Robbery by Government Officials at the Pumps

Who let the dogs out?

In the U.S., pit bulls are going for blood over price gouging at the gas pumps. And they take no bull, with fiesty New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer nailing 15 gas stations with gouging and fining them $63,500 US after Hurricane Katrina hit.

One gas station found guilty of gouging even had the nerve to triple its mark-up, while authorties concluded some stations used the disaster to raise prices well beyond what was warranted by market forces.

And what happens in Canada? Ottawa unleashes its lap dogs who lick the faces of our oil cartel, finding no evidence of price fixing -- even though prices skyrocketed to as high as $1.50 a litre in some parts of the country. A few stations were even found posting even higher prices, while motorists complained of looting.

But no, according to our Competition Bureau, the gouging was totally justified by the hurricane, which forced wholesale prices to jump.

Then, to slap us in the face again, on the very day the long-awaited report was released -- pump prices zoomed to 99.5 cents a litre, to hit over $1 at some stations.

"This is a complete whitewash," said Liberal consumer critic Dan McTeague, who accused our oil oligopoly of using the not-guilty verdict as an opportunity to fleece motorists' pockets even more. McTeague maintains pump prices should be in the 95 cents range.

DISMAYED

Jane Savage, president and CEO of the Canadian Independent Petroluem Marketers Association, said her members were dismayed with the findings.

"We believe evidence points to a different conclusion: That Katrina gave us all a dramatic case in point that there is a blatant practice of wholesale (rack) pricing parallelism by Canada's refiners, demonstrating the huge control that the major refiners enjoy in Canadian wholesale gasoline markets. This is resulting in Canadians paying higher prices than they should."

Bottom line Canada's Big Four (Shell, Suncor, Petro-Canada and Esso) enjoy sweet oligopoly, owning more than 90% of Canada's refinery business and at least 85% of the retail market.

In the U.S. -- where some States have divorcement laws which disallow refiners from owning gas stations -- the Big Five (ExxonMobil, ChevronTexaco, ConocoPhillips, BP and Royal Dutch Shell) control 14.2% of global production, 48% of domestic production, 50.3% of domestic refinery capacity, and 61.8% of the retail market.

Meanwhile, we all know who's getting poor and who's getting rich. While consumers go broke gassing up their vehicles -- Ottawa's swimming in a gusher of tax revenues from the pumps, while Canada's oilpatch watch royalty cheques pour in. And oil giants are laughing all the way to the bank.

Combined profits for Canada's Big Four last year were $7.66 billion, with Esso raking in $2.6 billion, Shell Canada, $2.01 billion, Suncor, $1.25 billion and Petro-Canada $1.8 billion.

Even more stunning is the world's Big Three (Exxon Mobil, Chevron and Conoco Phillips) saw its combined profits soar to $63 billion US -- making them richer than half the world's nations.

John Williamson, federal director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, said it's time Prime Minister Stephen Harper gave consumers a break and made good on his promise to cut high taxes at the pump.

Last fall, Williamson and I delivered more than 35,000 coupons to Harper at Parliament, demanding a rollback of the deficit-fighting 1.5 cents hike in the federal excise tax, plus axing the GST, which is a tax on tax at the pumps.

DEFICIT WIPED OUT

Harper promised to axe the GST if prices hit over 85 cents a litre, and to cut the GST by 1% on all goods and services.

Fact is the excise tax was hiked to 10 cents a litre in 1995 to balance Ottawa's books, but the deficit was wiped out in 1998 with Ottawa now sitting on a surplus of $9 billion. And we're still paying.

The GST has lifted $4.8 billion from out pockets at the pumps, netting Ottawa an extra $175 million every time price go up by 10 cents.

"It's time to cut high taxes," said Williamson.

McTeague adds, "and overhaul our Competition Act."

TorontoSun

Expect a Pricey Summer for Gas

Consumers could be facing gas prices that top $1 a litre this summer as the cost of oil continues to sit at near-record levels.

Crude Futures Fall Below $67 US a Barrel on Slight Profit-Taking

Crude oil prices retreated Friday as traders took profits following continuous gains over the last three sessions due to strong demand for fuel and falling U.S. gasoline inventories.

Light, sweet crude for May delivery fell 26 cents to $66.89 US a barrel in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange midmorning in Singapore. The contract on Thursday gained 70 cents to settle at $67.15 a barrel - a two-month high.

May Brent crude futures on London's ICE Futures exchange were up 11 cents at $66.57 a barrel.

Gasoline futures lost 3.32 cents to $1.9625 a gallon, while heating oil futures fell 1.03 cent to $1.8740 a gallon. Natural gas prices declined 14.2 cents to $7.345 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Analysts said concerns over falling U.S. gasoline stocks would continue to keep a firm floor under prices.

"Oil prices have been moving up so quickly in the past few days, so traders are just taking a slight profit now ahead of the weekend," said Tetsu Emori, chief commodities strategist at Mitsui Bussan Futures in Tokyo. "But gasoline demand is strong and inventories have gone down, so I think prices will keep moving strongly up."

Gasoline futures on Thursday jumped more than 4 cents a gallon on top of a gain of nearly 7 cents in the previous session after midweek data showed U.S. gasoline stocks fell by a surprisingly large draw of 5.4 million barrels last week, their biggest weekly draw since August 2003.

After climbing to their highest level in seven years last month, U.S. gasoline stocks have fallen nearly 10 million barrels in just the past four weeks, a trend analysts expect to continue for several more weeks as refiners undergo heavy seasonal maintenance work.

Prices also were supported by persistent supply disruptions in the Gulf of Mexico and Nigeria, and a UN standoff with Iran over its nuclear program.

On Thursday, top officials of the five permanent UN Security Council countries plus Germany urged Tehran to freeze uranium enrichment, but a senior Iranian envoy defiantly rejected the call, saying his country's activities were "not reversible."

Iran, the No. 2 oil producer in OPEC, has been referred to the UN Security Council over fears it may want to misuse its nuclear program to make weapons.

In the Gulf of Mexico, oil output is still down by 343,000 barrels per day because of damage that occurred during last summer's hurricanes Katrina and Rita. That is roughly 23 per cent below pre-storm output levels.

Nigerian oil output also remains a concern. Royal Dutch Shell PLC, the largest foreign oil company operating in the country, has shut in nearly half of its Nigerian production and says it won't resume operations until the country is safe enough for its workers. Some 550,000 barrels per day of Nigerian production has been shut in, analysts said.

OttawaCitizen

Oil, Gas Prices On the Rise

Ottawa's toothless tiger Competition Bureau checked in with the results of its big post-hurricane gas price probe yesterday.

It should come as no surprise that the monopoly busters found "no evidence" of a conspiracy among North American gasoline refiners.

Nor was there any "anti-competitive" behaviour.

Although the extent of the bureau's sleuthing appeared to be not much more than "analyzing information from publicly available resources."

I guess we shouldn't underestimate the power of Google.

The major reasons for what the report describes as the "price shock" which saw gasoline crest $1 a litre even in the refinery lotus land of Edmonton, was uncertainty of supply caused by lack of data. Also pipeline damage, and the shutdown of several key Gulf Coast refineries.

Gas prices shot up while the price of crude edged up.

And even though no Canadian refinery or pipeline sustained a lick of damage from hurricanes Katrina or Rita, Canadian gasoline prices track the New York Harbour price. It's just the old marketplace at work.

See no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil.

And anyway, "those margins have since fallen to pre-hurricane levels" the report noted.

Obviously, the bureau bureaucrats haven't been paying attention to Cathy Hay's weekly pump price survey.

The MJ Ervin and Associates analyst has been tracking what she calls a "pump price jump" right across the country for the past several weeks.

Yesterday, folks were posting price reports on the Edmonton Gas Price website showing a trend to 99.9 cents a litre for regular. Although there might be discounts at the pump.

Checking out gas bars

Yes, there really are people who drive around all day checking out gas bars. But then again, there are others who like ice fishing. It takes all kinds.

In her Tuesday survey, Hay found the Edmonton average for regular was 91.9 cents a litre. Premium was $1.026.

"Wholesale gasoline prices have been pushing higher since the middle of February," she said. "As the margin deteriorated at the retail level finally folks were faced with increasing their price just to restore some level of profitability."

So up went the stepladders. And also the prices.

Yesterday crude oil prices broke through the $66 US-a-barrel level, with West Texas Intermediate topping out at $67.16 US, up 70 cents from Wednesday. The price is headed, many believe, for the hurricane record of $70 US a barrel. Gold, which tends to run from trouble, hit its highest price since 1981 yesterday at $586.70 US on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up $13.40.

Oil shut in from rebel attacks in Nigeria and Iran's nuclear threats are the latest culprits. Plus the little-known fact that as of last week, 22% of the daily oil production in the Gulf of Mexico - over 340,000 barrels a day - remains shut in since the hurricanes.

"This appears to be a trend that will continue," sighed the U.S. government's Minerals Management Service Gulf report. Clearly the iron was too beat up from the blow to ever work again.

Refineries go down for maintenance at this time, too. And new U.S. clean air rules require more ethanol in the gas. Which again causes speculation of shortages.

Oil prices are part of the picture. But not all of it, warns Hay. Although energy companies are clearly betting on good things to come.

The Alberta Energy Department drew the bottom line on land sales yesterday. An incredible $3.4 billion was bid on leases last year.

Wallet-biting motor fuel prices

"These resources belong to Albertans and play a large part in the prosperity and high quality of life we enjoy," whooped Alberta Energy Minister Greg Melchin. That's the upside. The downside is wallet-biting motor fuel prices.

