oil
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Following news that the EPA dropped plans to keep boosting fuel-economy standards, it quietly dropped another bombshell: It's now fine to guzzle gas. Burn as much as you want. According to an AP report carried by the Detroit News, the Energy Department quietly released the news online in a memo in July in support of freezing fuel economy standards. Growth in domestic supplies of natural gas, fracking, and horizontal drilling have reduced the need to import oil, which "affects the need of the nation to conserve energy," the Energy Department memo says. This gives "the United States more...
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ExxonMobil leaves conservative anti-climate lobbying group
Following a public spat over climate change legislation, oil giant ExxonMobil has pulled its membership from the Koch brothers-backed anti-climate-change lobbying group, American Legislative Exchange Council. Neither ExxonMobil nor ALEC has commented publicly on the reasons for the company's...
Eric C. Evarts -
2018 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV review, Lexus F hybrids, and big oil skepticism of electric cars: Today's Car News
We review the fuel economy of the 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. Lexus mulls hybrid systems for its F-series performance cars. Big oil refineries voice skepticism over electric cars. And the results are in from our latest Twitter poll. All of this and more on Green Car Reports. Green Car Reports...
Sean Szymkowski -
Oil refiners express skepticism, worry over electric cars
A recent survey by the World Refining Association shows some oil industry executives are becoming concerned about how the proliferation of electric cars may affect their business. A core of respondents, however, seem unconvinced that electric cars are a threat. In the survey published late last...
Eric C. Evarts -
Oil prices could double by 2020, boosting electric car sales
Despite short term peaks and valleys, and a recent agreement by OPEC to ease production restrictions, the overall trend in oil prices is on the rise. That's the conclusion of Bernstein research, an investment research company, which forecast last week that oil could hit $150 a barrel by 2020, just...
Eric C. Evarts -
More efficient gas engines as well as electric cars required to cut carbon emissions
As nations, automakers, and utilities contemplate how to tackle climate change in real terms, a perfect storm of competition is brewing that will—ideally—produce positive change for the rest of us. Automakers and electric utilities have been incentivized to build electric vehicles and...
Mark Stevenson -
Electric vehicles have the potential to upend energy markets as their adoption becomes more widespread. But how much of an effect will they have? And on which specific markets? According to a recent report by Wood Mackenzie, the global power grids are likely safe for quite a while, but another market may be turned on its head. DON'T MISS: Decline of oil: Bloomberg suggests what it could look like The report, which assumes 125 million vehicles will join the global vehicle fleet by 2035, predicts some 1.8 million barrels per day of oil demand could be displaced. At the same time, global demand...
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World Bank will stop funding oil, gas exploration in 2019
It's not just the world automotive industry that's grappling with rapid changes brought about by the need to reduce the effects of climate change. The world's fossil-fuel extraction, refining, and delivery industries are also faced with the reality that two centuries of burning their core products...
John Voelcker -
Big Oil will lose grip on global vehicle market in less than 25 years: study
The latest study on the future of transportation paints an increasingly dim picture for the oil industry, though it suggests that the industry is in no danger of collapse. Instead, Big Oil will lose its dominance in the transportation sector over a 25-year period as electric cars and mobility...
Sean Szymkowski -
Texas fossil-fuel industry made state more vulnerable to hurricane
Hurricane Harvey will go down as one of the most destructive and costliest natural disasters in the United States. While the storm has dissipated, with this week's attention focused on Hurricane Irma, the effects and damage tolls will last for years—and one thing already seems clear: Texas'...
Sean Szymkowski -
Big oil firms fear Trump rules rollback: not for environment but for PR
Efforts to loosen regulations on the oil industry now underway have met with public approval from fossil-fuel companies. But while the Trump administration has moved swiftly to create a more friendly regulatory environment for big oil, some executives have urged a slowdown behind the scenes. That's...
