just 1 percent to 30 percent, and here in Europe we are now paying twice what the US pays for wholesale gas."

For his part, European Council President Herman van Rompuy said the summit was the "right  (go to article)

AP -- The Detroit automakers are largely forgoing the traditional two-week summer break at their factories and speeding up production to meet buyers' growing demand for new cars and trucks.

Ford Motor said Wednesday that 21 of its North American factories will shut for only one week this summer. That includes the Chicago plant that makes the Ford Explorer SUV and the Mexican plant that makes the Fusion sedan.

General Motors won't idle its factories at all, while Chrysler plans a two-week break at just four of its ten North American assembly plants. Both GM and Chrysler are rolling out critical new models.

The three Detroit car makers traditionally shut factories for 14 days around July 4 to do maintenance and change the machinery for new models. But they don't have that luxury this year.

U.  (go to article)

goskagit.com -- Three rescue boats and several private vessels are on the Skagit River between Burlington and Mount Vernon, attempting to help people who are sitting on their cars in the water after the north-most section of the Skagit River Bridge collapsed this evening.
A reporter at the scene says that the north section of the bridge is entirely in the water.
Rescue crews are at the scene to redirect traffic around the site and look for people still in the river. Traffic is reportedly backed up at several roadways and authorities are in the area attempting to help people out of the water.
Witnesses said they saw three people pulled from the river, and they were taken by ambulance from the scene on stretchers.
When rescuers pulled one man from the roof of his car to dry land, people watching applauded.
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Bloomberg BusinessWeek -- German brewers called on Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government to block the tapping of shale gas by means of hydraulic fracturing, citing industry concerns that fracking could taint the purity of the country’s beer.

The Association of German Breweries, which represents companies including Anheuser-Busch InBev NV (ABI) (ABI) and Bitburger Braugruppe GmbH, rejected the government’s planned legislation on fracking until groundwater contamination can be safely excluded. They said the current proposals are inadequate to protect drinking water and hence risk infringing the country’s 500-year-old law on beer purity.  (go to article)

By Ros Krasny | Reuters – Wed, 22 May, 2013 -- WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The House of Representatives approved a bill as expected on Wednesday declaring that a presidential permit was not needed to approve the Canada-to-Nebraska leg of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, a move that would take a decision on the project away from the Obama administration  (go to article)

Bloomberg -- Marathon Oil Corp. ended talks to sell part of its stake in the Athabasca Oil Sands Project as Canadian oil sands deals languish in the face of low heavy crude prices and competing U.S. shale investments.

The announcement comes after ConocoPhillips said last month its effort to sell stakes in Canadian oil-sands assets may stretch into 2014.

A lack of pipelines from Alberta’s oil sands is depressing prices for Canadian heavy crude, which today were $20 a barrel less than West Texas Intermediate.

Prospective buyers of oil-sands assets aren’t worried about “short-term” issues such as lower prices for Canadian heavy oil, Andre De Leebeeck, vice president of investor relations for Calgary-based Athabasca, said in a phone interview today. “Long term, oil sands are competitive.  (go to article)

Financial Post -- AB’s bitumen growth prospects could slow on shortages of a much lighter product as companies opt to send crude directly to refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast and in Asia rather than process the stuff at home.

Demand for diluent, industry slang for super-light oil that is blended with bitumen so it can flow in pipelines, is poised to skyrocket as companies such as Imperial Oil and Suncor balk at building hugely expensive upgrading plants that convert raw production into a refinery-ready oil.

The reluctance to invest in costly processing comes with oil sands output projected to double to 3.8 M bpd by 2022. That could push demand for diluent from about 330,000 bpd last year to roughly 935,000.

Bitumen is too thick to flow by itself. It must be blended with a lighter hydrocarbon in 3 to 1  (go to article)

Reuters -- The Portland-Montreal pipeline - principally owned by top Canadian oil refiners Suncor Energy, Imperial Oil, and Royal Dutch Shell - has already spent about $6.5 million to prepare for a reversal of the line so it can carry heavy oil sands crude from Quebec to Maine's biggest city, according to regulatory filings from 2011. The pipeline now mainly carries imported crude to Canadian refineries.

"...we are currently operating under capacity, and looking for every opportunity to maximize use of our assets, including reversal," he said of the pipe, which was designed to move as much as 240,000 barrels per day.