"We're going to see much the same as last year," Hay said.

"We're still in an environment where we're very vulnerable to any hint in terms of a supply disruption.

"Real or otherwise," she added.

Pipeline breakdowns, a fire, a shutdown, "anything could throw a wrench in it," she said.

"And we're entering the season with relatively high prices."

Plus, Hay predicted all of this "in the absence of a hurricane to spike prices."

Life's a gas.

EdmontonSun

Oil Prices Appear Headed Back Toward $70 US a Barrel

Oil prices appear headed back toward $70 US a barrel, a level not seen since Hurricane Katrina. Analysts warn consumers and businesses could be one major supply disruption away from more serious consequences.

We're Losing Our Greatest Resource

Do you want to know why Saskatchewan's population is declining during a resource boom? Why it is that we lost 2,000 people in the last few months of 2005, even though we're rolling in resource revenue?

One answer could be found in a lecture theatre in the Engineering building on campus this week. University of Saskatchewan students from a variety of disciplines came out to hear charismatic Shell Canada president and CEO Clive Mather talk enthusiastically about the future of energy development in Canada, especially as it relates to his company's main developments located in -- wait for it -- Alberta.

The Shell CEO was somewhat apologetic that his company doesn't have any major projects in Saskatchewan, but he admits that won't happen any time soon unless this province -- probably the area around Birch Hills -- is chosen for the country's first industrial-scale ethanol from cellulose facility. Shell could be an investor here, because of its interest in bio-based fuels through past investments in an Ottawa company called Iogen Corp.

But Shell is mainly focused on Alberta and no doubt young geologists and chemical engineers from the U of S will be happy to join the exodus to work there. Shell will be happy to have them.

There will be opportunities for oil and gas work in Saskatchewan, but if the geo-science and computer modelling continues to be done in offi ces in Calgary after the seismic work occurs in Saskatchewan, we will never have much of an oil patch to speak of here.

The oil boom in Western Canada does lead to jobs here in Saskatoon, but it is a spinoff role in manufacturing.

On Wednesday night, at the NSBA Business Builders event, there were a fair number of companies represented at corporate tables that are involved in fabricating things, making pressure vessels and other high tolerance steel products that are needed in the oil patch. Companies such as Hitachi and JNE Welding are certainly part of this phenomenon.

SHOW TIME DOWNTOWN

We do have an energy boom in another form. Jamie McIntyre of Cameco Corp., who helped present an award at the NSBA, pointed out how there are now 400 people working in the Cameco head offi ce here, the $500-million Cigar Lake uranium mine moves toward production a year from now and the company keeps running ads each week looking for more professionals. That will help absorb some of our university's graduates locally.

This resource boom, plus the ever increasing investment in knowledge and research at the university and Innovation Place, are some of the main reasons why houses are popping up in new neighbourhoods.

Twice in the past week, I've run into Wally Mah, who still seems to be in wonder that in 2006 there is a market for $600,000-plus houses in Saskatoon. Of course, the Northridge Development president knows exactly who is buying such houses, which his company and others are putting up in the Willows development.

What Mah and others in his business are really interested in knowing for sure is how to forecast what the demand will be for the mainstream housing mark. If you can forecast job growth and the quality of those jobs, it makes it easier to predict housing demand, whether it's in the new city neighbourhoods or in Martensville or Warman.

This is a census year, so it will be interesting to see what this spring's Statistics Canada snapshot shows of the population within the Saskatoon census region. If it isn't really growing, then why all this new investment in retail development?

At the NSBA banquet, commercial real estate agent Ron Ritchie of ICR Ashford was joking about all the new shopping developments that people will have to get used to talking about -- Blairmore, Preston Crossing and Stonegate, which are the retail developments under proposal.

Ritchie said he was talking with a national client who kept referring to the Stonegate shopping area as Stonehenge.

No, Stonehenge is the south downtown development," Ritchie quipped. "It's been there that long."

But even south downtown, with the Cineplex Galaxy theatre structural steel in place, is starting to look like the long downtown development inertia is over.

In whatever quadrant of the city, would outside companies be investing in Saskatoon if they didn't think job growth and growth in household income would continue?

Nevertheless, the overt recruitment by companies from Alberta, including high-powered CEOs wooing our university students, reminds us that even if we have moderate success at job creation, Saskatoon will still be losing many people in the younger demographic that we'd really prefer to see stay.

TheStarPhoenics

Ottawa Stops Funding One Tonne Challenge

The new Conservative government in Ottawa has abruptly stopped funding groups across the country that have been promoting the One Tonne Challenge, the quirky program to persuade Canadians to do their bit to help the environment by cutting their greenhouse gas emissions.

The Conservatives are also reviewing about 100 other climate-change programs set up by the previous Liberal government.

The One Tonne Challenge is likely the best known of the dozens of federal government efforts to fight global warming. It has been heavily publicized through television ads featuring comedian Rick Mercer as pitch man for a program that urged people to drive less, turn down their thermostats and take other steps to forestall climate change.

Environmental groups that received contracts to urge people in local communities to participate in the challenge were hastily contacted by Environment Canada officials earlier this week, and told that as of this morning, their efforts were no longer being funded.

“I received a call [Thursday] from Environment Canada that indicated that as of April 1st, they have no budget or directives to continue funding” local activities for the challenge program, said Stephane Thorson with Toronto's Clean Air Foundation.

The story was similar in Quebec. “We got clear indications from the Ministry of Environment that we cannot publicize the One Tonne Challenge, so all the material we had printed, all the advertisements we had, had to be put on hold,” said Hugo Séguin, a member of Equiterre, an environmental group overseeing the program in Quebec.

He said the program hadn't been given a budget for the government's new financial year, which begins today, “so all the projects that are ongoing are stopping on March 31. Nobody knows across the country what is going to happen after that.” The group wrote to Environment Minister Rona Ambrose this week asking for clarification about future funding, but hasn't received a reply.

Officials at Environment Canada and Natural Resources Canada, the two government departments that share responsibility for climate change, say they are reviewing all of the approximately 100 different programs run by Ottawa to combat global warming.

“The review hasn't been completed yet and decisions on funding for climate-change programs have not been finalized,” said Ryan Sparrow, a spokesman for Ms. Ambrose.

Environmentalists are worried that the new government, which they perceive as being hostile toward actions on climate change, is poised to slash global warming projects set up by the Liberals. The Liberals pledged about $1.1-billion to fight climate change from 2000 to early 2006.

John Bennett, a spokesman for the Sierra Club of Canada, accused the new government of beginning “a campaign of stealth destruction” of the programs by allowing funding to lapse.

Public servants working on climate-change programs are being audited by the Environment Commissioner for a report that is expected in September. There is speculation inside government that the audit's release will provide the Conservatives with the political justification to cut spending in that area.

But Mr. Sparrow said the decision on funding will depend on amounts earmarked to fight global warming in the spring budget. Most of the climate programs were directed to industries.

The One Tonne Challenge was different because it tried to engage individuals in cutting emissions because of their personal activities.

TheGlobeAndMail

Oil Prices Hurtle Past US$67 a Barrel Amid Persistent Supply Disruptions

The price of oil topped $67 US a barrel Thursday amid persistent supply disruptions in the Gulf of Mexico and Nigeria, a UN standoff with Iran over its nuclear program and growing demand in the U.S. despite rising energy costs.

The market was also rattled by an announcement late Wednesday from Venezuela's oil minister that Exxon Mobil Corp., the world's largest publicly traded oil company, was no longer welcome in his country - the latest sign of tighter state-control of energy around the globe.

"All of these things are adding up," said Antoine Halff, director of global energy at Fimat USA in New York.

Light sweet crude for May delivery rose 70 cents to settle at $67.15 a barrel - a two-month high on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Crude futures are 24 per cent higher than a year ago.

Brent crude for May gained 50 cents to $66.05 a barrel on London's ICE Futures exchange.

Gasoline prices rose 4.15 cents to finish at $1.9957 a gallon (3.8 litres), while heating oil futures gained 3.23 cents to end at $1.8843 gallon. Natural gas futures climbed 3.1 cents to settle at $7.487 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Tensions between Exxon Mobil and Venezuela boiled over because the Texas-based company resisted tax increases and contract changes that are part of a policy by President Hugo Chavez's government to "re-nationalize" the oil industry. Rather than submit to new terms that will turn 32 privately run oil fields over to state control, the company sold its stake in a 150,000 barrel-a-day field to its partner, Spanish-Argentine major Repsol YPF.

"Exxon Mobil ... preferred to sell to Repsol, its partner in the agreement, rather than adjust," Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said in an interview with the state-run TV broadcaster. "We said we don't want them to be here then," Ramirez added.

On Thursday, top officials of the five permanent Security Council countries plus Germany urged Tehran to freeze uranium enrichment, but a senior Iranian envoy defiantly rejected the call, saying his country's activities were "not reversible."

Iran, the No. 2 oil producer in OPEC, has been referred to the UN Security Council over fears it may want to misuse its nuclear program to make weapons.

In the Gulf of Mexico, oil output is still down by 343,000 barrels per day because of damage that occurred during last summer's hurricanes Katrina and Rita. That is roughly 23 per cent below pre-storm output levels.

Nigerian oil output also remains a concern. Royal Dutch Shell PLC, the largest foreign oil company operating in the country, has shut in nearly half of its Nigerian production and says it won't resume operations until the country is safe enough for its workers. Some 550,000 barrels per day of Nigerian production has been shut in, analysts said.

