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Analysts expect gas prices to decrease or remain mostly flat not only in 2014, but for years to come. Nonetheless, drivers in some states will see higher prices at the pump, starting January 1. Gas prices may not have seemed all that cheap in 2013. But in fact, prices for the year as a whole were less expensive than they have been. According to AAA’s year-end report, American drivers paid $3.49 per gallon of regular, on average for 2013. That’s the cheapest per-gallon average since 2010; the national average was just above $3.50 in 2011 and hit $3.60 per gallon...

Ethanol producers are panicking amid speculation that the ethanol mandate could be drastically reduced or scrapped entirely this year as the biofuel loses its allure and bipartisan allies and former friends team up against it. December saw California Democrat Dianne Feinstein—a renewable fuel champion--coordinate efforts with Oklahoma Republican Tom Coburn to come up with a Senate bill to get rid of ethanol from the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), citing fears that corn-based fuel production mandates will harm livestock producers. In November, Washington proposed cutting the biofuels mandate for 2014 by 16% to 15.21 billion gallons. This would be the first...

<p>Ethanol requirements for U.S. gasoline appear to be losing friends and influencing the wrong people, with calls growing to reform or scrap the government mandates altogether.</p> <p>The Environmental Protection Agency in November proposed reducing the amount of renewable fuels, including corn-based ethanol, that oil refiners must blend with gasoline. The rule is a centerpiece of government efforts to curb carbon emissions, while jump-starting alternative forms of energy.</p>

As Venezuela faces an economic crisis that is depleting government coffers, President Nicolas Maduro is threatening to end something many citizens of that oil producing country consider to be their patrimony, incredibly cheap gasoline, the equivalent of 5 U.S. cents per gallon. That price hasn’t changed in almost two decades. In 1989 the price of gasoline was raised, prompting deadly rioting that went on for days and killed over 300 people. To keep the retail price that low, the government subsidizes gasoline to the tune of more than $12.5 billion a year. The result is that Venezuelans aren’t interested in...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A group of 10 U.S. Senators introduced a bipartisan bill on Thursday to eliminate the corn ethanol mandate, arguing that current law raises the cost of food and animal feed and damages the environment. The bill, introduced by Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat; Tom Coburn, an Oklahoma Republican; and eight cosponsors, faces an uphill battle as many lawmakers from agricultural states support the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS)that dictates that rising volumes of ethanol made from grains, including corn, be blended into motor fuel. Feinstein said the bill supports development of advanced biofuels, including those from made from...

The first thought that pops into the mind of Rep. Earl Blumenauer when he sees prices at the gasoline pump is: They ought to be higher. The Oregon Democrat introduced legislation Tuesday to nearly double the federal gas tax from 18.4 cents per gallon to 33.4 cents over the next three years. By indexing the amount to inflation, the tax would hike itself automatically each year. “The gas tax hasn’t been increased since the beginning of the Clinton administration,” says Mr. Blumenauer, referring to the 4.3 cents per gallon hike in 1993. Nothing could be more offensive to a Democrat...

The cost of a gallon of fuel may go up if a Democratic representative from Oregon gets his way.

Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) is introducing legislation that would nearly double the 18.4-cents-per-gallon federal gas tax that is traditionally used to pay for federal transportation projects. Blumenauer's bill would increase the gas tax by 15 cents, matching a proposal that was included in the 2011 Simpson-Bowles budget reform recommendations. The legislation would result in drivers paying an extra 33.4 cents per gallon on their purchases, in addition to state taxes. Transportation advocates have pushed for a gas tax increase to close an approximately $20 billion shortfall in infrastructure funding that has developed as cars have grown more fuel efficient. The...

In 2012, it was the oil tanker-truck trade. This year, the oil-by-rail boom inundated the U.S. East and Gulf coasts. In 2014, the shale revolution hits the water, says U.S. commodity merchant Freepoint Commodities. A dramatic slump in U.S. cash crude prices in recent weeks has vividly shown that the unrelenting rise in shale oil production from North Dakota and Texas is rapidly nearing the point of saturation for Gulf Coast refiners, likely forcing more and more cargoes up the East Coast on tankers. The swell of crude emerging from the Bakken in North Dakota, plus the Eagle Ford and...

HOUSTON — Gasoline prices are tumbling just in time for the holiday shopping season to begin. Consumers can thank the tentative reduction in tensions in the Middle East and swelling supplies of domestic oil for their good fortune, and energy experts say prices could fall further if negotiations between the West and Iran progress. The cost of a gallon of regular gasoline has dropped by 6 cents a gallon over the last week alone, in line with a steady swoon through the fall that has brought prices to their lowest levels in three years. Seasonal price declines are expected this...