Canadian pipeline company Enbridge... has proposed reversing its 'Line 9' pipeline between Sarnia, Ontario, and Montreal, to get Alberta oil sands crude into Quebec.  (go to article)

Common Dreams -- Internal ExxonMobil documents obtained through an Freedom of Information Act request by Greenpeace shows that the oil giant misled the public about the degree to which the spill of more than 200,000 galllons of tar sands oil in Arkansas had contaminated local waterways.

Following the rupture of the Pegasus pipeline in the town of Mayflower on March 29, area residents were increasingly concerned that Lake Conway had been contaminated. Despite overwhelming evidence that tar sands oil was in the lake, ExxonMobil publicly said this was not the case.  (go to article)

The Fool -- Last week the Energy Department announced that it has conditionally authorized the Freeport LNG project to export natural gas to countries that do not have a free trade agreement with the U.S. This marked the second such authorization, and it also likely paves the way for additional approvals in the future. As we ramp up our export capacity over the next few years I see the following five natural gas stocks as those likely to be the biggest winners.  (go to article)

Fox Business -- General Motors (GM) revealed Thursday that its newest electric vehicle, the Chevrolet Spark, will cost 38% less than the larger Volt hybrid, beating most of its competitors on price.

The Spark will sell for as low as $19,995 after taking into account a federal tax credit of $7,500, the automaker said. Chevrolet’s Volt, which launched in the fall of 2010, sells for about $32,500 including the tax credit.

When the 2014 Spark EV goes on sale next month in California and Oregon, it will become one of the least expensive electric cars on the market. Nissan’s all-electric Leaf has a price tag of $28,800 before federal tax savings, while Toyota’s plug-in version of its Prius starts at $32,200.

California residents who purchase the Spark EV could qualify for an additional $2,500 in state tax cr  (go to article)

Fox Business -- The rapid increase in U.S. shale oil production, which is expected to give the nation energy self-sufficiency by the end of this decade, is having a far-ranging impact that has spread to other industries.

Oil production in the U.S. has soared amid successful shale plays in North Dakota, Texas and elsewhere. Earlier this year, the Energy Information Administration said production would soon exceed oil imports for the first time since February 1995.

A report Tuesday from Standard & Poor’s said the shale energy boom is an increasingly central part of economic growth, coupled with the housing recovery. The report noted that Bentek Energy, another unit of McGraw Hill Financial (MHFI), projects U.S. energy independence — when exports are greater than imports — by 2017.

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GasBuddy Blog -- Forecasters at NOAA released guidance on what they expect for 2013's hurricane season, with seven to 11 hurricanes expected. A normal year averages six named hurricanes.

Hurricane season begins in just over a week, and with the recent forecast release, motorists should be prepared for possible impacts that major storms may have on gasoline prices.

Ever since Katrina hit back in 2005, gasoline prices have become seemingly more sensitive to major storms and hurricanes, likely because of the extensive damage that Katrina inflicted with the direct hit of a major refining and oil production hub.

Last year, Hurricane Sandy again reminded us that gasoline prices and supply is vulnerable to a major storm.

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c -- d  (go to article)

Downstream Today -- Valero Energy will invest as much as C$200 million in its Quebec refinery if Enbridge proceeds with its plan to reverse its Line 9 pipeline, a project one Quebec business leader described Wednesday as critical to the province's refining and petrochemical industry.

In a presentation to analysts, Valero CEO Brian Klesse said the company has committed to take "substantial volume" of light crude from Enbridge's Line 9, which, subject to regulatory approval, will be reversed to bring oil from western North America to Montreal. Valero will then deliver the crude from Montreal to its refinery near Quebec City by company-owned ships down the St. Lawrence.

Valero is expanding the 265,000-bpd refinery's ability to receive western crude by rail and will import up to 50,000 bpd from Texas's prolific  (go to article)

Upstream Online -- A Canadian rail line shuttered by a Tuesday spill has been reopened, Canadian Pacific Railway confirmed to Upstream.

Meanwhile, cleanup continues at the site, which saw some 575 barrels of crude oil spilled after five cars derailed near Saskatchewan, the railroad said Wednesday.

"The majority of the product that leaked out of the one tank car has been recovered," spokesman Ed Greenberg told Upstream.

Tuesday's incident was the third spill for Canadian Pacific in the past two months.

