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British Airways (BA) is planning to ask the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) for permission to reduce the level of contingency fuel carried by its fleet. BA claim that they can use 'sophisticated flight planning' to work out the amount of contingency fuel required for each flight, and reject accusations that the move is a response to rising fuel prices. Currently British aircraft are required to land with at least 3% of their fuel load and with 30 minutes supply in case of diversion to other airports. CAA experts will need to analyse the proposal, but if permission is granted BA plans to conduct three months of testing. The plan will only apply on certain routes like London-Tokyo, where there are a number of well-established alternative landing sites.

Petroleum refiners will receive legislative relief in 1996 because of the election year. Nevertheless, they face several regulatory challenges, chief among them the national fuel program of the Clean Air Act Amendments. Other contentious issues include fuel controls for the national low-emission vehicle, nitrogen oxides requirements for Phase II reformulated gasoline, and the Alternative Fuel Vehicle Transportation Program., Although election-year politics will handcuff the legislative branch of the federal government this year, oil refiners will have both hands full trying to stave off the tightening grip of federal [...]

Negotiators to Cut Deals on Energy Bill US Senate and House leaders negotiating a broad energy bill will meet today with the purpose of cutting deals on a host of [...]

House Tinkers with Ethanol, Pushes ANWR in Energy Bill In a move that will likely cause some rumblings among their Senate colleagues, House negotiators on Thursday pushed for drilling in [...]

Downstream Investors Wary Of Brazil In Fear of 'Lula' Victory For downstream operators looking to expand their investment horizons, Brazil is probably not on the top of their list these [...]

Bingaman Sees Energy Bill Getting Senate Nod As the US Senate prepares to debate the more controversial points of a comprehensive energy bill, Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D- N.M.), chairman of [...]

Hectic Backstage Posturing Underway Ahead of Energy Bill Debate in Senate Behind-the-scenes posturing on key issues impacting the oil industry, including the Alaska natural gas pipeline, the fuels mandate, and [...]

After Full Deregulation, Brazil Puts Pressure on States to Cut Back Fuel Taxes Days after the Brazilian government implemented full deregulation of its gasoline and diesel fuel market -- ending [...]

With so many marketers left bleeding red ink in the wake of the hypermarket revolution, branded jobbers plan to launch a lobbying offensive to amend the Petroleum Marketing Practices Act. [...]

ANWR, Oxygenates Could Light Up Energy Debate Against the backdrop of a cooling US economy and weaker energy prices, the House will stoke a heated debate this week by taking [...]

US Refiners Watch as Low-Sulfur -- and Sulfur-Free -- FuelsSink In for European Counterparts Facing their own country's tighter fuel specifications, US refiners watched as the European Union (EU) recently [...]

Colombia Decides to Freeze Gasoline Prices The Colombian government has decided to freeze gasoline prices for the rest of the year as a precaution against the international market's bullishness. Prices [...]

Argentina Tries Again to Limit Refiner Power In its ongoing attempt to limit the power of the three big refiners and the fuel prices they command, Argentina's consumer agency will [...]

To alleviate the threat of inflation, the government has scrapped a 3% customs duty on gasoline imports and a 4% levy on diesel shipments. The abolition of the tariffs, which [...]

Australian Majors to Be Audited Major oil companies operating in Australia will be audited to ensure that they have been complying with laws limiting the number of service stations they [...]

Oil companies are in the spotlight this week - but theirs is not the 15 minutes of fame of which CEOs dream. Under the leadership of House Speaker Dennis Hastert [...]

Decision time is looming for the future of Moscow's Central Fuel Co. (CFC) and its board chairman Yuri Shafranik. CFC insiders hope that at an Apr. 7 meeting of the [...]

While many refiners would like to see a relaxation in the deadline for meeting Phase II reformulated gasoline specifications, there are no signs that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is [...]

The oil industry and Congress gave a tepid welcome to the administration's plan for combating high oil prices which, among other things, recommends tax breaks for domestic producers and creation [...]

Oil industry lobbyists were keeping quiet Friday about the precise contents of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) costly new proposed rules on gasoline sulfur emissions -- which were due to [...]

From Jet Fuel The day when jet fuel becomes subject to some kind of environmental tax may be drawing nearer. To date, lack of precise evidence has bogged down attempts [...]

Marketers in Illinois have managed to get a bill introduced in the state legislature that would not only ban below-cost sales of gasoline and diesel, but also make it an [...]

The European Union's European Commission has approved a draft directive to cut sulfur to 10 parts per million in gasoline and diesel after 2011. New catalytic converters will require sulfur-free fuels. Other specifications of the proposed directive are discussed.

There will be 19 petroleum refineries in the US closed if new gasoline sulfur content regulations take effect. The loss of 950,000 barrels per day in capacity will be replaced with new plant efficiencies. Small refineries will probably close because they will be unable to operate economically.

In a move that small petroleum retailers claim could have devastating con- sequences -- but one that could help refiners and jobbers compete in an increasingly aggressive price environment -- [...]

Japanese petroleum importers may not have to be registered after oil product import laws expire at the end of March 1996. A proposal by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) would require importers to stockpile at least a 70-day supply of crude petroleum and oil products to maintain market stability. Also, a ban on gasoline containing lead or having sulfur content of less than 100 ppm is also proposed. MITI will submit its proposals to the Japanese Diet for ratification in 1995.

Energy legislation negotiators from the United States House approved an energy bill requiring greater volumes of ethanol in gasoline and permitting oil and gas exploration in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Discount chain BJ's will be the first casualty of a new by-law passed by a Massachusetts town that bars new 'gas' stations being built within 1,000 feet of another fuel [...]

New Zealand revised its Petroleum Products Specifications Regulations to included a range of clean fuel requirements for diesel fuel and gasoline.

EUROPEAN UNION -- The European Commission has brought forward the deadline for introducing sulfur-free gasoline and diesel by two years. European Union (EU) members will now have to switch to [...]

Marketers in Maryland have managed to pass a bill that allows the stare to order a retailer to stop selling below cost or face or even imprisonment. Now all that [...]