FuelClub Discount

Washington overcame a significant obstacle yesterday in its attempt to sue Opec for behaving as an oil cartel and keeping the price of fuel artificially high.

The House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved legislation to bring a lawsuit against Opec members because they have collectively set the price of oil and limited oil supplies.

The price of oil is at an all-time high of about $129 a barrel and has been in part responsible for surging inflation in the United States, Britain and across Europe.
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The 20 largest U.S. airlines posted an operating loss margin of 0.02% in the fourth quarter of 2007, the first loss after six consecutive profitable quarters, according to a monthly report by the U.S. Department of Transportation Monday.

The report measures the operating margin — profit or loss as a percentage of total operating revenue — of 20 large-network, low-cost and regional carriers in the USA. The industry last posted operating losses in the first quarter of 2006.

Sharply rising fuel costs contributed significantly to the loss. The 20 carriers spent 29% of their operating expenses in the fourth quarter of 2007 on fuel, compared to 13.5% five years earlier in the fourth quarter of 2002.
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Oilfield services company Expro International Group PLC ( EXR.LN) Tuesday said fiscal full-year net profit was 40% higher than in 2007, driven by soaring oil prices and rising global energy demand, particularly in India and China.

For the year ending March 31, Expro reported net profit of GBP52.8 million, compared with GBP37.9 million a year earlier.

The company said revenue came in 18% higher than in the previous year at GBP609.7 million, compared with GBP518.8 million, while diluted earnings per share was 47.5 pence, compared with 37.3 pence a year earlier.
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Maryland’s attempt to produce greener energy took a dangerous turn after a bio-diesel plant exploded killing one man and injuring another.

Adam May reports, the explosion happened at the Greenlight Biofuels plant around noon Sunday in Somerset County. The plant just opened last year.

Emergency crews rushed to the Greenlight Biofuels plant on the Eastern Shore in Princess Anne after the deadly afternoon explosion.
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Holyrood Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead said the fleet was facing having to fork out tens of millions of pounds extra because of the issue.

He will use a meeting of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council in Brussels to press the need for more assistance for the industry.

The meeting will also be attended by UK Environment Secretary Hilary Benn.

Mr Lochhead said ministers had to ensure the “renewed confidence” in the industry, which followed a period of quota cuts and the scrapping of fishing boats to cut back the fleet, was not undermined.
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I’ve suspected for a while that we were in a speculative bubble with respect to oil prices. Paul Krugman offers a good insight into the question. (When he’s not preoccupied with left-wing rants, he’s a pretty good economist.) He says:

… there are only two things you can do with the world’s oil production: consume it, or store it.

If the price is above the level at which the demand from end-users is equal to production, there’s an excess supply — and that supply has to be going into inventories. End of story. If oil isn’t building up in inventories, there can’t be a bubble in the spot price.
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