Ben Bernake, Federal Reserve Chairman, stated that the U.S. economy is facing “significant” risks to growth, while the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries lowered its forecast for world oil-demand growth for 2008 and 2009. in apart chances John Kilduff, an analyst at futures brokerage MF Global, said “Signs of economic contraction and financial-market malaise are [...]

Oil prices finished about where they began, after jumping more than $2 earlier on reports of lower U.S. oil stockpiles and an Iranian missile test.
Light, sweet crude for August delivery rose a penny to settle at $136.05 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, but prices shifted between positive and negative territory as traders [...]

Franklin Mining, Inc. Chairman and President, William A. Petty, is pleased to announce that a letter of agreement has been signed with Synfuels International, Inc., Dallas, TX. Mr. Petty and Mr. Ben R. Weber, Jr, CEO and Chairman of Synfuels, yesterday reached an agreement addressing the environment and steps to be taken prior to finalizing [...]

TransMontaigne Partners L.P. announced that effective July 8, 2008, Charles L. Dunlap has been appointed to serve as a member of the Board of Directors and will also serve as a member of the Conflicts Committee of TransMontaigne GP L.L.C., the General Partner of the Partnership. The General Partner is responsible for managing the [...]

ConocoPhillips says its global production fell as expected in the second quarter because of planned maintenance, but it benefited from higher oil and natural gas prices.
In an overview of market conditions for the April-June period, ConocoPhillips also said its worldwide refining margins in the second quarter probably improved from the first quarter. But the company [...]

The Energy Department raised its outlook for the average price of a barrel of crude and a gallon of gasoline this year.
The Energy Information Administration’s Short-Term Energy Outlook now say oil will average $127 a barrel this year, up from the $122 a barrel forecast in last month’s report. The EIA expects gasoline to average [...]

In a yearlong experiment aimed at reducing energy costs and commuters’ gasoline expenses, Utah will become the first state to switch to a four-day workweek for thousands of government employees.
They will put in 10-hour days, Monday through Thursday, have Fridays off and get paid the same as before.
The order issued by Republican Gov. Jon Huntsman [...]

Oil prices jumped past $145 a barrel for the first time, as traders added to their bets on the commodity ahead of the long holiday weekend.
There was little good news for Americans hitting the road for the July Fourth holiday, as gas prices set their own record near $4.10 a gallon.
Light, sweet crude for August [...]