One of the company's trains derailed near Parkers Prairie, Minnesota, in late March which resulted in 360 barrels of Canadian crude, while less then a week later 400 barrels of crude were spilled when a train carrying crude tankers and other freight cars derailed in northern Ontario.
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AP -- General Motors Co. is recalling more than 27,000 Cadillac SUVs worldwide because the wheels can fall off.The company says the recall affects the 2013 Cadillac SRX with 18-inch wheels. Canadian safety regulators say the wheel nuts may not have been tightened enough at the factory.GM says the problem hasn't caused any crashes or injuries, and no wheels have fallen from vehicles.Dealers will rotate tires and tighten the nuts at no cost to the owners.The recall affects almost 19,000 SUVs in the U.S. and another 913 in Canada. The rest were exported to other countries.  (go to article)

RNN -- A British woman tweeted about how she hit a cyclist with her car and then drove off without helping him. But then the cops tweeted back.

MOREAdditional Links
Emma Way, who goes by the Twitter handle @emmaway20, tweeted: "Definitely knocked a cyclist off his bike earlier – I have right of way, he doesn't even pay road tax! #bloodycyclists"

The tweet got out to enough people that it eventually made its way to the local police, who politely demanded that she turn herself in.

"@emmaway20 we have had tweets [referencing a Road Traffic Collision]. We suggest you report it at a police station ASAP if not already & then [direct message] us."  (go to article)

Tesla Motors -- By Bill Cawthon
Today, Tesla Motors issued a press release saying saying the company had wired 4451.8 million to the government and had paid off the entire loan it had received from the Department of Energy’s Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing loan program. In the announcement, the company said, “ Tesla will be the only American car company to have fully repaid the government.”

Gualberto Ranieri, Chrysler group’s Senior Vice President of Communications , was quick to put the record straight:

Posting on the Chrysler blog, Ranieri said, “The information is unmistakably incorrect. It’s pretty well-known that almost exactly two years ago – May 24, 2011 – Chrysler Group LLC repaid (in full and with interest) U.S. and Canadian government loans more than six years ahead of schedule.

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CBS -- WASHINGTON — House Republicans pushed through a bill Wednesday to bypass the president to speed approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada to Texas. Democrats criticized the legislation as a blatant attempt to allow a foreign company to avoid environmental review.

The bill was approved, 241-175, largely along party lines.

Republicans said the measure was needed to ensure that the long-delayed pipeline, first proposed in 2008, is built.  (go to article)

Reuters -- Nissan Motor Co Ltd will recall about 841,000 vehicles worldwide including the Micra compact car, also known as the March, as a result of a steering wheel glitch, Japan's No.2 automaker said on Thursday.

Nissan is recalling certain models of the Micra compact car produced in Britain and Japan between 2002 and 2006, as well as the Cube, produced in Japan around the same period.
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NPR -- Three years ago President Obama's green energy loan program gave a $455 million federal loan to electric car maker Tesla. Critics bashed the loan as risky. On Wednesday, Tesla announced it had paid that loan back in full – and early.  (go to article)

BBC -- The market there is very small so whose surprised?

US car giant Ford Motor will shut all its Australian manufacturing plants by October 2016, after more than 85 years of making vehicles in the country.

About 1,200 workers are expected to lose their jobs from the Broadmeadows and Geelong plants, in Victoria state.  (go to article)

MarketWatch -- Domestic brands have the most American-made content in the U.S. according to a new index released by American University’s Kogod School of Business. Professor Frank DuBois, a global supply chain management expert, led the analysis, which considered not only where each vehicle’s parts were produced, but also the location of the manufacturer’s headquarters and other details, all in an effort to help consumers buy American. Several vehicles ended up with tied scores, resulting in multiple winners for each position.

1. GMC Acadia (3-way tie)
1. Buick Enclave
1. Chevy Traverse
2. Dodge Avenger (2-way tie)
2. Ford F-series pickup
3. Chrysler 200
4. Jeep Compass, Patriot and Wrangler
5. Chevrolet Corvette (4-way tie)
5. Chevrolet Equinox
5. Ford Mustang
5. GMC Terrain
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MarketWatch -- Weak Chinese manufacturing data and a drop in Asian stocks helped send oil futures lower in electronic trade Thursday.

Crude for July delivery fell over $1 or 1.2% to $93.18 a barrel, after preliminary results from HSBC’s monthly survey of Chinese factory activity showed an unexpected contraction.

London-traded Brent crude oil for July delivery surrendered 91 cents, or close to 1%, to $101.69 a barrel.

