MLIVE -- In the past decade, at least 1,100 crashes involving cellphones occurred throughout Kent, Ottawa and Allegan counties, according to an analysis by MLive Media Group. More than 5,400 others involved some other form of distracted driving.

Most are in Kent, about two out of three. Ottawa accounts for about 25 percent, with Allegan just under 10 percent.  (read more)

Popular Mechanics -- The 2012 Hyundai Elantra and Ford Focus SFE are among 20-plus cars that now claim 40 mpg highway. But given the peculiar way in which the EPA calculates its fuel economy estimates, do those mileage numbers truly reflect real-world driving? We tested the Elantra and Focus on the streets and roads of Michigan to find out, with some surprising results.

PM Mileage Test at a Glance

We took two closely matched, high-mileage vehicles on multiple test loops to see if they could hit their EPA window-sticker numbers on real roads...
 (read more)

Yahoo Autos -- When Nissan unveiled its Leaf EV last year, the wedge-like machine lifted the spirits of any motorist disgruntled by the Who Killed The Electric Car? era. None more so than Sadow, who grew up criss-crossing the country thanks to his father's job with the electric golf cart giant, E-Z-Go.

"You can say I got bit by the EV bug early, around the age of 7," Sadow says.

Fast forward a few decades, and that kid is now an electrical engineering whiz who has become consumed with making this incarnation of the electric car live.

"My goal is to make the EV a success, because it's the only thing that's going to save us," he says. "Our culture is based on cars, so that's not going away. But when petroleum becomes scarce, our economy is going to tank given our dependency on foreign oil. I just  (read more)

Times Of India -- India will have to walk a fine line between continuing to source oil imports from Iran and escalating pressure from the US and Europe to adhere to tighter sanctions against the Islamic republic designed to prevent it from weaponizing its nuclear programme.

New Delhi may be staunchly opposed to Tehran acquiring nuclear weapons, but is caught in a bind since it cannot afford to substantially cut back energy imports from Iran, which as India's second largest supplier after Saudi Arabia meets 12% of its total oil requirements.

Tighter Western sanctions will make it harder for India to pay for the oil it sources from Iran, especially since Washington has declared it will ban from the American market all financial institutions that transact petroleum business with Tehran's Central Bank from  (read more)

Anchorage Daily News online -- EMPLOYMENT: It's also at a record high as companies hire maintenance workers.

By STEFAN MILKOWSKI
Petroleum News

Published: January 31st, 2012 10:05 AM
Last Modified: January 31st, 2012 10:05 AM

A new report by the research firm McDowell Group is shedding light on seemingly contradictory North Slope employment figures and an apparent spike in nonresident hire.

North Slope employment dropped sharply in 2009 but has since rebounded and is now at an all-time high. Industry spending is up, but more money is being spent on maintenance. And the third-quarter 2010 spike in nonresident hire is not likely the start of a trend.

State lawmakers commissioned the study last year during the debate over Gov. Sean Parnell's oil tax proposal, House Bill 110. Supporters of tax cuts pointed to the jump  (read more)

Reuters -- * Democrats say bill would ensure Keystone benefits US

* Republicans have been pushing to approve pipeline

* Republican says U.S. needs more exports

By Ayesha Rascoe

WASHINGTON, Feb 3 (Reuters) - U.S. Democrats unveiled legislation on Friday that would block export of any oil transported by the Keystone XL pipeline, as they challenged claims that the delayed project would boost U.S. energy security.

 (read more)

physorg.com -- As the United States transitions away from a primarily petroleum-based transportation industry, a number of different alternative fuel sources—ethanol, biodiesel, electricity and hydrogen—have each shown their own promise. Hoping to expand the pool even further, researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory have begun to investigate adding one more contender to the list of possible energy sources for light-duty cars and trucks: compressed natural gas (CNG).

Compressed natural gas is composed primarily of methane, which when compressed occupies less than one percent of the volume it occupies at standard pressure. CNG is typically stored in cylindrical tanks that would be carried onboard the vehicles it fuels.

Because the domestic production of natural gas  (read more)

Wired Magazine -- The Center for Automotive Research (CAR) is launching a campaign to help cars lose weight in order to gain efficiency and performance.

By bringing together members of the aluminum and plastics/composites industries, CAR hopes that automakers will reap the benefits of new lightweight materials to meet stricter fuel economy standards without sacrificing acceleration or handling.

While overall fuel economy has increased dramatically in the past few decades, so has the weight of passenger vehicles. MIT economist Christopher Knittel recently found that the average vehicle’s curb weight increased 26% between 1980 and 2006. If today’s powertrains were fitted to cars as light as the Chevettes and Civics of yore, the average fuel economy of cars sold in the US would be as high as 37 mpg in 2012.  (read more)

Mywesttexas.com -- "We were involved in drafting the bill," pointed out Ben Shepperd, president of the Permian Basin Petroleum Association. "Our members were supportive of the bill, we think it's the right thing to do. Transparency is good and we think being transparent will help dispel some of the myths around hydraulic fracturing. Fracturing has become an overused, misused word."

