Yahoo! energy News

AP - BP PLC, Europe's second-largest oil company, is the leading candidate to purchase assets worth more than $5 billion from independent oil and gas producer Devon Energy, the Wall Street Journal said Wednesday.

Reuters - Canadian parliamentarians tucked into a meal of seal meat on Wednesday to defy both animal right activists and the European Union, which has banned imports of seal products. Some two dozen guests, surrounded on all sides by media, crammed into a small room off the main parliamentary restaurant to hear speeches backing the annual hunt off Canada's East Coast, which the EU says is inhumane.

Reuters - The Canadian dollar ended stronger for a ninth straight session against the U.S. dollar after touching its highest level in almost five months on Wednesday, helped by talk it is set to test parity with the greenback.

AP - Oil tanker operator Tidewater Inc. said Wednesday that Jeffrey M. Platt, its executive vice president, has been promoted to chief operations officer.

AP - Oil settled above $82 on Wednesday after rising as high as $83. Prices got a bump in morning trading following the government's weekly crude inventory report, which showed a smaller increase in supplies than expected. Prices also got some support from OPEC raising its outlook for world oil demand.

AP - Oil settled above $82 on Wednesday after driving past $83 briefly following a government report that showed U.S. crude oil supplies didn't grow as much as analysts expected last week.

AFP - World oil prices surged Wednesday after news that fuel stockpiles in the United States slumped last week, indicating strengthening demand in the world's top energy consumer.

AP - Crude inventories rose less than expected last week, while gasoline supplies dropped, the government said Wednesday.

AP - World oil demand is projected to grow by 900,000 barrels per day in 2010, OPEC said Wednesday, revising up its previous month's forecast while cautioning that the increase is hinged on a sustained global economic rebound, particularly in the United States.

AFP - The OPEC oil producers' cartel on Wednesday slightly upgraded its forecast for modest growth in world oil demand this year but warned that the slow pace of economic recovery was clouding the outlook.

Reuters - Oil failed to find momentum in either direction for a clear move away from $81.50 on Wednesday as investors waited for data on U.S. stocks or OPEC's monthly report ahead of next week's meeting to provide impetus.

AFP - East Africa has become a promising new frontier for oil exploration and major multinationals are jostling for the rights to search for black gold, industry experts said.

AP - As the economy recovers, energy prices are rising and that is placing extra strain on families' budgets.

AP - As the economy recovers, energy prices are rising and that is placing extra strain on families' budgets.

AP - A dozen centuries-old shipwrecks — some of them unusually well-preserved — have been found in the Baltic Sea by a gas company building an underwater pipeline between Russia and Germany.

Reuters - One year to the day after stocks fell to their worst close in more than 12 years, the U.S. market spent most of Tuesday spinning its wheels.

AP - The Energy Department hasn't changed its mind about higher gasoline prices. It still expects pump prices to climb past $3 per gallon as more motorists hit the road in the spring and summer driving seasons.

AP - Oil tanker operator Overseas Shipholding Group Inc. said Tuesday it has collected $158.7 million in proceeds from its offering of 3.5 million common shares at $45.33 each.

AFP - Oil prices slipped Tuesday under pressure from a stronger dollar and ahead of weekly data on petroleum inventories in the United States, the world's largest energy consumer.

AP - Oil prices trimmed some early losses, but still ended lower Tuesday, after rising steadily since the end of last week.