Concern about gasoline was also affecting the market.

In its weekly petroleum report, the U.S. Energy Department said Wednesday that gasoline inventories fell by 5.4 million barrels last week to 216.2 million barrels, about even with year ago levels. The decline came as refiners conducted maintenance on their facilities ahead of summer in the Northern Hemisphere, when fuel demand peaks.

OttawaCitizen

No Evidence of Gas Pricing Conspiracy

The federal Competition Bureau says it has found no evidence of a conspiracy to fix gasoline prices following Hurricane Katrina.

The bureau started the investigation -- one of many it has conducted over the years -- amid allegations by independent retailers of predation and margin squeezing in the Canadian gasoline industry.

The bureau's commissioner of competition, Richard Taylor, said severe damage to North American refining capacity inflicted by Hurricane Katrina forced gasoline prices to spike in September 2005.

Taylor says the subsequent dramatic reduction in supply forced wholesale prices to jump, resulting in higher prices at the pumps.

The bureau also found nothing to support allegations from independent retailers of predatory pricing and margin squeezing in the gasoline industry in Ontario and New Brunswick.

TheStarPhoenics

High Ethanol, Gasoline Prices Likely in Near Term

Gasoline and ethanol prices are likely to rise in the near term across the US, according to D. Mark Routt, a Dallas-based senior oil analyst with Energy Security Analysis Inc. of Wakefield, Mass.

Ethanol increasingly is being shipped to the US East Coast for blending with reformulated blendstock for oxygenate blending (RBOB) to make reformulated gasoline (RFG) required in that region.

"East Coast finished RFG prices are expected to rise in order to 'price up' ethanol and attract a constant supply," Routt said. "At the same time, Midwest gasoline, now without ethanol, would need to find another octane alternative. But those alternatives are either banned or much more expensive than ethanol."

Midwestern states prohibiting methyl tertiary butyl ether in gasoline can expect higher prices, Routt said. Some refiners are shutting down sales of gasoline containing ethanol in the Midwest. California already has replaced MTBE with ethanol in RFG. Now the New England states in particular are demanding more ethanol in order to avoid using MTBE in gasoline.

"You've got this huge demand pull from the eastern seaboard, really it's the northern third of the eastern seaboard. . .these areas haven't got a choice, they've got to take ethanol," Routt told Oil & Gas Journal. That will pull ethanol out of the Midwest, particularly from areas where it is blended primarily for use as an octane booster.

RFG supply
Midwestern refiners will have to decide how to replace the ethanol supply being shipped to the East, Routt said.

He estimates that over one third of US gasoline demand is RFG. Of this amount, 60% currently contains MTBE and is going to switch to ethanol.

"We do know that replacing MTBE-RFG with ethanol-RFG is going to worsen the supply-demand balance because ethanol-based RFG is less energy dense than MTBE gasoline," Routt said. "We are going to have an immediate 1.5-2% increase in demand for those areas making the switch for drivers to go the same distance."

Although he believes ethanol supply to be sufficient, he also expects "spot price excursions, particularly in the New England area" where gasoline prices could briefly spike above $3/gal.

Logistics
The ethanol supply crunch already is being felt now and will continue at least through May 6 when MTBE lawsuits can be moved into the federal court system. The ethanol supply chain faces issues of delivery of this new and necessary component of gasoline into terminals, then blended with RBOB to make finished gasoline, and finally delivered into service stations.

"Every single tank on the eastern coastal area that used to contain MTBE gasoline is going to have to be pumped, and the old MTBE gasoline has to come out," Routt said. "Then they have to make sure that there is no water in all those underground tanks. They also have to make sure the tank is suitable for ethanol use; not all of them are. Finally, they may also have to remeter the pumps and ensure they are compatible with the ethanol mix."

At the terminals, ethanol needs to get blended into RBOB, Routt said, adding that many terminals do not have the space for separate tanks to do this, and many terminals lack access to the rail system used to deliver bulk ethanol.

For instance, he said one solution being contemplated is taking a tank wagon full of RBOB and then driving it to a railroad spur where ethanol is splashed into it. Then, the tank wagon will be driven to the service stations.

OilAndGasJournal

Canada Lags Leading Countries in Production of Renewable Fuels

Canada is falling behind in the international race to develop alternative fuels made from plants, says a study commissioned by the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association.

Brazil, the United States, China and the European Union are far ahead of Canada in production of fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel, says the report by international commodities research firm F.O. Licht.

In 2004 Brazil produced some 15.4 billion litres of ethanol, the United States 12.9 billion litres, the European Union 526 million litres, and Canada a mere 250 million litres.

"This report should be a wake up call for Canada," said Kory Teneycke, executive director of the renewable fuels association.

"We lag behind the world in an emerging new industry where we have the feedstock and the infrastructure to be global leaders."

The Conservative election platform includes a promise to require that gasoline and diesel contain at least five per cent renewable fuel by 2010.

That would represent 3.1 billion litres of ethanol and biodiesel a year, more than 12 times what the country produces now.

Teneycke said the introduction of that requirement is the most important policy step in promoting ethanol production.

Without it, new plants will be built in the United States, he said.

"That's certainly what were seeing today. There are 30 ethanol plants under construction in the United States."

Biofuels are gaining popularity because they reduce greenhouse emissions and smog, provide a hedge against rising oil prices, and create new markets for farmers.

The greatest hope of the industry is cellulose ethanol, made from waste products such as straw and wood chips. It produces a greater benefit than conventional ethanol because the raw materials are plentiful and don't have to be cultivated.

An Ottawa-based firm, Iogen, has produced cellulose ethanol at a demonstration plant and is currently negotiating with both the United States and Canada to obtain financing for its first commercial plant.

Although the federal government contributed significantly to Iogen's research and development, it has been reluctant to provide the loan guarantees needed to go commercial.

There is growing speculation that Iogen's technology will be exploited in the United States, but Teneycke said he still hopes a domestic arrangement can be worked out.

CanadianPress

Why Gas Prices Could Keep Climbing

As if prices at the gas pump aren't high enough. Come May, they could climb even higher as many refiners increase their use of ethanol in gasoline to help it burn more cleanly and thus, cut down on pollutants. Ethanol prices have been rising all year. According to Platts, the New York Harbor spot price for ethanol is about $2.60 per gallon, up from about $2.30 at the beginning of the year, while methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE), the gasoline additive that ethanol will replace because of its pollutant qualities, is $1.60, down from $1.91 in January.

Since gasohol -- or the gasoline/ethanol mixture -- is about 10% ethanol, higher prices for the plant-derived fuel will continue to be felt at the pumps. Drivers might also notice that a tankful of gasohol doesn't get them quite as far as MTBE-laced gasoline, since ethanol doesn't quite pack the same amount of energy as MTBE.

With higher demand on the horizon, some energy industry observers are looking south -- specifically, to Brazil. Along with the U.S., Brazil is a world leader in producing ethanol (about 4 billions gallons each in 2005), though Brazilian ethanol is derived from sugar cane, while the American version comes from corn. However, imports wouldn't necessarily grant price relief, because the U.S. imposes a 2.5% tariff on ethanol imported from Brazil in addition to a 54-cents-per-gallon duty.

GREAT DEMAND. Duties won't matter much, though, if Brazil doesn't have any to spare. Latin America's largest country has a phenomenal thirst. In the U.S. ethanol is primarily a gasoline additive, but Brazil has pushed the use of "flex-fuel" cars -- vehicles that can alternate between burning gas and ethanol -- to the point that they now account for the majority of new cars sold. What's more, the normal gas sold in Brazil has a much higher proportion of ethanol than that used in the U.S., though recent constraints on supplies have forced it to reduce the minimum ethanol requirement from 25% to 20%.

Alfred Szwarc, a consultant for UNICA, Brazil's largest association of sugar and ethanol producers, says that the sugar crop harvest is only beginning, and supply will be tight following last year's drought. He doesn't think the Brazilians will even be ready to consider boosting exports until late May, after the MTBE phase-out begins in those areas where it is most widely used: the Dallas and Houston metropolitan areas; and densely populated areas of the coastal Northeast, outside of New York and Connecticut, where it is already banned.

The U.S. ethanol fuel program is far less developed than Brazil's. Most American cars can't run on formulas of more than 10% ethanol. Last year's federal Energy Policy Act requires that the U.S. burn 7.5 billion gallons of renewable fuel annually by 2012, and much of that will likely come from ethanol. The U.S. ethanol industry -- Archer Daniel Midland (ADM) is the largest producer -- is ramping up to meet the growing capacity, but it is not clear whether it will have enough to cool down prices this summer.

PAY THE PRICE. Why the sudden shift to ethanol now? MTBE is downright dirty on the ground. If it seeps into groundwater, it will make it undrinkable, and there are concerns that it may be a carcinogen. Refiners are a step ahead of regulars now and are cutting back on MTBE because of potential legal liabilities. MTBE-related lawsuits are already pending (see BW Online, 3/16/06, "A New Spike at the Pump?").

According to industry observers, any ethanol price spikes will more likely stem from an inability to move it rather than an outright shortage. Unlike MTBE-infused gasoline, ethanol can corrode pipelines and therefore must be added to the gas late in the supply chain. Without pipelines available, the ethanol must travel by barge, train, or truck.

There's going to be "a lot of scrambling that we're going to have to do," says Mark Routt, a senior consultant with the research group Energy Security Analysis. But in the end, he thinks refiners will get whatever ethanol they need. They will just have to pay a higher price. And so will drivers.

