Recent Gas News/GasBuddy Blog

Motley Fool -- Cabot Oil & Gas (NYSE: COG ) , a leading independent natural gas producer with significant operations in the Marcellus, recently announced that it is using natural gas from the Marcellus to fracture wells via an innovative dual-fuel technology.

The use of this exciting technology, which uses engines that operate on a mixture of both natural gas and diesel, may help reduce the use of diesel -- the traditional fuel of choice to operate hydraulic fracturing equipment -- by as much as 70%.

Cabot's efforts mark the first time "field" gas has been used in northeastern Pennsylvania for this purpose. In developing and implementing the dual-fuel technology, the Houston-based company partnered with FTS International, a leading provider of well completion services for the oil and gas industry, a  (go to article)

NBC10 PHILADELPHIA -- Researchers in the Rice University chemistry professor's laboratory have developed nanoparticles that will flow with the fluid used to hydraulically fracture oil and gas wells, slip through rocks and travel wherever the water ends up _ in a holding pond at the surface, a tanker on the highway or, in a worst-case scenario, a nearby drinking water well.

The particles, which can bear unique magnetic signatures tailored to each fracking company that uses them, have the potential to clarify the troubled debate over whether and how oil and gas extraction damages water supplies.

“Whether you are Matt Damon or the president of Halliburton, for different reasons you should be interested in this,” Barron said in a lounge off his laboratory on the Houston, Texas campus early this year.  (go to article)

AP -- LOS ANGELES (AP) -- It seems that the impossible has occurred: The nation's most congested city has become a model for traffic control.

Yes, gridlock still prevails and drivers' blood pressure still spikes as LA's traffic arteries seize up during every morning and afternoon rush hour.

Yet, with the flip of a switch earlier this year, Los Angeles became a worldwide leader by synchronizing all of its nearly 4,400 stoplights, making it the world's first major city to do so.

The result? Well, it can still be hell to cross the City of the Angels by car. Synchronization has allowed LA to boast of real improvements on paper, however, the average driver won't always be able to discern the difference of a project that took nearly 30 years to complete.

"To be honest with you, I haven't felt  (go to article)

Great Falls Tribune -- The wind turbine at the Cascade County shop, installed in 2008 with projections it would pay for up to 80 percent of the facility’s energy costs, is falling short of expectations because the site isn’t as windy as anticipated.

At the turbine’s current rate of power production, it would take the county 33.70 years to recover its $201,924 investment, according to kilowatt-hour production figures provided by the county.  (go to article)

The Advocate -- LAFAYETTE — The low natural gas prices that have juiced much of Louisiana’s economy are also reshaping the oil-and-gas industry in the Gulf of Mexico, pushing the focus away from the coast and toward deep water far offshore.

Indicators tell a tale of two economies — deep water, which has massive oil deposits that companies are spending billions of dollars to extract, and the shallow water fields that after decades are producing less oil and natural gas, experts say.

It’s also a tale of two commodities, oil and gas, with oil fetching a price that reaps producers profits and gas dipping below the point at which drillers make money.  (go to article)

The Exponent Telegram -- WEST UNION — As oil and gas operations in West Virginia have drastically changed over the past several years, a local business owner in West Union has evolved with the industry.

At the age of 34, Jeremy Sutton has started three businesses in Doddridge County.

Sutton’s Oilfield Services began in 2002.

That company contracted with bigger companies to perform oilfield services, such as cutting timber, building drilling waste pits, disposing of fracking flowback fluids and laying pipeline.

“Then I went out and borrowed some money and drilled my first oil and gas well, which was Sutton’s Exploration and Production Company,” Sutton said. “I ended up taking investors and drilled about 50 wells.”

Business was booming around 2005 when Sutton started the exploration and production  (go to article)

Journal Sentinel -- Farmer Dwayne Ehlert remembers the moment last August when he delivered a truckload of corn to an ethanol plant here and sold it for a record $8.16 a bushel.

