Oil giants Chevron Corp. and Total have confirmed that they are in discussions with the Iraqi Oil Ministry to increase production in an important oil field in southern Iraq.
The discussions are aimed at finalizing a two-year deal, or technical support agreement, to boost production at the West Qurna Stage 1 oil field near Iraq’s second-largest [...]

Oil prices soared more than $4 a barrel as lower-than-expected fuel inventories and another dollar drop brought buyers out in force for the first time in a week.
Light, sweet crude for May delivery rose $4.68 to settle at $105.90 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The Energy Department’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) said gasoline [...]

Oil and gas futures prices retreated Tuesday on expectations that a government inventory report today will again show that crude and gasoline stocks rose last week.
The weekly report by the Energy Department’s Energy Information Administration has become critical for analysts and traders during a spring and early summer that have seen an unusually high number [...]

Louisville-area gasoline prices were about a nickel per gallon lower yesterday as oil prices held above $64 per barrel despite news of Iran’s release of 15 British sailors.
The U.S. government reported yesterday that the nation’s gasoline inventories declined for the eighth week in a row and that demand is still strong. That helped push wholesale [...]

Canada’s oil-soaked sands are hot while natural gas drilling has cooled, illustrating the long-term nature of one business and shorter-term vulnerability to price swings of the other, analysts say.
“The economic life associated with these projects is measured in years, if not decades, as opposed to a 45-day gas well in Canada,” said Bill Herbert, co-head [...]

Crude oil prices dipped Friday on forecasts for warmer weather in the U.S. northeast, the world’s largest heating oil market.
The market also appeared to be reacting to news that OPEC output had dropped but was still above agreed cutbacks.
Light, sweet crude for March delivery dropped 19 cents to $57.80 a barrel by midday in Europe [...]

When some of the industry’s top executives gather in Houston next week to discuss global energy challenges, finding new and more effective ways to produce oil and gas — as well as alternatives to fossil fuels — will dominate the discussion.
And, as the year progresses, expect to see industry leaders — including the chiefs [...]

With dwindling oil supplies, pollution concerns and the ever-present threat of gas prices soaring again, talk of new and better ways to fuel cars, heat and cool homes, and power factories has never been greater.
What’s more, the conversation is emanating increasingly from a source that’s been surprisingly quiet until recently — the oil companies themselves.
When [...]

The battle lines have been clearly drawn between the Democrats in Congress, a handful of major names in the international mining industry and the National Mining Association and its coal company members.
The Democrats’ victory in last year’s elections means Congress’s stance on environmental issues has changed dramatically. Gone is the champion of mining and big [...]

Union Pacific hauled 194 million tons of coal away from northeast Wyoming mines last year, the railroad reported Monday.
Much of that coal comes through Nebraska on UP lines headed to utilities farther east. The company’s headquarters is in Omaha and it employs about 8,000 people in Nebraskas.
The railroad’s coal traffic last year was up 15 [...]