HSBC’s “flash” Purchasing Managers’ Index for May fell to a seven-month low of 49.6, down from April’s final reading of 50.4. Asian stocks fell sharply after the data, with the main indexes in Hong Kong, Sydney and Taipei all more than 1% lower.

In Japan, volatility in the government bond market prompted central-bank action and sent the Nikkei Stock Average tumbling 7.3% by the close ...  (go to article)

LA Times -- Ford Motor Co. is expanding its production capacity to take advantage of the shift in buyer sentiment toward smaller cars and SUVs and for F-series truck sales spurred by the housing market recovery.

Ford said it will increase production by about 200,000 vehicles to 3.4 million this year. Part of that expansion will take place at the automaker's Flat Rock, Mich., assembly plant, which will be adding workers and shifts to meet strong demand in California and the West Coast.

Ford said California has become its fastest growing market for sales of its Fusion midsize sedan, which have climbed by 118% in the state through April, up to 7,000 cars.

Ford will be adding about 3,500 entry-level workers as part of the expansion.

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GasBuddy Blog -- 'Milennials' (everyone born between 1980 and 2000) are having a significant impact on transportation these days because researchers are intrigued by their attitudes toward driving and other things too.

If you listen to this group, the “driving boom is over,” or so says a new study of American attitudes towards the automobile.

After decades of adding more cars to their household fleet while moving further and further out into the suburbs, Americans are waiting longer to get licensed, driving less and increasingly turning to alternatives such as mass transit or car-sharing programs, according to a new study by the U.S. Public Research Interest Group, or PIRG.

A recent report from the Detroit Bureau says that...  (go to article)

Detroit Free Press -- It's hard to imagine a more painful mistake than accidentally pumping gasoline into the tank of a diesel car, resulting in costly engine damage. Now Volkswagen is taking steps to make sure it never happens.

The leading maker of diesel cars in the U.S. plans to retrofit 209,500 cars with barriers to make sure motorists can't mistakenly pump gas into their tanks, Automotive News reports. The service action will cover 209,500 cars in the U.S. built between 2009 and 2012. It includes the diesel versions of Jetta, Golf and Jetta SportWagen.

Automotive News obtained a memo from VW to its dealers in which its notes that more misfueling incidents have occurred as diesels have become more popular. And it tired of being in the bad-guy role since such mistakes aren't covered by warranty ...  (go to article)

cleantechnica.com -- A new study from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) estimates that the US could support the production of up to 25 billion gallons of algae biofuel annually. That accounts for a whopping one-twelfth of the nation’s current needs and it could prove even more significant if electric vehicles replace liquid-fuel vehicles in greater numbers, which seems likely.

As always, though, there’s a catch. Although the PNNL estimate is based on available land and water resources, the booming natural gas industry is already sucking water from critical areas at an increasing rate. If you’ve ever seen the animated short Bambi Meets Godzilla, you’ll have some idea of what the nascent algae biofuel industry is up against.

The new PNNL algae biofuel study focused primarily on the potential for gro  (go to article)

Natural News -- Practically everything you have been told by the mainstream scientific community and the media about the alleged detriments of greenhouse gases, and particularly carbon dioxide, appears to be false, according to new data compiled by NASA's Langley Research Center. As it turns out, all those atmospheric greenhouse gases that Al Gore and all the other global warming hoaxers have long claimed are overheating and destroying our planet are actually cooling it, based on the latest evidence.

As reported by Principia Scientific International (PSI), Martin Mlynczak and his colleagues over at NASA tracked infrared emissions from the earth's upper atmosphere during and following a recent solar storm that took place between March 8-10. (Cont)  (go to article)

Houston Business Journal -- Houston-based Halliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL) has deployed almost 100 light-duty compressed natural gas trucks at several of its U.S. operations.
The trucks were recently purchased as part of a pilot program, which Jim Brown, Halliburton’s western hemisphere president, said would provide a wealth of information about how to implement a broader adoption of CNG light-duty vehicles across the company.
“There is considerable focus across the industry to identify multiple ways to leverage this abundant, reliable and cleaner-burning source of energy in day-to-day operations,” Brown said in a statement. “The fleet of CNG vehicles is one more example where Halliburton is leading among oil and gas services companies regarding the use of American natural gas.”