"I knew it was good for me, and I knew it wasn't good for anyone else," said Ehlert, 70, who has been farming for five decades on the outskirts of this southern Minnesota city.

High prices for corn, from which ethanol is made, have hammered the ethanol industry. A month after Ehlert made his profitable delivery, the Fairmont plant halted production, one of 20 U.S. ethanol producers to do so in the past year. Corn farmers like Ehlert, whose crops survived the drought, kept hauling corn to ethanol plants as he continued to fetch some of the highest prices ever.

For the first time in 16 years, U.S. ethanol production declined in 2012,  (go to article)

Forbes -- Memorial Day weekend marks the start of the summer driving season. It’s the weekend of the Indianapolis 500, and — if you happen to be in the jet set — of the running of Formula One’s Monaco Grand Prix. There’s no better time to take measure of the state of America’s love affair with the automobile. And no better way to celebrate that with a roadtrip. In the United States more than 31 million Americans will hop into their cars for a getaway this weekend, with the average trip adding nearly 700 miles to the odometer. For folks staying closer to home, a common destination will be the auto dealership. Dealers forsee big sales this weekend, with the industry on track to move 15 million cars in 2013, up 6%.

All told, over the three-day weekend Americans will drive on the order of 25 billion mi  (go to article)

Associated Press -- The chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board said Saturday the bridge collapse in Washington state is a wake-up call for the nation.

"This is a really significant event and we need to learn from it, not just in Washington but around the country," Debbie Hersman said after taking a boat ride on the Skagit River below the dramatic scene where a truck bumped against the steel framework, collapsing the bridge and sending two vehicles and three people falling into the chilly water.
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Christian Science Monitor -- The I-5 bridge that got clipped by a truck and fell into the Skagit River in Washington State may have been old, its design officially “functionally obsolete.” But the temporary fix to get traffic moving again along this busy highway corridor linking Seattle north to Canada may be of a type that’s even older.  (go to article)

NY Times -- The California condor’s slow 20-year climb back from the brink of extinction has long been a fragile not-quite-success story in the conservation world. So when the news came on Friday that developers of a wind-energy project near the Mojave Desert would not face criminal charges if the blades killed a single condor, environmental groups expressed grave concern.

“This blindsided folks,” Kelly Fuller of the American Bird Conservancy said in an interview, adding that the public was not aware that allowing unpenalized condor deaths was being considered there.

In a news release, she wrote that “allowing the legal killing of one of the most imperiled birds in the United States threatens endangered species conservation efforts across the country.  (go to article)

The Associated Press -- Thousands of bridges around the U.S. may be one freak accident or mistake away from collapse, even if the spans are deemed structurally sound.

The crossings are kept standing by engineering design, not supported with brute strength or redundant protections like their more modern counterparts. Bridge regulators call the more risky spans “fracture critical,” meaning that if a single, vital component of the bridge is compromised, it can crumple.

Those vulnerable crossings carry millions of drivers every day. In Boston, a 6-lane highway 1A near Logan airport includes a “fracture critical” bridge over Bennington Street. In northern Chicago, an I-90 pass that goes over Ashland Ave is in the same category. An I-880 bridge over 5th Ave in Oakland, CA., is also on the list.

Also in that category  (go to article)

Postmedia News -- Slated for release next year, the production version of Nissan’s LE concept will be based on the Nissan LEAF. But in addition to its vastly different sheet metal and upscale appointments, Infiniti is counting on another trait to distinguish it further from the LEAF: Wireless charging, says Autocar UK.

As with the current crop of EVs, the biggest roadblock to this will be infrastructure. It’s difficult to perfect conventional charging stations currently, let alone wireless ones. The success of this is dependent on which markets implement it first. In addition, Infiniti hopes to encourage automakers to develop the technology, also known as induction charging, on an open-source basis, rather than individually.
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Autonet.ca -- It's just a form of road tax to aid our respective governments meet their ever expanding social agendas.