Nye said many Texas operators werealready voluntarily reporting hydraulic fracturing chemicals since the FracFocus website went live on April 1, 2011. "In fact," she said, "as of January 31, 2012, of the 10,914 total wells nationwide voluntarily reporting disclosures on the FracFocus website, 4,169 of the wells are in Texas."  (read more)

Forbes -- Exxon Mobil announced that the gas flow from its two exploratory wells drilled in Poland did not justify bringing them into production. [1]

Analysts have speculated that the technical challenges associated with shale exploration in the country made it commercially non-viable to explore the resources.

If so, this would be a major setback for Exxon’s plans to expand shale exploration in Europe as Poland has some the best shale prospects in the region and the government has been eager to exploit the resources to reduce dependence on Russian gas. Competitor Chevron is also drilling exploratory wells in Poland.
 (read more)

GasBuddy Blog --
US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta believes there is a "strong possibility" that Israel will strike Iran's nuclear installations this spring, it was reported today.

That belief, is based on intelligence data gathered by NBC News that was produced by unidentifed military and civilian experts to assess the likelihood of an Israeli attack on Iran; the potential impact on the middle east, the U.S., and the global economy.
Here is an excerpt from that report:
Q: What are the chances Israel attacks Iran?

A: Officials agree the chances for an Israeli attack on Iran are at least 50-50, maybe higher. More than one former official has suggested the possibility is as high as 70 percent, but events can move...  (read more)

GasBuddy Blog -- An article by a Londer Finance newspaper spells out what I've been trying to let our GasBuddy family know- that I believe rejection of the Keystone pipeline will allow Canadian oil prices to remain at huge discounts to other global crude oils.

Now the proof is here in the pudding according to the LSE:

"Canadian heavy crude differentials began to slide two days ago, falling from the low $20s a barrel under benchmark West Texas Intermediate to as much as $32 a barrel under WTI on Friday."

See? The above paragraph is showing that the price of Canadian crude oil is falling- even faster than changes in other types of higher quality crude oil!

The same story goes on to say "Traders of Canadian crude had...  (read more)

The Nation --
Lincoln, Nebraska

Long before the Occupy movement swept the country—more than two years ago—a revolt began in one of the reddest states in America. Farmers and ranchers in Nebraska, many of them longtime conservatives, got angry about corporate influence on a single issue that has since captivated the entire state and upset national politics: the Keystone XL pipeline.

 (read more)

Kuwait Times -- British gas prices are likely to become more volatile and prone to spikes over the next few years after the UK has moved from self-sufficiency to increasing dependence on imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar.

The latest UK government data show Qatari LNG imports were equivalent to 52 percent of the gas consumed over the first nine months of 2011, up from 11 percent for 2009 as a whole.
Qatar also accounted for 85 percent of UK LNG supplies between January and November last year, with Nigeria a weak second at just 5 percent. Britain’s gas market is exposed to diversions of Qatari ships to countries that pay more, to shipping restrictions or unplanned outages on production facilities.  (read more)

Kuwait Times -- Iran has agreed to be paid 45 percent of revenue from its Indian oil exports in rupees, to be deposited with an Indian bank beyond the reach of new US and European sanctions, a report said Thursday.
The two countries have chosen UCO Bank, headquartered in the eastern city of Kolkata, for the rupee transactions to settle part of India's $12.68-billion annual oil bill, The Indian Express reported.
India currently pays for 20 percent of its oil imports from Iran in rupees, with the remainder settled in euros at the Turkish bank, Turkiye Halk Bankasi.
There are concerns that the Turkish route will be closed by tough new European sanctions on oil exports from Iran imposed over the Islamic Republic's disputed nuclear programme.
India has said it will continue to buy crude from Iran despite moves  (read more)

GasBuddy Blog --

If Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley gets his way he might be the last and only person smiling in Maryland.

This week O'Malley said he wants to raise the state's gasoline tax by applying Maryland's 6% sales tax to every gallon of gasoline. His plan would have a 2% per year phasing in of the tax at the wholesale level.

Maryland's state average today is $3.51 per gallon. Baltimore's average is $3.48 and closer to the governor in Annapolis, if he drives around his neighborhood he could see retail prices ranging anywhere from $3.49 to $3.65 per gallon.

Marylanders currently pay combined federal and state taxes of 42 cents per gallon. If the state legislature approves O'Malley's proposal, that...  (read more)

Detroit News -- General Motors extended-range electric Chevrolet Volt had its worst sales month since August, as negative publicity over fire risks hurt vehicles sales in January.

GM sold just 603 Volts - above its sales in January 2011, but far below GM's best-ever sales month in December, when GM sold 1,529 Volts.

Last week, GM North America President Mark Reuss said sales of the Volt have been hurt by bad publicity.

Reuss said bad publicity from the government's investigation into fire risks of post-crash Volts is "definitely a component" of the decline in sales.

GM sold about 7,700 in 2011, below GM's target of 10,000. GM abandoned its sales target of 45,000 for 2012 last month, saying it would match "supply to demand."

