The General Motors/Shanghai Automotive Industry Co. (SAIC) joint venture aims to introduce 12 new powertrains over the next five years “in a bid to improve fuel economy by 15%,” according to a report this week from Automotive News China.

BMW officials announced June 15 that they’ll launch a trial introduction of electric “Mini” cars in Japan starting early 2011.

Crude futures surged June 15 “buoyed by a weaker dollar and positive economic reports that brightened investors' expectations of energy demand,” according to MarketWatch. West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery rose US$1.82 to settle at US$76.94 per barrel (/bbl), and Brent crude was up $1, closing at $76.20/bbl.

The latest monthly Ceridian-UCLA Pulse of Commerce Index report climbed 3.1% in May, “the strongest indicator yet from the PCI that the U.S. economy is on the upswing.”

Sunoco, Inc. was fined US$81,000 in penalties for failing to notify federal and state environmental agencies immediately about an accidental release of benzene into the air in January 2007 from its oil refinery facility in Philadelphia, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced June 1.

Officials with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced June 15 that it is holding four of its ongoing IRIS (Integrated Risk Information System) assessments pending a review of some of the underlying studies used in the assessments. EPA conducts IRIS assessments to determine the impact of specific chemicals on human health.

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Steven Chu said June 14 the oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico underscores the need to develop wind power and a national energy plan, according to the Associated Press.