As another long weekend passes, with its associated police enforcement blitzes, we are again left to wonder if the purpose of highway traffic enforcement is really about safety or about revenue.  (go to article)

Associated Press -- Tesla Motors is fighting a bill in North Carolina that would effectively ban the company from selling its electric cars in the state, pitting it against auto dealers who say the car maker has an unfair advantage selling directly to consumers online.

It's the latest such battle for California-based Tesla, which like other car manufacturers must navigate a patchwork of state laws dictating how its vehicles can be sold. Nearly all states — 48 — require manufacturers to sell their vehicles through dealerships to ensure the companies don't undercut their own network of franchised dealers, according to the National Automobile Dealers Association.
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Daily Finance -- Perhaps no other discussion on energy-related topics has been as polarizing as the debate over the general direction of oil prices over the next several years.

On the side of the bears, Citigroup argued in a recent research paper that global oil demand is "approaching a tipping point." The combination of falling demand in developed countries and two other factors -- the transition toward natural gas as a fuel source and improving fuel efficiency for new vehicles -- led the bank to conclude that, by the close of the decade, oil prices are "likely to hover within a range of $80-90/bbl."

On the other hand, the bulls argue that prices will remain buoyed by the high marginal costs of production for unconventional oil -- which includes U.S. shale and Canada's oil sands and continues to gain a  (go to article)

Spiegel Online International -- A lot of thought is put into how much energy we use to drive from point A to B. But what if the road itself could generate energy? Julie and Scott Brusaw, a married couple from Sandpoint, Idaho, have taken on just such a concept, which they hope will make the auto transport of the future cleaner and safer.

The idea is as simple as it is ingenious. Wherever roads are laid, solar panels could go instead. They would generate electricity, which would in turn be fed into the grid. Thus, oil is conserved twice: Electric cars could be charged with the energy produced by the panels, and the panels would replace the use of asphalt, the production of which requires petroleum.  (go to article)

USA today -- Survey measures complaint types, customer loyalty, and how long a customer keeps a car before a trade-in.

In 2012, drivers filed just under 30,000 complaints about their cars with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The complaints included problems with brakes, powertrains and every other part of the car imaginable

While some brands barely received any criticism, others got a hefty share. Mini was the most complained-about brand in 2012, with almost 646 complaints per 100,000 cars sold from 2005 through the end of 2012. Based on data provided by Edmunds.com, these are the cars with the most complaints per 100,000 vehicles sold.

The most complained-about cars are not necessarily the least popular ones. They include some of the most purchased cars in America and so  (go to article)

The Columbus Dispatch -- A little-used state law that can force unwilling landowners to allow fracking on their property is growing more popular among drilling companies.

Since August, drilling companies have filed 11 so-called “unitization” requests with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. Each request sought access to Utica shale oil and gas buried beneath the unwilling property owners’ land.

The new requests, three of which have been approved, involve 38 landowners, businesses and public agencies that did not sign mineral-rights leases with drilling companies. ...

Critics of shale drilling and fracking say unitization violates basic property rights.
 (go to article)

Grist -- Once again, Colorado’s fracking boom has residents wondering if there’s something in the water — carcinogenic benzene, in this case. A plant for fracked natural gas processor Williams Energy, near Parachute, Colo., spilled an estimated 241 barrels of mixed natural gas liquid into the ground, some of which eventually washed as benzene into Parachute Creek.

More than two months after the spill was discovered, neighbors of the plant are wondering why the energy company is being put in charge of the cleanup — and why the state has failed to issue any fines.

 (go to article)

KFVS -- ROCKVIEW, MO (KFVS)

Seven people were injured in a massive train collision in Scott County that took down an overpass.

Officials say around 2:30 a.m. there was a train crash near County Road 210 and Highway M in the Rockview community. The Highway M overpass collapsed on impact.

Scott County Sheriff Rick Walter says a Union Pacific train T-boned a Burlington Northern train that had just made it through the intersection.

The collision caused one of the trains to derail and hit a pillar under the overpass causing it to collapse. A dozen Union Pacific train cars derailed.