Sean Szymkowski -
BP follows other gas-station brands, adds electric-car charging
Major oil companies are beginning to take the threat of electric cars seriously, and the latest evidence comes from British Petroleum. BP has begun discussions with electric-vehicle makers to partner on a network of charging stations. The move comes as many European countries announce plans to ban...
Sean Szymkowski -
Predictions on the future of global energy vary greatly, but many analysts largely believe that peak demand for the oil industry is coming relatively soon. The world's largest oil companies, however, see it differently: they say their business will only continue to grow through the year 2040. Exxon and OPEC each believe more than 100 million barrels of oil will be needed globally each day by 2040; the International Energy Agency (IEA) also predicts growing demand. DON'T MISS: How Shell Oil Sees The Future Of Energy And Vehicle Fuels In 2050 But many factors that affect future oil demand...
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Russia falls further behind in renewable energy as oil keeps Putin in power
It's difficult to invest in renewable, alternative sources of energy when state-run oil pays the bills. And it's even harder for renewable energy when gasoline is all but free, courtesy of the same state. Now The Financial Times has taken a look at Russia's growing lag in embracing renewable energy...
Sean Szymkowski -
The oil industry doesn't care about electric cars: here's why
It crops up in comments from electric-car advocates and clean-energy users fairly regularly. And it goes something like this: "Big Oil and Gas are on the verge of collapse, as clean energy and electric cars make them obsolete." Occasionally the sentiment is followed by an approving emoji. DON'T...
John Voelcker -
Biofuel, fossil-fuel lobbyists join to fight electric-car incentives
As the old saying goes: the enemy of my enemy is my friend. The biofuel and fossil-fuel lobbies have argued in the past over the blending of biofuels with the general fuel supply. But now the two groups have found something they can agree on. DON'T MISS: Sierra Club to sue EPA over failure to...
Stephen Edelstein -
Shell hedges bets, adds hydrogen fuel to 1st U.K. station
Anticipating a possible decrease in fossil-fuel consumption from the mass deployment of zero-emission vehicles, one of the world's largest oil companies is hedging its bets. Royal Dutch Shell is becoming increasingly involved in hydrogen fueling infrastructure, which will be needed if fuel-cell...
Stephen Edelstein -
Big energy hugely underestimates electric cars, renewable power
Mass adoption of electric cars and renewable energy could significantly decrease global consumption of fossil fuels. But does the established energy industry view these new developments as a threat? In a recent report, ExxonMobil said coal could continue to provide the majority of the world's...
Stephen Edelstein -
If electric cars are adopted by mass-market buyers in years to come, that will lead over time to notably lower oil consumption. So what are oil companies doing to prepare for that possible outcome? Some continue to doubt whether electric cars will constitute a serious threat to their business in the coming decades—but others are branching out into fields beyond fossil fuels. DON'T MISS: Exxon says coal will endure; other analyses beg to differ ExxonMobil takes a fairly dismissive view of electric cars, predicting in a recent report that they will only account for 10 percent of U.S...
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Shell fuel stations in U.K., Netherlands to add electric-car charging
Electric cars are often touted as a way to avoid gas stations. But electric-car drivers in certain European countries will soon be going to them to charge. That's because a pair of European oil companies plan to add electric-car charging at certain fuel stations. CHECK OUT: Electric-Car Charging...
Stephen Edelstein -
Trump supported ethanol, but his team may not; is oil the reason?
Several members of Trump's team are against ethanol, advisor Carl Icahn said in a recent interview.
Stephen Edelstein -
Oil in ground may be worth less, Exxon concedes, unhappily
ExxonMobil may have to lower the value of some of its oil reserves.
Stephen Edelstein -
Global oil demand could peak by 2020, says Shell
Shell predicts global oil demand could be close to peaking.
Stephen Edelstein -
Electric cars pose 'resoundingly negative' threat to oil companies: analyst Fitch
Electric cars could threaten the oil industry, a leading credit agency believes.
Stephen Edelstein