ENERGY TECH - SKY NIGHTLY

Mar 22, 2012 (UPI)

Amid the threats to global oil supplies caused by the Persian Gulf confrontation between the United States and Iran, the longtime oil-power rivalry between the ...

Lukoil, Samsung in deal to up Iraq output

Mar 22, 2012 (AFP)

Lukoil signed a $1 billion deal with South Korea's Samsung Engineering on Thursday to develop Iraq's second-biggest oil field, in which the Russian energy giant...

Japan pledges major cut in Iran oil imports

Mar 21, 2012 (AFP)

Japan said Wednesday it would continue reducing its Iran oil imports "considerably", while hailing a US decision to exempt it from new sanctions against doing b...

'Electric' effect of plants is studied

Mar 21, 2012 (UPI)

Plants, long known to be the "lungs" of the Earth that create oxygen, may also play a role in electrifying the atmosphere, Australian researchers say. A link be...

A basic - and slightly acidic - solution for hydrogen storage

Mar 21, 2012 (SPX)

Sometimes, solutions for hard problems can turn out to be pretty basic. That's especially true for a team of researchers at the Office of Science's Brookhaven N...

Argentina, Spain row over oil firm worsens

Mar 21, 2012 (UPI)

Argentina has upped the stakes in a row with the country's biggest energy company that threatens to go beyond a business dispute and become a political confront...

Chevron accused of 'environmental crime' in Brazil

Mar 21, 2012 (AFP)

Federal prosecutors in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday accused US oil giant Chevron and 17 executives of "environmental crime" in connection with a major spill off ...

Shell signs contract for China shale gas

Mar 21, 2012 (UPI)

Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell signed a production-sharing contract with state-controlled China National Petroleum Corp. to explore, develop and produce shale gas ...

Polycrystalline diamond drill bits open up options for geothermal energy

Mar 21, 2012 (SPX)

Nearly two-thirds of the oil we use comes from wells drilled using polycrystalline diamond compact (PDC) bits, originally developed nearly 30 years ago to lower...

China holding 21 Vietnamese fishermen: official

Mar 21, 2012 (AFP)

Chinese authorities are holding two Vietnamese boats and 21 crew who were detained while fishing near the disputed Paracel Islands, an official said Wednesday. ...

Chevron blamed in Brazil oil spill: report

Mar 20, 2012 (AFP)

A huge oil spill off Brazil's southern coast was the result of excessive pressure used by oil giant Chevron in drilling the sea floor, according to a report by ...

Philippines' Aquino says more US troops welcome

Mar 20, 2012 (AFP)

Philippine President Benigno Aquino said Tuesday more US troops would be welcome to rotate through the Southeast Asian nation, but ruled out permanent bases. Aq...

Researchers develop graphene supercapacitor holding promise for portable electronics

Mar 20, 2012 (SPX)

Electrochemical capacitors (ECs), also known as supercapacitors or ultracapacitors, differ from regular capacitors that you would find in your TV or computer in...

Straintronics: Engineers create piezoelectric graphene

Mar 20, 2012 (SPX)

In what became known as the 'Scotch tape technique," researchers first extracted graphene with a piece of adhesive in 2004. Graphene is a single layer of carbon...

China hikes fuel prices by biggest margin in three years

Mar 20, 2012 (AFP)

China on Tuesday hiked fuel prices by the biggest margin in nearly three years after a surge in the cost of global crude, the government and state media said. T...

Researchers create more efficient hydrogen fuel cells

Mar 20, 2012 (SPX)

Hydrogen fuel cells, like those found in some "green" vehicles, have a lot of promise as an alternative fuel source, but making them practical on a large scale ...

Gazprom considering bid for Greece's DEPA

Mar 19, 2012 (UPI)

Russian state-owned energy firm Gazprom says it's considering bidding for Greek counterpart DEPA as cash-strapped Athens seeks to sell state assets. Greece anno...

Diamond brightens the performance of electronic devices

Mar 19, 2012 (SPX)

While diamonds may be a girl's best friend, they're also well-loved by scientists working to enhance the performance of electronic devices. Two new studies perf...

Study: Carbon can be stored underground

Mar 19, 2012 (UPI)

The United States has enough deep saline aquifers to store a century's worth of carbon dioxide emissions from its coal-fired power plants, a study shows. While ...

Iraq bans security firms on oil fields

Mar 19, 2012 (UPI)

With U.S. forces gone from Iraq, Baghdad has banned foreign security contractors, long abhorred by Iraqis, from the 12 major oil fields being developed by inter...