Trooper Clark Parrott with Mo. Highway Patrol says two vehicles were not on bridge when it collapsed. They came up to the bridge after it went down.

Three people in one vehicle and two people in another vehicle were  (go to article)

USA Today -- Add Hawaii to the list of states that have banned texting while driving. The 50th state in the union becomes the 40th state to crack down on distracted motoring.

Not bad when you consider the movement to crack down on texters on wheels only began in 2007, about the same time that smartphones with the capability were first coming into widespread use.

In addition, the law signed by Gov. Neil Abercrombie earlier this month also bans using a hand-held phone will driving. Hawaii becomes the 11 state with that provision, according the Governors Highway Safety Association.

"This action sends an important message to all Hawaii drivers: cell phone use and driving do not mix," says GHSA Executive Director Barbara Harsha.

Next up: Florida and Texas, both states with a generally fierce opposition  (go to article)

CNBC via Yahoo! Finance -- Whether by choice or through financial reality, the percentage of American households without a car has doubled over the past two decades-and is now approaching 1 in 10.

The impact of this trend could be significant, especially when it comes to alternatives to driving, such as car-sharing and mass transit, according to research by CNW Marketing.

"While the recession was in large part responsible for the latest spurt, the trend was already clear," said CNW's research chief Art Spinella, "A growing number of Americans felt they didn't need or want a personal car."

According to CNW data, the number of U.S. households without a car stood at a modest 5.7 percent in 1991. That figure stayed relatively stable through the early part of the new millennium. But it has been increasing slowly ...  (go to article)

Fuelfix.com -- ..... projects, representing about C$11.4 billion ($11.1 billion) in investments, are on the drawing boards. British Columbia, with its mountainous forests, national parks and salmon streams standing between the crude and the sea, wants no part of those pipelines — nor does it want its scenic bays to be turned into supertanker terminals.  (go to article)

Consumer report -- It’s the busy summer travel season and with gas prices dropping around the country, it’s a great time to head out on a road trip. Whether you’re driving a short distance or across the country, here are some tips to ensure that your car and your family are prepared for your next adventure.
1.Schedule a checkup. Perform basic maintenance on your vehicle before you head out such as checking wipers and fluid levels. Also, schedule any necessary service such as oil changes or tune ups. A vehicle in top shape will have a better chance of staying reliable and efficient. See our guide to car maintenance.
2.Stay charged. Check your battery to make sure it’s strong and has clean terminals: A little baking soda and water will do the job. A road trip is no fun if your car won’t start. Learn more  (go to article)

BBC -- Our pick of the week’s science and tech stories, including all-electric cars, a fiendish maths problem solved and extreme cancer blogging. ...

Remember when Toyota’s Prius hybrid was launched? It was “too expensive”, “elitist”, “only for greenies”. Now it’s the third best-selling car in the world. Looks like the same story for Tesla’s all-electric cars. Remember: new ideas take time to spread. Skeptics laugh, rivals get complacent. Then the idea finds its business model, breaks out of its niche, demand soars. It’s an S-curve, and Tesla has hit the first bend.  (go to article)

Science Daily -- May 23, 2013 — A newly synthesized material might provide a dramatically improved method for separating the highest-octane components of gasoline. Measurements at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have clarified why.

The research team, which included scientists from NIST and several other universities, has published its findings in the journal Science.

Created in the laboratory of Jeffrey Long, professor of chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley, the material is a metal-organic framework, or MOF, which can be imagined as a sponge with microscopic holes. The innumerable interior walls of the MOF form triangular channels that selectively trap only the lower-octane components based on their shape, separating them easily from the higher-octane molecules  (go to article)

GasBuddy Blog -- When it comes to taking a vacation, Americans may be feeling better about it than we did a year ago...

Eight-five percent of Americans taking vacations this summer will be traveling by car — and more than four in five (82 percent) will be stopping at convenience stores along the way, according to consumer responses captured in the May 2013 National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) Consumer Fuels Survey.

