Tom Doggett | Journalist Profile

Sep 30, 2010

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States wants more countries to boost production of so-calledrare earth metals used in clean energy technology products to break China's monopoly on thesupplies, a top Energy Department official told Congress on Thursday.

Diversifying supplies of the rare metals is important to the Obama administration, because they areused in electric cars, solar panels and wind turbines, all of which the White House is promoting in itsoverhaul of U.S. energy policy.

Sep 29, 2010

WASHINGTON, Sept 29 (Reuters) - The U.S. Energy Department

will send to the Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday

its eagerly awaited tests results on whether vehicles made

since 2007 can handle a higher blend of ethanol in their fuel.

"We are planning to get everything over to EPA tomorrow,"

said the official, who would not elaborate on what the

department's test results show.

Sep 27, 2010

WASHINGTON, Sept 27 (Reuters) - The Obama administration

this week will propose new fuel efficiency and emissions

requirements for cars and light trucks for model years 2017 and

beyond.

The plan, a centerpiece of President Barack Obama's energy

agenda geared toward reducing oil imports, is under review by

the White House budget office. It is due on Thursday, but could

be released sooner,

Sep 23, 2010

WASHINGTON, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Following two major oil and

natural gas pipeline accidents in recent months, the top U.S.

pipeline regulator told Congress on Thursday she will take

tough enforcement action against companies that violate safety

rules.

Congress is looking at pipeline regulations after several

leaks on the Enbridge (ENB.TO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) pipeline spilled thousands of

barrels of oil in Michigan and Illinois, and the explosion of a

PG&E Corp (PCG.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) natural gas pipeline in a San Francisco

suburb killed several people and destroyed homes.

Sep 22, 2010

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House is reviewing a proposal from federal regulators torequire labels on gasoline pumps selling fuel containing up to 15 percent ethanol, a sign thegovernment could be close to approving a higher ethanol blend in gasoline.

The Environmental Protection Agency filed the rule last week with the White House Office ofManagement and Budget. The EPA is expected to decide by mid-October whether to approve apetition from a group of ethanol producers to increase the blend of ethanol in gasoline from thecurrent 10 percent to up to 15 percent, known as E15 gasoline.

Sep 20, 2010

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A bipartisan group of senators will introduce legislation on Tuesday thatwould require utilities to generate minimum levels of power from clean energy like wind and solar,after such a measure was stripped from a broader oil-spill bill in July.

Senators Jeff Bingaman, a Democrat who heads the Senate energy committee, and Sam Brownback,a Republican, will unveil the standalone bill in the afternoon.

Sep 20, 2010

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee called on theObama administration to make sure Chinese and other foreign oil companies are not supplyinggasoline to Iran in violation of new U.S. sanctions.

To punish Iran for its nuclear program, the U.S. Congress passed sanctions that were signed intolaw in July that would, in part, deny foreign companies loans and other assistance from U.S. financialinstitutions that trade with Iran.

Sep 8, 2010

WASHINGTON, Sept 8 (Reuters) - The fines U.S. Interior

Department inspectors can impose for unsafe offshore drilling

practices are not tough enough to discourage oil and gas

companies from wrongdoing, a government panel said on

Wednesday.

Civil penalties are currently capped at $35,000 per

violation per day, which is dwarfed by what energy companies

pay to explore and produce energy resources. In addition, it

may take up to a year to levy the fine because of the time

district government offices and other bureaucratic layers have

to review such penalties.

Sep 7, 2010

WASHINGTON, Sept 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. government's energy

forecasting agency could pare its monthly outlook for world oil

demand after two months of gains due to the struggling U.S.

economy.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration will release

its latest forecasts for U.S. and global oil demand on

Wednesday, the first of three demand projections due this

week.

Aug 30, 2010

WASHINGTON, Aug 30 (Reuters) - U.S. drivers are enjoying the

lowest gasoline prices in six months heading into the last

vacation weekend of the summer, with the pump price falling

below $2.70 a gallon for the first time since late February,

the Energy Department said on Monday.

The national price for regular unleaded gasoline declined

2.2 cents over the last week to $2.68 a gallon, up 7 cents from

a year ago, but still the lowest since Feb. 22, the

department's Energy Information Administration said in its

weekly survey of service stations.