YouTube video, “The Right Fuel for Today,  (go to article)

Environmental Leader -- Toyota, Mercedes-Benz and Nissan are members of the Energy Department’s newly launched public-private partnership focused on advancing hydrogen infrastructure to support transportation energy options including fuel cell electric vehicles.

The new partnership, H2USA, brings together automakers, government agencies, gas suppliers, and the hydrogen and fuel cell industries to coordinate research and identify cost-effective ways to deploy infrastructure that can deliver affordable hydrogen fuel in the US.

Current H2USA members include the American Gas Association, Association of Global Automakers, the California Fuel Cell Partnership, the Electric Drive Transportation Association, the Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Energy Association, Hyundai Motor America, ITM Power, Massachusetts Hydrogen Coalitio  (go to article)

The Columbus Dispatch -- Natural-gas utilities want to change the law to make clear that consumers rather than shareholders can be charged cleanup costs for about 90 abandoned natural-gas plants in the state, according to an amendment that might get tucked into the state budget.

Some of the gas plants date to the 1800s, when communities used coal and other fuels to manufacture natural gas for use in lighting. The plants have all shut down, leaving polluted sites that have largely been absorbed by the state’s major utilities.

Some of those utilities, led by Duke Energy, are asking lawmakers to approve an amendment that would expand the companies’ ability to charge customers for cleaning up the sites. The proposal is one of more than a thousand items that groups are hoping to add to the budget, often with little d  (go to article)

The Washington Post -- Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe now supports exploring for oil off the coast of Virginia, reversing his position on an issue that both sides of the debate consider to be crucial to the commonwealth’s long-term energy future.

When McAuliffe ran for governor in 2009 he said he would back “exploratory drilling for natural gas only“ and did “not support drilling for oil off our coast,” a fact that Republicans cite often in arguing that the Democrat is on the wrong side of the issue. But now that he’s running for governor again, facing Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II (R) in November, McAuliffe has a different stance.  (go to article)

Edmonton Journal -- Alberta could green its image and add plenty of new turbines over the next few years with the right government incentives, the Canadian Wind Energy Association said in a report released Wednesday.  (go to article)

Business Insider -- "While this is not a free lunch, it should not be feared," they say. But the potential is staggering. Significant domestic job growth and economic expansion has begun."

No longer will a handful of energy producers be able to control markets. That's because other countries are discovering that they too possess large shale deposits.

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Rapid City Journal -- CHEYENNE, Wyo. | The newest electrical generation project in the top coal-mining state is a power plant to be fueled by natural gas.

Black Hills Corp. subsidiaries Cheyenne Light, Fuel & Power and Black Hills Power are building the Cheyenne Prairie Generating Station on the outskirts of Cheyenne. The companies held a groundbreaking ceremony for the power plant Wednesday.  (go to article)

foxbusiness.com -- Crude oil futures fell on Wednesday following an overnight slip triggered by a stronger dollar and as caution prevailed ahead of U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's testimony to Congress.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in July traded at $95.73 a barrel at 0553 GMT, down $0.45 in the Globex electronic session. July Brent crude on London's ICE Futures exchange fell $0.32 to $103.59 a barrel.
Traders continued to stay on the sidelines, waiting for Bernanke's testimony, due later in the day, as they look for clues on the direction of monetary policy in the U.S., Daiichi Shohin analyst Koichi Murakami said.
There are other indicators due today including retail-sales data from the U.K. and Canada, Bank of England minutes, U.S. existing-home  (go to article)

The Home Page here under Related Articles -- OPEC is an acronym for Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. OPEC was formed in 1960 in Baghdad, Iraq with five founding member countries. Currently OPEC is a cartel composed of 11 oil producing countries. Current member countries include: Algeria, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela. OPEC's stated purpose is said to serve three main functions:

Help stabilize world oil prices
Ensure oil producers achieve a reasonable rate of return on production
Ensure a stable supply of crude oil for consumer use. OPEC has a current goal of $27 US per barrel of oil.

This information should be changed!! It is from the 1960's!! HA!!  (go to article)

Fort Worth Star-Telegram -- Facing tight budgets and political pressure, the United States and many other countries are missing on a chance to invest in transportation, economists said Wednesday.

“I think of freedom as important and, to me, freedom is the capacity to move around,” Harvard University economist Amartya Sen told more than 1,000 people attending the first day of an International Transport Forum in Leipzig.