According to NACS, vacationers plan to spend a fair amount of time on the road this summer. Nearly half (45 percent) of all consumers say that they plan to take trips outside of their state, and 63 percent will take at least 6 days of vacation this summer — including 10 percent who plan to travel at least 21 days...  (go to article)

The Guardian -- Some of Britain's biggest energy suppliers were holding back gas in storage tanks at a time when the market ran into an acute shortage two months ago, triggering a doubling of wholesale prices.

The revelations came after claims the UK was within six hours of running out of gas completely on 22 March and will feed rising public and political anger over soaring power bills and previous allegations of market manipulation. ...

The revelation also comes as the industry faces allegations of manipulation in both oil and gas markets, triggering dawn raids by the European commission and reviews by Ofgem and the FCA.
 (go to article)

The Edmond Sun -- In response to the tornado that hit Moore, many Oklahoma companies are donating to support relief efforts. Companies have given money and supplies in the aftermath of the tornado. Many local and national companies have a history in helping with relief efforts such as Bass Pro Shop and BP. The companies are helping various organizations such as the American Red Cross and the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma to support the survivors of the May 19 and May 20 tornadoes in their time of need.

• Devon Energy and Continental Resources Inc. each pledged donations of $2.5 million.

• Norman Chrysler Jeep Dodge $100,000 donation

• BP America Inc. will donate $300,000

• Home Depot Foundation pledged $1 million

• The American Legion pledged $1 million

• Noble Energy Inc. donated $500,000

More...  (go to article)

sgvtribune -- WHITTIER -- As travelers hit the road Friday for the Memorial Day weekend, some lucky Honda drivers received free gas courtesy of the Helpful Honda Guys in Blue.

They surprised unsuspecting drivers at the pumps at gas stations in more than 20 Southern California cities, including Whittier.

As part of the Honda's popular Guys in Blue campaign, the promotion shows how Honda lends a hand in the communities, officials said.

"It's awesome," said Patricia Ochoa, who pulled up to the gas pump at the Chevron at Greenleaf Avenue and Whittier Boulevard.

She was going to buy $10 of gas for her 2000 Honda Prelude.

Instead, one of the Honda employees filled up the tank with $46.03 worth of gas.

"I just started working again, and this is a great help," Ochoa said.
 (go to article)

Daily Globe -- WORTHINGTON — After a winter of fairly steady prices, the cost of a gallon of gas has jumped as the Memorial Day holiday nears.

General Manager at Bob and Steve’s Shell Jesse Raudenbush said Friday that prices rose “close to 50 cents in less than a week.”

“It sounds like its affected a lot of people’s travel plans,” he said. “A lot of people are staying around home when maybe they wouldn’t have otherwise.”

The Casey’s General Store location on U.S. 59 near Interstate 90 has seen a steady stream of customers, assistant manager Carrie Helms said. But while people are still completing their necessary travel they need to, they seem to be reducing the extra road time that tends to increase as summer approaches.

“They aren’t really extending very much,” she said. “They are doing  (go to article)

CNN -- The United States is investigating "a string of malicious" cyber incidents that appear to be focused on probing energy infrastructure, a U.S. official familiar with the latest intelligence tells CNN.

The official, who spoke anonymously due to the sensitivity of the information, said the suspected hacking did not appear to be intended to steal trade secrets or exploit technology for commercial reasons. It appeared to be aimed at identifying weaknesses in fuel and electrical systems in the United States.

While the official did not identify any suspected origins of the apparent hacking, a U.S. lawmaker raised suspicions about Iran.

The United States has over the past year become more concerned about Iran and cyber security.

American officials said last October that cyber attacks on U.S ..  (go to article)

USA Today -- Six years after a Minneapolis bridge collapse that killed 13 people called attention to the state of the nation's bridges, there has been minimal improvement and insufficient funding to repair and replace aging spans.

The collapse Thursday of the Interstate Highway 5 in Washington state shined the spotlight once again on troubled bridges.