BusinessWeek

U.S. Raises Standards on Mileage

The Transportation Department announced new fuel economy standards Wednesday for sport utility vehicles, pickup trucks and minivans that will make some of them go farther on a gallon of gasoline than the average car does, and will apply to many of the biggest S.U.V.'s for the first time.

But the overall fuel savings, 8.1 percent when the rule is fully phased in, were characterized as too modest by many conservation advocates, who also noted that the biggest pick-up trucks will still be unregulated. Remarks by auto manufacturers were restrained.

The transportation secretary, Norman Y. Mineta, speaking on the fifth-floor walkway at a football stadium, said that the cost of the new rule would be justified by the fuel saved, but that more than economics was involved.

"Saving fuel is as important to our national security and economic viability as it is to preserving our environment," he said, a tangle of highways in the background.

The final rule that Mr. Mineta announced on Wednesday was slightly tougher than the one his department proposed last summer. He said this was partly because of the president's commitment in the State of the Union address in January to reduce the nation's "addiction" to imported oil. But oil consumption would continue to rise under the new rule, he acknowledged.

The rule covers "light trucks" in the model years from 2008 to 2011. The current rules cover vehicles weighing up to 8,500 pounds. But the new one will cover S.U.V.'s that weigh up to 10,000 pounds. That includes the heavier variants of the Chevy Suburban and the Hummer H2. (The H1 is over 10,000 pounds and still exempt.)

The rule does not cover heavy pickup trucks, like the Ford F-250, on the theory that those are used mostly in agriculture or business. While many of the vehicles covered under the new rule are used primarily for personal transportation, often with a single person inside, Mr. Mineta said that the people of Baltimore and the rest of the nation understood how important light trucks were "to maintaining our way of life."

The rule will save 10.7 billion gallons of fuel over the lifetime of the vehicles in those model years, the department estimated. Currently, the United States uses that much gasoline in less than a month.

Transportation officials estimated that the rule would cost vehicle manufacturers about $6.7 billion, a big number even by the standards of federal rule-making, and would add about $200 to the cost of the average vehicle. But owners would save that much within four years, officials said, based on a fuel price of $2 a gallon at the beginning of the period, rising to $2.39 over the vehicle's lifetime. In fact, average gasoline prices are already slightly above the second figure.

The standard is 21.6 miles a gallon for the current model year; it would rise to about 24 miles a gallon in 2011, the last year of the rule, but it would be calculated differently. The new rule sets a fuel economy standard based on the vehicle's "footprint," or how far apart the wheels are. Actual fuel economy will depend on the mix of vehicles sold.

The smallest S.U.V.'s, like the Suzuki Grand Vitara and the Jeep Wrangler, would have to meet a standard of 28.6 miles per gallon. The car standard is 27.5 miles per gallon.

Changing the rules to take into account the size of each vehicle has another effect: it puts pressure on all the companies that sell vehicles in the category, and not just those that sell the biggest, thirstiest vehicles.

Stephen R. Kratzke, the associate administrator for rule-making at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, said that the current standard was irrelevant to companies that built only small S.U.V.'s and pickups, because their fleet average was within acceptable limits even if their vehicles were not particularly fuel efficient for their size.

American manufacturers had complained that the current system burdened them but made no difference to Asian makers that sold few or no vehicles at the top end of the range.

Mr. Kratzke said that manufacturers would more widely deploy technologies that are already in limited use. Those include six-speed automatic transmissions, power steering systems that run on electricity instead of a belt that draws power from the engine, hybrid-electric drive trains and superchargers. Aluminum might be more widely used as an alternative to steel, but composite materials are still too costly, he said.

At the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, which represents all the major manufacturers but Honda, Eron Shosteck, a spokesman, said, "It is going to be a challenge for automakers, but automakers are committed to meeting it."

Sherrie Childers Arb, a spokeswoman at General Motors, said that when her company analyzed the rule as proposed last year, engineers found it "challenging but achievable." This one will be tougher, but the company has not finished analyzing it, she said.

Others were more critical. Representative Sherwood L. Boehlert, a New York Republican who is the chairman of the House Science Committee, said the Bush administration had missed an opportunity. "It's remarkable to me how long we keep making the same mistake over and over," he said. "Nothing is preventing us from making our nation more prosperous and more secure except political failure of will."

At Environmental Defense, a nonprofit advocacy group, Eric Haxthausen, an economist and expert on cars, said the expansion from 8,500 to 10,000 pounds in vehicle weight should have covered pickups, which make up 80 percent of the category, and the whole standard should have been more aggressive.

"We have to credit them with some modest steps forward," he said. "But given the urgency of the global warming issue and oil dependency issue, this is not the bold step that is called for."

But Ron DeFore, a spokesman for a group run by industry lobbyists called the S.U.V. Owners of America, said, "With the manufacturers, even tenths of a mile per gallon are hard to eke out." He said 20 million Americans have "something that's towable," from a trailer to a boat, and need powerful engines. And, he added, "in an era when we're at $2.50 a gallon plus, the real question is why you need a rule like this anyway." Economic self-interest will make people buy higher-mileage vehicles, he said.

TheNewYorkTimes

VW EcoRacer Concept Gets 100 Miles per Gallon

It’s apparently not that car makers can’t make cars with amazing fuel mileage. It’s that they don’t want to. Volkswagen has a concept, the EcoRacer, that is capable of getting up to 100 miles per gallon and yet can top out at 230 km/h. The turbo diesel engine can boost the car from 0 to 62 mph in just 6.3 seconds.
The car provides a great deal of flexibility in terms of looks. You can drive it as a coupe, remove the roof and rear window to make a roadster, or take off the windshield and upper dashboard cover to have a sporty speedster. When it is a coupe, wings in the roof lift up to make it easier to get in and out. Electromechanical technology lets you get in and go without a key. Most of the body of the car is made of carbon-fiber plastic. Sounds good, but it’s a concept, so don’t hold your breath, because you likely won’t ever see it.

EComposites

DaimlerChrysler Gets Smart

On Saturday, March 25, DaimlerChrysler put an end to months of speculation over the fate of its yet-to-be-profitable smart car brand. The company announced that it would integrate the smart car brand into the Mercedes organization, halt production of the four-door smart forfour, and put all its attention on the sales and development of the iconic two-door smart fortwo city car.

This is good news.

During the past few years, the smart car organization had been trying aggressively to expand its product line by developing larger and higher-powered models while, at the same time, working with alternative drive concepts.

At the Geneva auto show last month, for example, smart highlighted a 210 hp version of the smart forfour. The company also showcased a set of smarts with alternative drives: all-electric, compressed natural gas, and hybrid (the crosstown). These were first introduced at the Frankfurt auto show in 2005.

Although sales have been increasing (smart sold 143,000 units in 2005, up 2.5% from 2004), the future of the division was very much in doubt.

DaimlerChrysler’s decision to focus only on the smart fortwo bodes well for the ongoing development of highly fuel-efficient city cars. The smart fortwo is due for a complete redesign next year (model year 2007), and the potential for alternative drive versions of the new car is high.

The prototype smart crosstown mild-hybrid concept combines an electric motor (with an output of up to 23 kW) and the 45 kW/61 hp gasoline engine from the smart fortwo to reduce fuel consumption by about 15% to about 4.0 liters per 100 km. That gives the crosstown an estimated fuel economy of 59 mpg US compared to the 50 mpg of the standard smart fortwo.

The smart crosstown hybrid system features start-stop functionality; drive assistance from the electric motor during startup, acceleration and gear changes; and regenerative braking.

The crosstown is not smart’s first hybrid version concept. The company introduced a diesel-hybrid concept version of the smart fortwo in 2001. That concept, called the smart hyper drive, used a 20 kW electric motor and reduced fuel consumption to less than 3 liters per 100 km—about 79 mpg US.

DaimlerChrysler’s announced restructuring—to eliminate the separate smart organization and to refocus the brand on its original core vision of delivering a car designed and optimized for urban driving—is smart.

The company has set itself up not only to maximize the chances that smart will be profitable, but also to introduce successfully hybrid and alternative versions of city cars.

Very smart.

Going Green at Home won't Save the Planet

The UK Government grudgingly admitted its failure to meet CO2 reduction targets by 2010. Characteristically, this was followed by a raft of measures designed to mollify the green lobby. It was all symptomatic of the absurd priorities underpinning current energy policy, which is a shambles. A government with a long-term strategic vision might instead acknowledge the cardinal importance of reducing energy costs, increasing security of supply and above all, of creating an investment-friendly climate to the next generation of alternative and conventional energy sources.

Among other measures, the Government's Climate Change Review has plumped for shifting the climate change agenda from Whitehall to the home; tighter building regulations, measures to improve household efficiency and increased levels of microgeneration. None of these will achieve very much.

Energy efficiency is mostly a distraction from the central argument. We can all be in favour of energy efficiency that saves money, but we must recognise that it does not save energy. Money saved on energy by households is simply used elsewhere - perhaps saved in the bank, which in turn invests in expanding energy-consuming businesses or is maybe diverted towards a cheap flight to Spain. Both of these would require increased energy input.

By world standards, Britain is extraordinarily energy efficient, mostly because of our mild climate and high urban density. However, a dispassionate analysis would acknowledge that the British economy will continue to need more energy, not less, for a long time to come.

Increased support for microgeneration and distributed generation is just a further solution in search of a crisis. According to the Energy Networks Association, Britain's networks that quietly transmit and distribute energy are the envy of Europe with a reliability rating of 99.98 per cent for distribution and over 99.99 per cent for transmission.