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Nasdaq -- Ford Motor Co. ( F ) said it would stop producing cars in Australia in 2016, foreshadowing hefty job losses in a setback for a government that's invested heavily in propping up the country's automobile industry.

The U.S. company said it would close down its Australian plants in October 2016 resulting in 1,200 job losses, citing unsustainably high business costs.  (go to article)

NBC News -- Electric car maker Tesla Motors has shifted into a good place: CEO Elon Musk intends to use the potential $1 billion from a new stock offering to pay off the maker’s $465 million in Department of Energy loans – and to help pay for other products that would grow the California automaker.

Musk, who uses tweets to signal his plans, has hinted that he will formally announce the payoff of the loans tomorrow. Such a move, coming nine years ahead of schedule, could save Tesla significant interest costs even as taxpayers receive as much as a $12 million profit. That would provide the Obama Administration a rare success in the highly controversial Department of Energy loan program.  (go to article)

Popular Science -- Sometime in the next few weeks, the 100,000th plug-in electric car will be sold in the U.S. But they're still mostly a mystery to the average new-car buyer, and there are a few key principles that get shared over and over again. Here they are, boiled down for easy consumption: eight things you need to know about electric cars.
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foxnews.com -- WASHINGTON – DEVELOPING: The House of Representatives has approved a measure to expedite construction of the Keystone pipeline.

Earlier version of story:

House Republicans pushed a proposal Wednesday to bypass the president to speed approval of the 1,700-mile Keystone XL pipeline, which would transport oil from Canada to Texas. Democrats criticized the plan as a blatant attempt to allow a foreign company to avoid environmental review.

As debate opened, Republicans said the measure was needed to ensure the long-delayed pipeline is built.

"This is the most studied pipeline in the history of mankind," said Rep. Lee Terry, R-Neb., the bill's sponsor.

"When is enough enough?" added Rep. Jeff Denham, R-Calif. "Five years? Six years? Ten years?"

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The Associated Press May 22, 2013 03:42:16 PM -- NEW YORK, N.Y. – The price of oil fell near US$94 a barrel Wednesday as U.S. crude oil supplies fell less than expected and demand for gasoline remained weak.

Benchmark crude for July delivery declined $1.90 to close at $94.28 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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BLOOMBERG NEWS -- Tesla Motors Inc., labeled a “loser” by Mitt Romney during the U.S. election, is giving President Barack Obama’s green-energy strategy a win after almost two years of failures pounced upon by Republicans.
The maker of the electric Model S car as early as May 22 will become the first recipient of a U.S. Energy Department vehicle loan to pay off its debt, Elon Musk, Tesla’s chief executive officer, said in a Twitter message May 20.
Tesla’s payoff may quell critics who said Obama shouldn’t have acted like a venture capitalist in picking green-energy companies to receive government loans and grants. Republican lawmakers have held up the bad bets made on plug-in carmaker Fisker Automotive Inc., its battery supplier A123 Systems Inc. and solar-panel maker Solyndra LLC as examples of rewarding un  (go to article)

Tesla -- ONLY AMERICAN CAR COMPANY TO HAVE PAID BACK GOVERNMENT

WEDNESDAY, MAY 22, 2013
PALO ALTO, Calif.-- Tesla Motors announced that it has paid off the entire loan awarded to the company by the Department of Energy in 2010. In addition to payments made in 2012 and Q1 2013, today’s wire of almost half a billion dollars ($451.8M) repays the full loan facility with interest. Following this payment, Tesla will be the only American car company to have fully repaid the government.

For the first seven years since its founding in 2003, Tesla was funded entirely with private funds, led by Elon Musk. Tesla brought its Roadster sports car to market with a 30% gross margin, designed electric powertrains for Daimler (Mercedes) and had done preliminary design of the Model S all before receiving a governmen  (go to article)

Wall Street Journal -- Prices of many commodities are down this year, but U.S. oil futures have rallied. Skeptics say the mismatch is a sign of trouble.

Oil isn't a gusher compared with stocks, such as the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which is up 16% this year. But some analysts and investors say oil's rise is remarkable because it came despite several factors that often push prices lower.

"I think the optimism is a bit misplaced. There's a significant disconnect between the physical market and the financial market for oil," says Jaya Bajpai, managing director of Applied Energy Analytics, an oil and natural-gas hedge fund in Boston. The bullish bet on oil is fueled by hopes that "we will get enough economic growth over the next six months that demand will recover," he says.

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