In 2012, the Federal Highway Administration said 67,000 — 11% — of the nation's 607,000 bridges were structurally deficient. That means the bridges are not unsafe but must be closely monitored and inspected or repaired.

That percentage is little changed since 2007 when 12% of the nation's bridges were listed as structurally deficient and the I-35 bridge collapsed in Minneapolis.  (go to article)

The Globe and Mail -- Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. said on Wednesday it has repaired and reopened a rail line near Jansen, Sask., and continues to clean up after a derailment that spilled 575 barrels of crude oil on Tuesday.

CP, the country’s second-largest rail carrier, said the line reopened late Tuesday night following repairs and inspections. It said an investigation continues into the cause of the accident, the largest of three oil spills for the company in two months.

The spill may again prompt concerns about the environmental risks of shipping crude on railways...  (go to article)

Reuters -- (Reuters) - Attackers blew up Yemen's main oil export pipeline on Friday, halting the flow of crude, the government and industry sources said.  (go to article)

Financial Post -- The State Department says it received 1.2 M letters during its 45-day public comment period after releasing the draft of Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) on the Keystone XL.

On March 1, the Department sought public opinion over a 45-day period to help make its mind up whether to approve the US$5.3-B AB-to-Gulf-Coast project.

TransCanada proposed the 830,000-bpd project 5 years ago, but the project remains entangled in a web of U.S. state and federal regulations with green groups labeling the project as “game over” for the climate. Pipeline proponents dismiss the claims, citing energy security and jobs as key reasons for the approval.

The first batch of comments reveals the same green groups and oil and gas advocates, recycling their arguments and finding another avenue  (go to article)

afp -- EU leaders agreed Wednesday to face up to the challenge posed by the shale oil and gas revolution which has slashed US energy prices, undercutting Europe’s competitive edge.

“All leaders are aware that sustainable and affordable energy is key to keeping factories and jobs in Europe,” European President Herman Van Rompuy said.

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Reuters -- Phillips 66 said it would use more domestic shale oil at its New Jersey Bayway refinery and could consider exporting gasoline from the facility thanks to lower costs and as U.S. fuel demand wanes.

The 238,000 bpd Bayway refinery is one of several on the East Coast emerging from years of poor margins as they have depended on higher-priced oil from Europe and Africa due to a lack of access to cheaper domestic crude.

Bayway already receives Bakken crude, transported by rail to Albany in New York State and then by barge to the refinery, which is located by a narrow body of water between Staten Island and New Jersey.

"There's 80,000 to 90,000 barrels coming by rail from North Dakota versus zero a year ago. It processes well," Bayway refinery manager David Erfert said.
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EurekAlert! -- Talking on a hands-free device while behind the wheel can lead to a sharp increase in errors that could imperil other drivers on the road, according to new research from the University of Alberta.

A pilot study showed that drivers who talk using a hands-free cellular device made significantly more driving errors—such as crossing the centre line, speeding and changing lanes without signalling—compared with just driving alone. The jump in errors also corresponded with a spike in heart rate and brain activity.

"It is commonplace knowledge, but for some reason it is not getting into the public conscience that the safest thing to do while driving is to focus on the road."  (go to article)

PC World -- Commuting is tough. Working out of your car all day is tougher. From traveling salesmen to offsite service professionals to couriers, millions of people worldwide spend their nine-to-five hours behind the wheel. And they need to stay in touch—online, dialed in, and powered up—all day. That’s not easy to do when you’re constantly on the move.

 (go to article)

The Charleston Gazette -- Members of a state panel agreed Wednesday on the price tag to fully build and maintain West Virginia's road system -- an additional $1.13 billion to $1.28 billion a year -- but not on ways to pay that tab.

Ultimately, the Blue Ribbon Commission on Highways voted to hold six statewide public hearings in June, with all funding options -- ranging from a 1 percent increase in sales taxes to a $200 registration fee for alternative-fuel vehicles -- on the table.