It seems reasonable to surmise that this reliability would fast go into reverse with large numbers of micro solar and wind generators feeding in unpredictable small amounts of power. One of the few places in the world where distributed generation makes commercial sense is Iraq. There they can build and protect the thermal electricity plants, but they can't defend all of the networks all of the time from terrorists.

Nuclear power continues to generate tremendous passion both for and against. A rational view is that if the price is right, we should all be ready to say yes. And nuclear economics, thanks to off-the-shelf designs, foreign expertise - and, crucially - a rise in the price of conventional alternatives such as gas, have never been better. As a stable hedge of energy prices for the next generation into the future, only a Severn Tidal Barrage could compete.

It remains preposterous, though, that the Government continues to demand a climate change levy on the nuclear industry, raising energy costs for all of us. A nuclear replacement programme, if done at projected costs set level over 40 years, would be an asset to Britain.

But above all, it is in the policy implementation that we see extraordinary inefficiency and lack of purpose. The climate change agenda has made energy and environmental policy indivisible under Tony Blair. Government departments such as the DTI and Defra, however, have not noticed. They are busy fighting turf wars and channelling resources to various new quangos to little effect.

It seems worth asking why the Environment Agency now has more employees than any other public body in Britain at 12,200, and if this has made any tangible difference. An incoming new leader or government could reap tremendous efficiencies by rationalising the current enviro-energy policy framework and setting up a single energy department.

Finally, the Climate Change Review has failed to address the chronic investment deficit needed to plug the emerging energy gap. The economics of wind turbines are much better than normally assumed and, contrary to received opinion, they will not take up vast amounts of countryside. However, there is no way that they can plug the gap in time or in scale for the shortfall that will arise from the forthcoming retirement of nuclear and coal assets by 2025. An investment-friendly climate would have much less onerous regulations and transparent tax write-offs for implementing cleaner energy technologies, such as clean coal and next-generation nuclear power.

Climate science is a dismal one. There are uncertainties and only time and further research will give us a realistic picture. What is an absolute certainty is that as our North Sea oil and gas reserves run down and our nuclear and coal plants disappear, security of energy supply will loom much larger than it does today. We have already seen how one company, Gazprom, in one country, Russia, can dominate the European gas market. Add to this a projected rising concentration of global oil production back to the Middle East. Yet the Government continues to think that pricing carbon is more important than pricing energy security.

Britain must rethink its policy, based on the knowledge that the economy needs more energy not less, and that security of supply trumps everything else, every time. Climate change is as much about economics as it is about science. Any government which ignores that point is asking for trouble.

Telegraph

Oil Prices Rise Above US$66 a Barrel Amid Atrong Demand, Political Worries

Crude-oil futures leapt by almost $2 US a barrel Tuesday, testing the upper-end of a recent trading range amid strong demand and worries about supply from Iran and Nigeria.

The reported possibility of a labour strike in Norway, a major oil producer, contributed to the market's jitters. There was also some technical buying, brokers said, whereby traders who had anticipated lower prices had to cover their bets by purchasing crude.

Light sweet crude for May delivery rose $1.91 to settle at $66.07 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, where oil futures are 22 per cent higher than a year ago. May Brent crude on London's ICE Futures exchange rose 74 cents to $64.35 a barrel.

Gasoline futures rose 5.57 cents to $1.8845 a gallon, while heating oil futures rose 4.66 cents to $1.8277 a gallon. Natural gas futures rose 14.7 cents to $7.214 per 1,000 cubic feet.

"It's a demand driven market. It's what the market is willing to bear," said James Cordier, president of Liberty Trading in Tampa, Fla., noting that U.S. oil supplies are at multiyear highs.

The market is also gripped by concerns about supplies from Nigeria and Iran, and growing anxiety about the next hurricane season in the Gulf of Mexico. Some analysts believe gasoline prices could climb as high as $3 a gallon this summer, though that assumes some significant disruptions at refineries or difficulty in getting fuel to markets. The average U.S.-wide pump price is currently $2.50.

Dow Jones Newswires reported Tuesday that Norway's largest private industry union, Fellesforbundet, threatened to strike on Saturday if there is no settlement with the Federation of Norwegian Industries over pensions and wages.

The strike would affect 38,000 members in the manufacturing industry, including Norway's shipyards, engineering industry and manufacturing for offshore oil and gas projects. The strike would not affect offshore oil and gas production, Dow Jones said.

On Monday, militants in Nigeria's oil-rich southern delta released their last remaining foreign hostages - two Americans and one Briton - more than five weeks after the oil industry workers were kidnapped.

The militants took nine foreign oil workers hostage Feb. 18 from a barge owned by Houston-based oil services company Willbros Group Inc., which was laying pipeline in the delta for Royal Dutch Shell PLC. The group released six of the captives after 12 days in captivity.

The militants are behind a spate of attacks that have cut Nigeria's oil exports by more than 20 per cent. On Saturday, they said they killed three soldiers in clashes near a key natural gas plant run by Shell. Shell said there was no impact on the gas plant.

Iran, the No. 2 oil producer in OPEC, also remains a potential source of concern. It has been referred to the UN Security Council over fears it may want to misuse its nuclear program to make weapons, but the council has been at loggerheads over U.S.-led efforts to ratchet up the pressure on Tehran.

EdmontonJournal

Shell Boss Pumps Up Students

It's not every day that the president and CEO of a major Canadian oil company comes to a university lecture theatre, invites a bunch of undergraduates, brings them lunch and then tells them his company is going to be adding 500 net jobs each year for the foreseeable future.

Clive Mather, the British-born head of Shell Canada Ltd., was a hit with about 200 University of Saskatchewan students Monday for more than the fact he supplied them with pizza and pop.

Students talking to the media after the presentation said they liked the excitement Mather has for current energy developments, as well as seeing the need for new technologies to reduce the environmental impact of hydrocarbon energy in the future.

They especially liked the fact Mather wants good people from engineering, geology, commerce, computer science and human resource management to join his company, now Canada's ninth largest energy producer, and that he's already a fan of the trained professionals the University of Saskatchewan produces.

Mather says he wanted to come to the U of S because so many of the company's top people were trained here. At his lecture, he especially singled out U of S alumnus Margaret Messier, a senior reservoir engineer who was part of Shell's team that used a more advanced seismic computer model to find the company's Tay River gas field in the Alberta foothills. Tay River is considered to be Canada's most prolific natural gas field.

"We're here partly to recruit and partly to establish a better relationship with the University of Saskatchewan," Mather told reporters after his presentation and Q&A session with students. "This is a formidable university and we're interested not just in their talents, but in the formidable R&D that is done here."

While a few students were interested in Mather's views about future careers in alternate energy systems such as hydrogen, Mather told them that people who are hired in the next few years to develop hydrocarbon energy in its various forms won't see petroleum go away in their lifetime.

He says Western Canada probably has 250 to perhaps 350 years of petroleum resources left to exploit.

"We will never run out of oil and gas. That's not the issue," he said. "The issue is not supply, the issue is cost and environmental impact.

"In Western Canada, the resources are so big that I wouldn't even think about how long they could last," he said.

While Mather says the run-up in oil and gas prices helped to push his company's ranking in two years from 23rd-largest producer to ninth and to give it $3 billion in cash profit last year, he says investment analysts aren't viewing Shell Canada's prospects as dependent on $63-a-barrel oil.

He says he expects prices will back off today's peak as they always have in past energy price cycles. He explained to students that high prices invariably result in more spending on exploration, which increases supply. As well, high prices drive down demand.

He said the Athabasca tarsands and their energy potential were legendary but not considered economic to recover 35 years ago. "Technology changes, demand goes up and suddenly the time has come. So I don't think we have hit peak oil."

One alternate energy source that Shell could get involved in that may benefit Saskatchewan is in the field of ethanol production. Shell Canada's parent, Royal Dutch Shell, has a direct investment in Ottawa-based Iogen Corp. which has built a demonstration plant to show that the cellulose in waste crop fibre such as corn shucks or wheat straw can be converted to sugar and then made into ethanol. The area around Birch Hills in Saskatchewan is one possible site for an industrial scale ethanol from cellulose plant.

"If we are considering, as we are, a fullscale manufacturing plant, that investment would be made by Shell Canada," Mather said in a media interview. "Saskatchewan has a lot of advantages in this.

"It is geographically central in terms of the North American and Canadian market. However, there's a lot of issues to address; there are regulatory issues, there are fiscal issues and technical issues."

TheStarPhoenics

Oil Settles Above $66 a Barrel

Oil prices rose 3 percent to a seven-week high Tuesday on worries over supply disruptions from Nigeria as the government moved to stem militant attacks on the OPEC member's pipelines and export terminals.

U.S. light crude shot up $1.91 or 2.8 percent to settle at $66.07 per barrel after hitting $66.20, the highest since early February. London Brent crude rose $1.36 to $64.97 a barrel.

Violence has already reduced Nigeria's output by about 630,000 barrels per day (bpd), or about 26 percent. Nigeria is the world's eighth largest oil exporter.

A spokesman for Royal Dutch Shell, the biggest oil operator in Nigeria and the company most affected by the violence, declined to say when production would resume.

Nigeria's president called for a meeting April 5 with groups from the oil producing Niger Delta after militants released three oil company hostages Monday.

Dealers were also watching a workers strike in France that lightly reduced operations at some refineries, ramping up fuel supply worries ahead of the summer driving season.

