Energy - Commodities | Reuters.com

Commodities: Energy

Oil

Commodity	Exch	Currency	Expire	Last	Trade Date/Time	Net Chg	Open	High	Low
Crude Oil Light Sweet Jan12	USYF	USD	12/20	93.09	12/18 22:12	-0.44	93.76	93.76	93.06
Oil, Heating New York No. 2 NYMEX Jan12	USYF	USD	12/30	2.79	12/18 22:12	-0.01	2.80	2.80	2.79
Brent Crude Oil ICE Feb12	GBIF	USD	01/16	102.80	12/18 22:32	-0.55	103.04	103.10	102.76
Gas Oil ICE Jan12	GBIF	USD	01/12	885.25	12/18 22:32	-9.00	886.00	887.00	884.50
Gas, Liquified Propane NYMEX Delisted Oct10	USYF	USD	09/30	0.00		+0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
GASOLINE TOCOM Jun12	JPTC	JPY	05/25	60,750	12/18 22:37	-860	61,000	61,080	60,660
KEROSENE TOCOM May12	JPTC	JPY	04/25	59,340	12/18 22:31	-1,080	59,580	59,590	59,200
Delisted	BRBF	USD	07/17	0.00		+0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00

Data as of 10:43pm EST (Delayed at least 20 minutes).

Natural Gas

Commodity	Exch	Currency	Expire	Last	Trade Date/Time	Net Chg	Open	High	Low
Gas, Natural NYMEX Jan12	USYF	USD	12/28	3.08	12/18 22:10	-0.05	3.09	3.10	3.08

IEA Says Carbon Capture and Storage Plans Have Lost Momentum Worldwide

Projects to capture CO2 emissions and bury them are finding it hard to secure funds due to a weak global economy and the lack of carbon pricing.

Vattenfall Carbon capture and storage facility in Scwarze pumpe, Germany/Credit: Vattenfall

The financial crisis and fading government support for climate action have seriously eroded global plans to capture and store carbon, the International Energy Agency (IEA) warned last week. Sequestration—the depositing of greenhouse gases underground rather than into the atmosphere—was supposed to account for a fifth of the world's emissions reductions under the agency's roadmap for keeping global temperature rise within 2 degrees Celsius (4 degrees Fahrenheit) by the end of the century. But delegates including the U.S. energy secretary, Steven Chu, heard at a meeting, held in Beijing, that the global temperature is on course to rise by 3.5 degrees Celsius, due to poor progress both on carbon capture and storage, and on acceptance of a carbon price and other carbon-cutting efforts.

Nebraskans Outraged Over Rep. Lee Terry's Keystone XL Pipeline Bill

"We feel like we're being totally undermined," said rancher and farmer Randy Thompson. "He might be in for a rude awakening in 2012."

WASHINGTON—Nebraskans suspected that somebody on Capitol Hill would try to force the Obama administration to drastically speed up decision-making on the now-delayed Keystone XL pipeline. They just never figured it would be one of their own. The chutzpah of Nebraska Rep. Lee Terry in trying to fast track the pipeline has outraged Cornhuskers who labored for years to reroute the fiercely debated $7 billion project out of the environmentally sensitive Sandhills. Some are predicting that the seven-term Republican could be punching himself a one-way ticket out of Washington with this attempted legislative end-run. "We feel like we're being totally undermined," rancher and farmer Randy Thompson told InsideClimate News. "I don't see how this wouldn't make him vulnerable in the next election. He might be in for a rude awakening in 2012." House leadership appears intent on rolling Terry's measure into this week's vote on a mega-bill that features the extension of a payroll tax break as its centerpiece. Action could come as early as Tuesday as Congress scurries to wrap up loose ends before a Christmas break.

Wind Solar Industries in Limbo

Wind, Solar Industries in Limbo as Congress Set to Adjourn

No word yet on the future of a pair of key clean energy subsidies. America's first offshore wind farm is shelved, and E.V. sales are missing targets

America's wind and solar industries are stuck in limbo, waiting anxiously to hear if Congress will extend a pair of key subsidies. But Washington, which is beginning to empty out for the holidays, is almost certain not to ease their worries soon. The solar industry is fighting to renew the 1603 Treasury grant program, a popular incentive that gives renewable energy developers cash payments worth up to 30 percent of their project costs in lieu of future tax credits. The program is particularly attractive to smaller solar startups and companies that struggled during the recession to raise cash for their capital-intensive projects. The subsidy is slated to sunset at the end of the year. At the same time, the wind industry is scrambling to extend a production tax credit (PTC), which it says is crucial for wind power to compete with coal. The tax credit pays wind farm owners a considerable 2.2 cents for every kilowatt-hour of energy it produces during the first decade of operation.