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GasBuddy Blog -- As Memorial Day rolls around, GasBuddy receives dozens of inquiries from the press asking how motorists can save money at the pump. Sure there are things that can make minor differences, but every one wants to know- what's the easiest way to save?

Enter GasBuddy.com. GasBuddy, as you may well know, has been around since 2000, powered by millions of volunteer spotters who report prices and help each other save. ABC Nightline recently approached GasBuddy for several tips they could tell motorists about, and loved the GasBuddy app so much, did an entire story!

Remember to follow local laws and ordinances when using the app, and don't drive distracted! Gas prices matter to us too, but your life is more important!

go to article)

Downstream Today -- A $2 billion pipeline project intended to ship oil from West Texas's booming oil fields to California has failed to pique the interest of several big refiners in the Golden State. The culprit: the growing popularity of railroads.

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners 277,000-bpd Freedom pipeline, proposed in April, would be the first to bring light, sweet oil produced in Texas's Permian Basin to the fuel-hungry Los Angeles market.

That would give refiners in California, which now partly supplement the state's declining oil production with expensive crude imports from Alaska, Ecuador and other far-flung nations, a direct shot at the relatively cheap crude squeezed out of shale formations through hydraulic fracturing. Access to that bountiful crude has already boosted the profi  (go to article)

NBCNews.com -- The 1,112-foot steel truss bridge was built in 1955, and was carrying an average daily traffic of 71,000 vehicles.

The bridge was of a "fracture critical" design, as are 18,000 bridges nationwide, meaning it could collapse if even one part failed.

Even after the bridge collapse that killed 13 people in Minneapolis in 2007, a haphazard system of inspections continued, with federal authorities choosing not to require re-inspection of all the fracture-critical bridges.

In a survey of every state by msnbc.com in 2008, only six states and the District of Columbia said they began to recheck all their fracture-critical bridges.  (go to article)

USA Today -- Toyota has passed BMW in a ranking of the world's most valuable brands.

The list was put together by a keeper of such scores called Brandz.

But it's no time for celebration if you're in the auto industry. Auto brands lag far behind other sectors, especially technology, on the Brandz Top 100 list. For instance, the top three places on the list belong to tech companies -- Apple, Google and IBM. How auto brands fared:  (go to article)

Science Daily -- A new analysis shows that the nation's land and water resources could likely support the growth of enough algae to produce up to 25 billion gallons of algae-based fuel a year in the United States, one-twelfth of the country's yearly needs.

The findings come from an in-depth look at the water resources that would be needed to grow significant amounts of algae in large, specially built shallow ponds. The results were published in the May 7 issue of Environmental Science and Technology, published by the American Chemical Society.
"While there are many details still to be worked out, we don't see water issues as a deal breaker for the development of an algae biofuels industry in many areas of the country," said first author Erik Venteris of the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest Nationa  (go to article)

Akron Beacon Journal -- A 70-year-old Cuyahoga Falls man was sentenced to eight years in prison following a conviction on his 12th drunken driving offense, authorities said.

Edward A. South, of Highpoint Lane, was sentenced by Summit County Common Pleas Judge Tammy O’Brien.

Last year, on the night after Christmas, South crashed into a pole in the Falls and walked away from the scene. No one was injured, but South was driving on a suspended license at the time and subsequently was tracked by police to a family member’s home.

Prosecutors said he registered 0.087 percent on a blood-alcohol breath test after his apprehension.

 (go to article)

fox -- It's official: Cars really are getting more efficient.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2013/05/24/gasoline-diesel-hybrids-and-plug-ins-efficiency-leaders/#ixzz2UE0Ifsaz  (go to article)

marketwatch.com -- As Americans takes to the road this summer, drivers in the Midwest face the biggest shock at the pump. Gasoline prices in their part of the country have shot up well above the national average.

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Cleveland.com -- COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Gas prices have taken a big jump in Ohio and the U.S.

A gallon of regular gas in Ohio was listed at an average of about $3.84 in Monday's survey from auto club AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express. That's up 27 cents from last Monday's average.  (go to article)