"The market is reacting to new threats out of Nigeria and some strike rumors in Europe," said Phil Flynn of Alaron Trading in Chicago. "But for this time of the year, this is nothing new. As we approach the summer driving season we tend to play out the worst case scenarios in our heads."

Prices have been locked over $60 for more than a month as investors balance geopolitical risks in Nigeria and Iran -- embroiled in a dispute with the West over its nuclear program -- with bumper U.S. fuel supplies.

Foreign ministers from the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany are due to meet Thursday to try to break the deadlock on how best to deal with Tehran.

Analysts expect U.S. crude stocks to have risen further last week, predicting an 800,000-barrel gain in government data due Wednesday. Analysts expect distillate and gasoline stocks to have each dropped more than 1 million barrels .

Adding to worries, the U.S. oil industry is phasing out gasoline additive MTBE in favor of ethanol and is cutting back sulfur content in diesel, moves that energy experts have said could boost prices despite high commercial inventories.

U.S. Energy Secretary Sam Bodman said on Tuesday he was not aware of any government plans to ease fuel regulations to ensure adequate supplies this summer driving season.

"We will, as best I know, be relying on the free market to respond," Bodman told reporters.

The head of OPEC's oil research unit, Adnan Shihab-Eldin, predicted U.S. crude would stay above $50 a barrel for up to three years.

CNN

Nuclear Industry Lobbying as Ontario Considers New Plants

Five global nuclear power technology firms are combining efforts to lobby the Ontario government about building new nuclear plants.

The group, which includes Atomic Energy of Canada, GE Canada and engineering giant SNC-Lavalin, say they've signed a four-year deal to promote Candu reactors to the province.

Next month, the Ontario government is expected to formally respond to a recent report calling for new nuclear power stations in the province.

Energy Minister Donna Cansfield says she isn't feeling pressured by the nuclear industry to commit to building more reactors.

But government insiders have suggested the Liberals are leaning towards embarking on a massive nuclear power strategy.

Environmental groups are warning that nuclear reactors are too expensive and dangerous.

CP

Enbridge Gas Distribution Adjusts Prices

Enbridge Gas Distribution, a regulated utility, announced today that it has received approval from the Ontario Energy Board to adjust its prices effective April 1, 2006. The changes include decreases in the Gas Supply Charge and Delivery Charge and a new Gas Cost Adjustment refund. Based on the combined effect of the Gas Supply Charge and the Gas Cost Adjustment refund, effective April 1, 2006 residential customers who buy the natural gas they use from the utility will see their commodity price decrease from 41.2 to 33.8 cents per cubic metre.

The impact of the changes will vary based on the amount of natural gas used and whether customers buy their natural gas from the utility or a natural gas marketer. For the typical residential customer who buys natural gas from Enbridge Gas Distribution, the changes, excluding the Gas Cost Adjustment, will result in a $250 or 13 per cent decrease on the total annual bill.

For the typical residential customer who buys their natural gas from a marketer, the change in the Delivery Charge will result in a $13 annual decrease. The price they pay for the Gas Supply Charge is based on their contract with their marketer.

"We are pleased that North American natural gas prices have come down dramatically from their highs in the fall and, as a result, our prices have come down as well," said Lino Luison, Vice President, Enbridge Gas Distribution. "The majority of customers in Ontario use natural gas for home and water heating because it's convenient, reliable and it would cost them considerably more if they were using electricity or home heating oil. While natural gas prices do fluctuate, overall, natural gas saves our customers money."

Over the past five years, natural gas has been on average about 40 per cent less expensive than electricity and 23 per cent less expensive that oil.

Gas Supply Charge

The utility's new residential Gas Supply Charge, or the natural gas price, will decrease to 35.4 cents per cubic metre from 43.1 cents per cubic metre, a decrease of 18 per cent.

The utility's Gas Supply Charge is passed on to customers without mark-up. The price customers pay is the same as Enbridge Gas Distribution's costs to purchase the natural gas. The Gas Supply Charge is based on a forecast of what the Company expects to pay for natural gas supply for the next 12 months. This forecast is reviewed quarterly and, if necessary, adjusted. If there is a difference between the forecast prices charged to customers and the actual amount paid by the Company, the difference is collected from or reimbursed to customers through a Gas Cost Adjustment.

Customers who buy their natural gas from a marketer will continue to pay the price specified in their contract with their marketer.

Gas Cost Adjustment Refund

A Gas Cost Adjustment refund of 1.6 cents per cubic metre will be in place from April 1, 2006 to December 31, 2006. For the typical residential customer who buys their natural gas from the utility, the refund will amount to approximately $27.

The refund is a result of the difference between the actual natural gas costs incurred by the utility and the amount collected from customers through the Gas Supply Charge.

Delivery Charge

The Delivery Charge, which includes the costs for transporting natural gas through North American pipelines and the costs for delivering it through the distribution network to customers' homes, will decrease by approximately $13 a year for a typical residential customer.

As a utility regulated by the Ontario Energy Board, Enbridge Gas Distribution earns an approved rate of return on the capital it has invested in the distribution system. This is included in the distribution charges.

Enbridge Gas Distribution delivers natural gas to about 1.8 million customers in Ontario communities including Toronto, Ottawa, Barrie and Niagara Falls. Of those customers, about 60 per cent buy their gas supply from the utility. About 40 per cent of the utility's customers buy their gas supply directly from marketers.

CCN

Challenges in the Oilpatch

Canada's oil and gas trusts cashed in last year as record-level oil prices held and touchy natural gas prices shot through the stratosphere. Recently, however, the sector's been getting hit from all sides. In the months since Ottawa first talked about raising the tax-free portion on dividend income, long-term interest rates have continued to climb. Natural gas prices have tumbled 50% since peaking at a record US$15.78 per million British thermal units in December and the rising cost of doing business in Canada's oilpatch is weighing on all producers. Some observers are predicting the biggest players among the oil and gas trusts are closing in on an inflection point. Who better, then, to take stock of the situation than Jim Kinnear, a trust-sector pioneer who was flogging innovative ways for pension funds to invest directly in the oil and gas sector as far back as 1982. In a recent interview with the Financial Post's Jon Harding, Mr. Kinnear, chief executive of Calgary-based Pengrowth Energy Trust, admits some of the sheen might have come off the sector as the spectre of potential distribution cuts grows. Mr. Kinnear said Pengrowth, which 17 years ago became Canada's fourth publicly traded oil trust, has plenty of flexibility to avoid such a fate.

Full Story

US Company Converts Cheese Waste into Ethanol

With help from a state agricultural grant, a Wisconsin company has successfully tested technology that converts cheese waste into renewable energy. According to Joe Van Groll, owner of DuBay Ingredients, the process starts with the cow and ends with the cow.

Two years ago, Van Groll received a $29,000 grant from the Agricultural Development and Diversification Grant program to research and develop a process for the conversion of cheese whey permeate into ethanol. The process also creates a high-nutrition cattle feed by extracting two by-products: probiotic feed supplement and salt.

State agriculture officials say the cheese waste to ethanol technology could save cheese makers millions of dollars annually in disposal costs.

"We are confident the system will give some cheese plants the ability to convert whey permeate into ethanol and valuable by-products," said Van Groll. "We have already made significant progress in developing business partnerships to take this technology to the market place."

Dairy generates more than $20 billion in economic activity for the state

WisconsinAg

Love Your Bike, Save Money, Burn Calories, Get there on Time

SAVE MONEY

Save on fuel costs and park for free

BURN CALORIES

Stay healthy, burn over 300 calories an hour

GET THERE ON TIME

Avoid congestion, get there faster,

Cycling is fun, healthy and you'll save money. This site is packed with information and links to all things cycling and provides practical advice on cycling to work. New cyclists can select one of the Love Lanes routes to work and regular cyclists can join in too by helping to spread some love.

Pro-Cycling Ads Poke Fun at Car French Fries

Being pro-bike in Ottawa more or less requires you to be anti-car.

Manchester uses love to get motorists on bikes:

Manchester city council and the Friends of the Earth have today launched a 'Love your bike' poster and web campaign.

Timed to coincide with the start of British Spring time today, a high-impact outdoor advertising campaign urges car commuters to ditch four wheels in favour of two to help reduce the volume of peak-hour traffic on the city’s roads, and reduce local carbon emissions and noise pollution.

The 'Love your bike' posters have started to appear on 48-sheet billboards throughout Manchester and the poster features on the backs of buses, too.

City centre workers cycling to work will be entitled to discounts at local bike stores as well as helpful advice and information of cycle routes, safety and maintenance via the campaign's website.

BikeForAll

Pump Prices Increase

After falling for six weeks in a row, retail gasoline prices in Ontario rose over the past two weeks. The Ontarioaverage pump price on March 7 was 89.2 cents per litre,
4.7 cents per litre higher than it was on February 21. Prices rose in all Ontario survey markets except in Sault Ste. Marie where they fell modestly. Increases ranged from around 1 cent per litre in Toronto to more than 10 cents per litre in St. Catharines and Thunder Bay. The higher retail prices were a reflection the end of price wars in some markets and recent increases in wholesale gasoline prices. Rack prices in Ontario jumped up almost 7.0 cents per litre since February 14.

Pump prices also rose in other regions across the country, responding to recent increases in wholesale prices. Rack prices across Canada have been trending higher since the middle of February, jumping up 7.2 cents per litre on average since February 14. Lagging the increase in wholesale prices, retail prices continued to decline the week of February 21, but jumped higher over the past two weeks. On March 7, the Canadaaverage pump price was 91.3 cents per litre, 4.8 cents
per litre higher than it was two weeks ago.

