Siemens announced March 28 it has won a contract to build a 1.6-gigaWatt, combined-cycle power plant that will supply electricity mainly to the nearby Ruwais oil refinery as well as other nearby customers.

The U.S. Air Force on March 18 announced that it successfully conducted a test flight of an F-22 Raptor at supercruise on a 50/50 fuel blend of conventional petroleum-based JP-8 and biofuels derived from camelina.

Doug Foshee, chairman, president and CEO of El Paso Corp. (NYSE: EP), presented at Howard Weil’s 39th annual energy conference in New Orleans on March 28 – repeatedly stressing the simplicity of his company’s 2011 strategy.

Contrary to some conventional wisdom, it’s more likely that commercial fleets rather than individual car owners will recharge their electric vehicles (EVs) during nighttime, “off-peak” hours at relatively low cost and relatively slow rates.

Canada is trying to offset the negative perceptions of the oil sands by appealing to U.S. concerns about high unemployment, according to a March 24 report citing the Canadian ambassador to the U.S.

Taking to the podium at Gastech 2011 in Amsterdam, Wood Mackenzie’s Noel Tomnay, head of global gas research, outlined the future interdependencies of regional markets and the implications for pricing in the global gas market over the next decade.

NYMEX light sweet crude for May delivery closed at US$103.98 per barrel (/bbl), down $1.42 on March 28, spurred by profit-taking to recent sharp gains across various commodities.

The European Commission on March 28 unveiled a “white paper” on transport policy recommending a complete ban on all gasoline and diesel-powered cars in European cities by 2050 and a 50% cut on such vehicles by 2030.