yuankuei/Flickr The phrase “shovel-ready” was thrown around a lot this year, particularly when it came to stimulus funds for large projects like power line construction and smart-grid installations. But “shovel-ready” wasn’t for everyone. The funding for such projects may include stipulations some don’t want to meet, while others simply burned out on the term (which [...]  More »

The oil and gas business has its share of firms trying to lure investors with highly optimistic predictions, but those green investment come-ons can be pretty slick, too, warns FINRA. An alert put out this week by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) warns folks to be wary of green energy investments that promise large [...]  More »

Electric customers from College Station to The Woodlands, Beaumont and the Bolivar Peninsula could see their electric rates go up by 20 percent in the next year: Entergy Texas filed a rate case with the state today that asks for a 20-percent bump in residential electric rates that would bring a monthly bill to $137 [...]  More »

China better watch where it lays its pipe. The U.S. government has sided with U.S. steel companies — namely those that make and sell pipes used in oil and gas drilling — and will begin imposing new duties on imports of steel pipes from China. The U.S. International Trade Commission voted Wednesday to impose duties [...]  More »

Saudi Arabia will walk away from a long-held lease for 5 million barrels of Caribbean oil storage near the key U.S. market and let PetroChina move in, industry sources tell Reuters, a move that both shows the declining importance of U.S. markets and the global reach of China: Three sources familiar with Saudi operations at [...]  More »

• Some Dems say “no way” to climate bill in 2010. • Surprise climate change lobbyists: soup makers. • French climate tax ruled unconstitutional just days before scheduled start. • Canada clears way for PetroChina deal in the oil sands. • Concerns over birds, grizzlies, fish and drinking water will impact Exxon’s Mackenzie gas pipeline [...]  More »

Cynthia and Anthony Petrello at the Periwinkle Foundation Benefit at The Houstonian Saturday April 8, 2006.(Dave Rossman/For the Chronicle) The home of Anthony Petrello, president of drilling giant Nabors Industries, was damaged by flames Wednesday morning, but there do not appear to be any injuries. Petrello’s $12 million home — the historic home once owned [...]  More »

December 30,2009 –Russia and Turkmenistan have signed amendments to a long-term gas purchase and sales contract established in April 2003…..  More »

December 30,2009 –Germany has issued approvals for its section of the offshore route for the Nordstream gas trunkline from northern Russia…..  More »

Wild swings in the oil and natural gas markets in recent years might lead one to expect oil and gas producers regularly use hedging to manage those risks. Not exactly, according to a survey by EnRisk Partners, a Houston energy trading and risk management firm. Enrisk, which surveyed senior execs from 38 independent oil and [...]  More »

This decade has been pretty volatile for the notion of ‘green transportation,’ that is moving away from a gasoline-only car fleet in America. It started off with California requiring automakers to offer electric vehicles, but those efforts were soon dropped and SUVs ruled the road for many years. Now as the decade comes to a [...]  More »

A Google Maps tour of the EPA’s greatest hits of 2009. The Environmental Protection Agency has made a nifty interactive map (what the cool kids call a mash-up) of all its 2009 enforcement actions. The map turns up the expected, such as previously reported information on BP’s Texas City refinery pollution issues, as well as [...]  More »