Full Report

Global Oil Disaster Scenario

The U.S., as the driver of the global economy via its consumers, is especially vulnerable. It has not reduced its “addiction to oil,” as President Bush called it in his State of the Union address, by conservation or alternative energy technology, and now it’s too late.

It ignored the early warnings of the 1973 Arab oil embargo, by returning to gas-guzzling automobiles that increased risk, insecurity and disaster. Rather than concentrating on spurring global commerce and energy alternatives after the 911 attacks in New York and Washington, the U.S. has been using its military power to transform Middle East autocracies into democracies, and failing at that task, while creating more enemies that can use a global disaster to their own ends.

One of those enemies is Iran, which might use the threat of nuclear weapons during the crisis “to wipe Israel off the face of the earth,” as its president intends. Crises in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Palestine and elsewhere in the Middle East can opportunistically worsen overnight. Another U.S. enemy is Venezuela, which could worsen the global oil crisis by shunting its oil to markets other than the U.S., while extending its military hegemony to Colombia in aid of the FARC narco-terrorists, and insurgents in Ecuador, Peru or Central America.

The U.S. military, hard-pressed to deal with its current assignments already, may find itself facing a dozen hot spots impossible to address simultaneously, with the Strategic Petroleum Reserve quickly depleting, and Venezuela and Iran enjoying $150 per barrel prices. Oil producing states might respond to the crisis by nationalizing foreign oil and gas company assets for national security purposes, further depleting the U.S. energy supply.

Pinpointed terrorist attacks on easy U.S. infrastructure targets such as seaports, nuclear power plants, offshore oil rigs and pipelines would be icing on the terrorist cake.

The panic in the U.S., which possesses strategic weapons for war but few for dealing with an elusive, asymmetric enemy, can turn nasty. Picking through the detritus of the global disaster will be China, which can lock down domestic turbulence in ways the U.S. and Europe cannot. Doom and gloom disaster scenarios based upon oil are not confined to Internet bloggers and TV producers.

They have been mapped out for decades by national security advisors and strategic risk analyzers.

There are dozens of books on the subject. But the warning signals have been ignored. Disaster scenarios have been discounted as improbable. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the U.S. acted as if its national security threats were greatly diminished. The truth was counterintuitive. The weatherman is not alone studying the hurricane map these days.

Gasoline Prices Have Risen Significantly in Recent Weeks

Gasoline prices have risen significantly in recent weeks and industry experts expect more of the same for the near future.

This is the third consecutive week the average price has risen.

If everyone wants gas ... the prices will keep going up, regardless of how much it costs to get the oil.

Ottawa refineries have completed their transition from winter-grade to summer-grade gasoline.

That causes a slight loss in refining capacity because it takes longer to process summer-grade fuel.

This is also traditionally the time when we see price increases because of increasing demand.

No one is saying whether Ottawa gas will hit the $1.25-per-liter mark this summer on average, but some local fuel prices are already nudging that mark.

In the last week, gas stations at Hull posted regular unleaded gas at $0.99 per liter.

Ethanol - the latest gasoline additive designed to help reduce air pollution - also figures into the equation.

More regions in the country are using ethanol in summer blend gasoline to meet clean air standards, and prices are going up as supplies of this additive are being stretched.

Crude Oil Futures Rise Above $64 a Barrel

Oil prices rose above $64 a barrel on Friday, finishing 2 percent higher for the week amid concerns about tightening U.S. supplies and as traders looked ahead to the upcoming summer-driving and hurricane seasons.

Light sweet crude for May delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 35 cents to settle at $64.26 a barrel. The contract gained $2.14 a barrel on Thursday.

Brent crude for May delivery rose 29 cents to $63.56 a barrel on London's ICE Futures exchange.

Nymex gasoline futures rose 0.7 cent to close at $1.8232 a gallon while heating oil prices settled at $1.7924, up less than a penny.

Natural gas futures fell 3.8 cents to settle at $7.29 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Oil analyst Tim Evans of IFR Energy Services in New York said "the markets are higher for now on short-term technical factors, but may not be able to sustain the advance without additional bullish fundamental news."

The U.S. Energy Department said Wednesday that domestic inventories of crude oil declined by 1.3 million barrels last week to 338.6 million barrels, or 9 percent above year-ago levels.

In spite of this historically high level of crude inventories, market participants are getting nervous because of the geopolitical tensions in Iraq, Iran and Nigeria, and they are looking ahead to possible output disruptions from this year's hurricane season, which starts June 1 and continues through November.

AccuWeather.com experts predicted earlier this week that the 2006 hurricane season likely would be busy, but probably not as busy as last year, when 26 named storms and 14 hurricanes swept the U.S., ravaging refineries, oil rigs and pipelines along the Gulf Coast.

Prices were also supported by supply disruptions in Nigeria. Rome-based Eni SPA's Nigerian unit said it would not fully repair a 75,000-barrel-per-day pipeline until the end of the month.

Analysts at Barclays Capital have said the political turmoil in the Niger Delta, along with the national elections in 2007 "have the potential to pose a substantial threat to crude oil supplies for a long time to come."

Traders remained concerned about the potential threat of United Nations Security Council action against Iran, the No. 2 oil producer within OPEC, over its nuclear ambitions.

The United States accuses Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons, a charge denied by Tehran, which says its program aims only to generate electricity.

The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council have been debating since last week what action the council should take after the U.N. nuclear watchdog referred Iran to the body.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has its next meeting scheduled for June 1 in Venezuela. The South American country, the world's fifth largest oil exporter favors constraining output to keep prices high.

Venezuelan Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez argued in favor of a production cut at the group's meeting March 8 in Vienna, Austria.

AP

Auto Rules not Enough to Break Dependence

President Bush says America is addicted to foreign oil, an analysis that few, if any, Americans would dispute.

If you can pardon the pun, the rubber will meet the road next week when the Bush administration gives the final go-ahead to new fuel economy standards for "light trucks."

The controversial category includes most sport utility vehicles, smaller pickup trucks and minivans, representing a large part of vehicles on the road today. The administration faces an April 1 deadline to complete a plan so that automakers can comply with the new rules for the 2008 model year.

As the proposal now stands, smallest light trucks would have to achieve a fuel economy of 28.4 miles a gallon by 2011; the largest 21.3 miles a gallon.

In fact, some of the new light truck standards would be stricter than the existing standards for passenger cars. In theory, that should reduce the incentive for automakers to make passenger cars that could be categorized as light trucks to meet a more generous fuel economy standard. Currently, new cars must average 27.5 miles a gallon and light trucks 21.6 miles a gallon.

Unfortunately, these latest standards won't do enough to ease the nation's oil addiction, in part because passenger cars and heavier trucks aren't part of this review and will not face tougher guidelines.

Opponents of higher fuel economy standards insist higher-mileage vehicles are lighter and less safe. They also contend tougher standards will encourage motorists to drive more and burn more gasoline.

There is a grain of truth to these objections. But if the United States is truly serious about reducing dependence on foreign oil, then the federal government must shutter regulatory loopholes and push automakers to meet tougher fuel economy standards for all sizes of cars and trucks.

This is what it will take to encourage Americans to alter their driving habits and force the industry to more aggressively pursue hybrid and other gasoline-saving technologies as energy costs rise.

Future reviews also must set more stringent fuel economy standards for passenger cars and heavier trucks.

Fuel economy is not an option; it's a national imperative.

KRTWire

Hybrid vehicles rebate doubled in Ottawa and Ontario

Ontario is doubling the sales-tax rebate it offers to consumers who buy hybrid vehicles, which are more fuel efficient than their counterparts.

The government currently refunds the eight per cent retail sales tax paid on hybrid electric vehicles to a maximum of $1,000.

In its 2006 budget yesterday, the province announced it would boost the maximum sales tax rebate to $2,000.

The new policy applies to vehicles delivered to consumers beginning Friday.

Dennis DesRosiers, head of DesRosiers Automotive Consultants, said it's a good move, but noted "it's hardly a budget-breaker."

"Ontarians last year bought a grand total of about 1,000 hybrid vehicles. So, this is going to cost the Ontario treasury about $1 million."

The Liberals are proposing to introduce a sunset date of March 31, 2012, for the tax rebate. At that point, it intends to consult with stakeholders to see how well the program is working.

"Hybrid electric vehicles promise to be an emerging growth area for the future of the automobile sector, helping to reduce greenhouse gases," the budget states.

CanadaEast

Gas Prices Going Up With Temperatures

Gasoline prices are steadily rising, and energy analysts see higher -- perhaps much higher -- fuel costs when the summer driving season begins.

It's going to be a tough spring. Higher prices will not translate into shortages.

Also, the price of crude isn't so much set by oil traders and refiners. It is really established by investors. A massive amount of money has flowed into petroleum markets, both physical and financial, from hedge and pension funds and other institutional investors. Oil has become a safe harbor for a lot of investment money.

Ottawa Switch to Summer Fuels Heats Up Gas Prices

Ottawa Gas Prices are climbing higher across Ottawa as refiners gear up to supply summer fuels and new gas and diesel formulations for 2006.
CAA says just a month ago, drivers were paying $0.79 a liter.

Now, the statewide average price is 91 cents a liter, almost eleven cents more.

Drivers in other parts of the country are faring worse.

Nationally, CAA says motorists are paying an average of 91-95-cents a liter.