GM was outsold by Nissan Motor Co.'s all-electric Leaf in 2011  (read more)

Wilmington News-Journal -- Four members of the California Public Utilities Commission approved a proposal that allows PG&E to charge residential customers an initial fee of $75, plus $10 each month, to opt out of the company's highly contested $2.2 billion SmartMeter program.  (read more)

Bloomberg -- Oil fell to the lowest in six weeks as U.S. crude stockpiles increased more than estimated and gasoline use fell to a 10-year low. Brent crude in London was at the biggest premium to New York oil in 12 weeks.

Futures declined for a fifth day, losing as much as 1 percent after an Energy Department report yesterday showed crude supplies in the U.S. rose by 4.2 million barrels last week. Inventories were projected to increase 2.6 million barrels, according to a Bloomberg News survey. Talks on Iran’s nuclear program have made little progress, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a speech in Beijing today.

“The bears worried about poor demand after last night’s data and prices weakened,” said Christopher Bellew, a senior broker at Jefferies Bache Ltd. in London, who expects Brent cru  (read more)

Alaska Dispatch -- Yet another bill to allow oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is moving through the U.S. House of Representatives, but history would suggest it's doomed to fail.

So why does Alaska's Congressman Don Young keep trying?

"I'm not only eternally optimistic; if you don't keep trying you're never going to get anything done," Young told Alaska Dispatch Wednesday.

His attempts to open ANWR's coastal plain to drilling so far have amounted to nothing.

During his nearly four decades in office, the House has passed 11 of his ANWR drilling bills, Young said. All but one died in the Senate. The only one that made it through Congress died ignominiously on President Bill Clinton's desk.

"Everyone says, 'What do you keep doing this for? The Senate's not going to pass it,'"...  (read more)

GasBuddy Blog -- The Energy Information Administration released its weekly report on the condition of petroleum inventories in the United States today.

Here are some highlights:

CRUDE INVENTORIES:
Crude oil inventories increased by 4.2 million barrels to a total of 338.9 million barrels. At 338.9 million barrels, inventories are 4.2 million barrels below last year (-1.2%) and are in the upper limit of the average range.

GASOLINE INVENTORIES:
Gasoline inventories increased by 3.0 million barrels to 230.1 million barrels. At 230.1 million barrels, inventories are 6.1 million barrels, or 2.6% lower than last year. Here's how individual regions and their gasoline inventory fared last week: East Coast (+2.7mb); Midwest ...  (read more)

cbc -- Canadians in Eastern Canada may see more Alberta oil coming their way in the near future.

That's according to Mark Corey, one of Canada's top federal bureaucrats in charge of energy policy.

Corey, assistant deputy minister for the energy sector with Natural Resources Canada, was testifying Tuesday at a House of Commons committee looking into oil and gas pipelines and refineries in Canada.He told MPs that as oil production in Alberta increases, companies will start to find it in their economic interest to send it to refineries in Eastern Canada.

"As oil production ramps up in Western Canada you will likely see the market respond and in fact we are already seeing the markets respond."He was responding to a question from NDP MP Claude Gravelle who wanted to know why Prime Minister Stephen  (read more)

CNN Money -- Chrysler Group reported its first annual profit since 2005 Wednesday, capping a comeback a little more than two years after a federal bailout, a bankruptcy filing and a takeover by Italian automaker Fiat.

The automaker, which includes the Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep brands, earned $183 million in 2011, compared with a loss of $652 million in the prior year.

And the company said that even better times are ahead, as it forecast it will make about $1.5 billion this year, with an 18% jump in revenue.

Chrysler took a charge of $551 million during the year related to refinancing in order to pay off the higher-interest loans it received from the U.S. and Canadian governments during the 2009 bailout. Despite the loan repayment, taxpayers lost about $1.3 billion of the $12.5 billion in bailout fund  (read more)

The Associated Press -- DALLAS -- The United Steelworkers union and Shell Oil have as announced a tentative deal on a new three-year contract covering Shell refinery workers across the United States.

The deal was announced in statements issued by the two sides Tuesday night, hours before a midnight Tuesday deadline to reach a new agreement or risk a strike.

The tentative deal must still be ratified by the 30,000 workers it covers at 168 workplaces across the nation, including 69 refineries representing about 64 percent of the nation's refining capacity.

The deal also will be used as the model for other refiners such as Exxon Mobil, Marathon, Valero and ConocoPhillips to match.

The USW is North America's largest industrial union with about 850,000 members in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean.  (read more)

Reuters -- Honda Motor Co slashed its annual profit guidance to the lowest level in three years as it counted the cost of natural disasters in Japan and Thailand and a strong yen. But it forecast a healthy rebound next year.

Japan's No.3 automaker was the slowest to recover from the supply chain disruptions after the Japanese earthquake and tsunami and it was the only carmaker whose factory was inundated by historic floods in Thailand, Southeast Asia's export hub.

Honda cut its expectations for operating profit for the business year to March 31 by a quarter to 200 billion yen ($2.6 billion), below the average forecast of 24 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S of 283 billion yen. It marks a drop of 65 percent compared with year-earlier profits.  (read more)