Peanut Butter News

Full Story at Reuters.com

TEPCO, Japan’s largest utility, has entered a binding agreement with project partners for the purchase of 1.8 million tonnes per year (mtpy) of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for a period of 20 years, Exxon said in a statement.

The contracted volume includes the plant’s recently expanded output of 0.3 mtpy, which means all of the project’s 6.6 mtpy capacity has now been contracted, project partner Oil Search (OSH.AX) said in a separate statement.

Exxon and partners have not yet finalized two other gas sale agreements with Taiwan’s CPC Corp and Japan’s Osaka Gas Ltd 9532. ahead of a self-imposed deadline of December 8 for the project’s final investment decision.

Full Story atmoney.cnn.com

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Because oil prices have always been directly related to the strength of the economy, a recovery might have seen headlines like these:

• The recession ends: Get ready for $100 oil

• The economy roars: $140 oil, is there an end in sight?

• Everyone in China buys a Cadillac: World tapped out

But a growing number of experts are saying that you can forget all that. For the next couple of years, they say, oil prices will remain well below $100 a barrel as the economy remains fragile and efficiency measures kick in.

Full Story At

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A former Army contractor convicted of stealing $40 million worth of fuel from a military base in Iraq is helping authorities in a global search for other suspects in the case, according to court records.

One suspect has already been arrested in the Philippines and now awaits indictment from a federal grand jury in Virginia.

Full Story At CBS News

AP) With a third contract offer rejected, some 24,000 refinery workers from the Gulf of Mexico to Montana prepared to head to the picket lines Saturday just hours before an existing labor agreement expires.

The nation’s biggest refiner, Valero Energy Corp., said it would shut down some facilities if workers strike. So did European oil company BP PLC.

Shell Oil Co., the lead negotiator for the industry, along with Exxon Mobil Corp., said its refineries would continue to make gasoline, diesel and other fuels using nonunion or replacement workers.