Gas Prices Surge Again, Especially for Ethanol Blend

Gasoline prices are up — especially ethanol prices. In Lincoln, the price for regular gas has jumped about 17 cents a gallon in the past month, according to LincolnGasPrices.com. Friday’s average price was $2.45 a gallon, compared with $2.28 a month ago and $2.15 a year ago.

The state price was nearly $2.43 a gallon, compared with $2.33 a month ago and $2.07 a year ago, according to the AAA Fuel Gauge Report. The record high average for regular in Nebraska was $3.20 in September 2005.

Some of the recent increase can be attributed to rising crude oil prices, said Rose White, public affairs director of AAA Nebraska.

Crude oil prices hit $63 a barrel last week, then declined to close Friday at $60.53 a barrel.

A recent OPEC decision to maintain production levels won’t bring motorists any relief, said Jason Schenker, an economist with Wachovia Corp. He predicts retail gas prices could rise with the approach of the summer driving season.

“We’re not looking for a marked increase, but we could see prices higher than last year,” he said.

White said a bigger part of the price equation was increasing demand in the ethanol market, which has pushed prices above $100 a barrel in some markets.

“The demand for ethanol across the U.S. right now is exceeding what’s being produced,” White said. “So there’s likely exports coming in that are helping us balance out the needs at this point.”

AAA and LincolnGasPrices.com don’t track ethanol blend prices, but ethanol prices around the state have been as much as 10 cents a gallon higher than regular, she said. Before the recent surge in demand, the ethanol blend prices had been around 10 cents lower.

Some of the ethanol price increase is being passed on to the price of regular gasoline so ethanol blends won’t become so expensive that people won’t buy it, White said.

AAA said ethanol demand nationwide increased to 13 million gallons per day in December — 1.2 million gallons more per day than the U.S. daily production.

Why the increase in ethanol demand?

The refining industry is introducing ethanol as a substitute for methyl tertiary butyl ether, or MTBE, in summer blends of gasoline, Schenker said.

And White said Hawaii legislators recently passed a bill requiring ethanol in all motor fuels, even though the state’s lone ethanol plant won’t be operating until next year.

In addition, last year’s energy bill created a new requirement for refiners to use more renewable fuels, such as ethanol.

In 2006, 4 billion gallons of renewable fuels must be used nationwide, and that requirement increases annually to 7.5 billion gallons in 2012.

In Nebraska, 12 plants now produce almost 600 million gallons a year. Six ethanol plants are under construction in the state, and about 24 others are on the drawing board.

Many plants have long-term sales contracts that are keeping owners from making hay with the current price spikes. For example, some contracts signed with ethanol buyers last spring were for less than $1.20 a gallon. But industry economists say the ethanol spot market has ebbs and flows that can spike at more than twice the contracted prices.

Ag economists say the same is true for corn farmers, who can lock in prices with ethanol producers in order to guarantee a return or can take their chances with the current markets.

JournalStar

Oil Prices Surge Past $63 a Barrel

Oil prices shot up by almost $2 a barrel Thursday in what some analysts described as a delayed reaction to U.S. government data released the previous day that showed shrinking domestic supplies.

The buying was propelled by reports from Dow Jones Newswires and others that Rome-based Eni SPA's Nigerian unit would not fully repair a 75,000-barrel-per-day pipeline that was sabotaged until the end of the month.

"This market is very sensitive to geopolitical news," said Lee Fader, a broker at ABN Amro in New York. That said, Fader believes oil will continue to trade in a range of about $60-$65 per barrel, unless there is some major change in either supply or demand.

Light sweet crude for May delivery gained $1.78 to $63.55 a barrel in afternoon trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Wednesday, crude futures fell 57 cents, dragged down by a steep drop in gasoline futures.

Nymex April gasoline climbed 3.85 cents to $1.775 a gallon, retracing a portion of the more than 10-cent-per-gallon drop a day earlier. Heating oil was steady at $1.7442 a gallon, while natural gas gained 24.7 cents to $7.20 per 1,000 cubic feet.

May Brent crude futures on ICE Futures in London rose 58 cents to $62.08 a barrel.

In its latest weekly report, the U.S. Energy Department said Wednesday that domestic inventories of crude oil declined by 1.3 million barrels last week to 338.6 million barrels, or 9 percent above year-ago levels.

But Alaron Trading Corp. analyst Phil Flynn said the historically high levels of inventory are not providing much comfort to the market.

"We've got the highest level of inventory since 1999. That's great except that we have a different world than 1999," Flynn said, citing stronger demand, little excess production capacity and much more geopolitical uncertainty.

Prices had been supported in recent weeks by persistent concerns over supply disruptions in Nigeria, where rebels have struck an oil pipeline operated by Eni SPA's Agip Oil Co. unit, as well as the potential threat of United Nations Security Council action against Iran over its nuclear ambitions.

The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council have been debating since last week what action the council should take after the U.N. nuclear watchdog referred Iran, OPEC's No. 2 oil producer, to the body.

The United States accuses Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons, a charge denied by Tehran, which says its program aims only to generate electricity.

Forbes

Gasoline Prices At 5-Month High

The average retail price of gasoline soared by almost 14 cents last week, rising above $2.50 a gallon for the first time since late October, the Energy Information Administration said.

The agency said Monday that U.S. motorists paid $2.504 cents a gallon on average for regular grade last week, a rise of 13.8 cents from the previous week. The jump in retail prices follows a 42-cent-per gallon rise in unleaded gasoline futures since mid-February. On Monday, gasoline for April delivery settled at $1.8301 per gallon.

Gasoline prices were most expensive last week on the West Coast, averaging $2.571 per gallon, and cheapest in the Rocky Mountain region, averaging $2.395 per gallon.

CincinnatiPost

Tips to Reduce Gasoline Consumption

• Buy a fuel-efficient car. There are hybrid cars on the market that get great gas mileage. Even traditional vehicles can get excellent mileage per gallon.
• Buy a smaller car, and rent a larger car when necessary. Even an SUV owner can save money by downsizing just a bit. Some people need a large car or truck for hauling kids or gear. Others choose large vehicles because they occasionally need to help with the carpool or take a church group on an annual retreat. In those cases, renting a vehicle occasionally will save money.
• Slow down. Stay within the speed limit, and don't stomp on the accelerator. Slow, steady pressure on the gas pedal is more fuel efficient, not to mention more pleasant for your passengers.
• Keep your car in good condition. Particularly important is making sure that tires are inflated to the level recommended by the manufacturers.
• Reduce drag. If you aren't using the bicycle racks on your car, remove them. Reduce the weight of your car by removing items that you don't need.
• Use alternative transportation. Walk, ride a bicycle, take a bus or carpool.
• Combine errands. Reduce the amount of running around you do by planning an excursion efficiently.
• Don't idle the car. Avoid drive-up windows; instead park and go inside. If you have to wait for someone, turn off the engine.

MontgomeryAdvertiser

Gas Prices, Explained

Sen. Herbert Kohl didn't beat around the Bush when the Senate Judiciary Committee grilled U.S. oil company executives Tuesday on the price of gasoline and other fuels. How, the Wisconsin Democrat asked, can oil companies be paying higher prices for oil and still make record profits?

Easily, actually. Rex Tillerson, chairman and CEO of Exxon/Mobil, the world's largest publicly traded oil company, said that demand is sufficient for the higher price of oil to be passed on to motorists at the pump.

Kohl nailed that down: "Your ability to pass that onto consumers has been so successful that you've been able to make more money than you have ever made before."

There you have it, at a time when regular gas in the Lower Hudson Valley yesterday ranged from $2.399 to $2.579 for regular and from $2.549 to $2.819 for premium super.

The Senate committee held the session to determine if the dozen of so oil company mergers over the last decade enabled the industry to establish a near monopoly and manipulate the market toward higher prices.

"Every time there is a merger the prices have gone up," said Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. "Is that just coincidence?"

No, said the executives. In reality, mergers have enabled U.S. companies to become more efficient and helped them better compete in the search for new oil sources with foreign government-owned rivals.

Bill Klesse, CEO of Valero Energy told the senators that "the industry is more competitive and productive," USA Today reported. He said that Valero's consolidation of 17 refineries that the company bought since 1997 has resulted in increased efficiency and kept refineries operating that otherwise would have been shut down.

The senators weren't buying all that. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said he plans to consider legislation to strengthen anti-trust laws and to make it illegal to delay refining crude oil or divert gasoline to create an artificial shortage, as some refineries have been accused of in the past.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., was undeterred: "It is naive to think that massive consolidation has had no impact" on prices. What is clear is that despite paying higher prices for crude oil, the industry is charging higher prices for gasoline because it can.

America's long-running love affair with the sport-utility vehicle is getting really expensive. President Bush finally admitted in his January State of the Union address that the nation has an "addiction" to foreign oil. Until Americans conserve on the highways and Congress adds fuel-efficiency to its legislative vocabulary, higher gas prices will be the norm.

TheJournalNews

Cops Hunt Driver in West-End Hit-and-Run

Police are asking for help in nabbing a hit-and-run driver who struck a man on Robertson Rd. last night.

The 34-year-old man pulled onto the north shoulder near 467 Robertson after 7 p.m. to check on a flat tire. When he got out of the car, he was struck by a westbound vehicle. The impact left him with a broken leg and cuts and bruises.

The hit-and-run vehicle -- a car or van -- didn't have its headlights on in the dark stretch of roadway between Bells Corners and Kanata. The vehicle may have sustained damage to its right front bumper. Anyone with information is asked to call 236-1222, ext. 2212.

OttawaSun