HARRISBURG — After idling six months in the state Legislature, Gov. Tom Corbett's coveted bill to address pressing transportation needs seems headed toward becoming law at 70 mph, fueled by higher gasoline taxes. Final passage is expected Thursday on legislation that would rev up transportation spending by $2.3 billion to $2.4 billion and give Corbett a badly needed policy victory. Success would come just days after what appeared to be a legislative pileup. The House balked at passage late Monday, only to suddenly shift gears Tuesday. Then, on Wednesday, the Senate passed the package 43-7, and that vote put the...

Motorists in several states are facing a perhaps harsh reality: they're about to see their ethanol free gasoline dry up. North and South Dakota, Iowa, and parts of Minnesota and Nebraska may soon see their precious ethanol free regular unleaded disappear as refiners face the rising requirement of using ethanol to blend in gasoline. According to InForum, this shift is already happening in North Dakota, where suppliers are moving away from offering non-ethanol regular 87-octane gasoline, thanks to the Energy Policy Act of 2005. The act requires blending more ethanol to gasoline over time, and as gasoline demand decreases, the...

WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday proposed reducing the amount of ethanol that is required to be mixed with the gasoline supply, the first time it has taken steps to slow down the drive to replace fossil fuels with renewable forms of energy. The move was expected, but it drew bitter complaints from advocates of ethanol, including some environmentalists, who see the corn-based fuel blend as a weapon to fight climate change. It was also unwelcome news to farmers, who noted that the decision came at a time when a record corn crop is expected, and the price...

Gasoline prices are tumbling just in time for the holiday shopping season to begin. Consumers can thank the tentative reduction in tensions in the Middle East and swelling supplies of domestic oil for their good fortune, and energy experts say prices could fall further if negotiations between the West and Iran progress. The cost of a gallon of regular gasoline has dropped by 6 cents a gallon over the last week alone, in line with a steady swoon through the fall that has brought prices to their lowest levels in three years. …

Although CO2 is considered a "greenhouse gas" that contributes to climate change, if the Energy Department (DOE) finds partners to capitalize on the research of one of its laboratories, someday cars might run on sunshine. Technically, cars would run on the product of sunlight, CO2, and water using a "two-step solar thermochemical cycle" developed by the Albuquerque, New Mexico government lab. The DOE posted the special notice seeking interested companies on the Federal Business Opportunities website on Tuesday: Sandia National Laboratories (Sandia) is conducting ongoing research and development into solar fuels, the conversion of sunlight, CO2, and H2O into high...

This Week In Petroleum Recent decline in Gulf Coast crude oil imports mainly affects lighter grades Crude oil imports to the U.S. Gulf Coast (PADD 3) which averaged 3.7 million barrels per day (bbl/d) year-to-date through July, the latest month for which data are available, have dropped by more than a third since 2008. The decrease of more than 1.9 million bbl/d from the 2008 average of 5.6 million bbl/d has included almost all imports of light, sweet crude oil, a development that has significant implications for global crude oil price relationships. Nearly half of U.S. refining capacity is along...

<p>Two puppies rescued after nearly being used as living firebombs by Muslim Brotherhood.</p> <p>Two puppies from Egypt were rescued just moments before they were to be used by the Muslim Brotherhood in their protests as "puppy bombs" dipped in gasoline and set on fire.</p>

It’s time for the federal government to “put motorists first” by lowering renewable fuel requirements that could cause gas prices to climb, the automotive club AAA said Monday. So far, the debate surrounding the eight-year-old renewable fuel standard has been dominated by biofuel producers and the oil industry. But now, said AAA president Bob Darbelnet, “there is a real opportunity to put motorists first in what has been a very contentious disagreement between various industries.” “Gas and car maintenance costs are high enough as it is, and it would be a relief to know that the (renewable fuel standard) will...

Gasoline prices are a mixed bag this week, though there are signs that the bottom has been reached. On the other hand, diesel prices have decreased compared against the week before. On average, gasoline prices are down a penny.... Regular gasoline/gallon $1.84

With two words, the U.S. environment regulator may be handing oil refiners the biggest win of a long battle to beat back the seemingly inexorable rise of ethanol fuel. In a leaked proposal that would significantly scale back biofuel blending requirements next year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says the blend wall - the 10 percent threshold of ethanol-mixed gasoline that is at the crux of the lobbying war - is an "important reality". The agency's rationale for a cut in the volume of ethanol that must be blended echoes an argument the oil industry has been making for...