Benchmark crude added $1.73 to settle at $101.32 per barrel Wednesday as investors cheered a sharp rise in refining activity in the U.S. Meanwhile, the nation’s gasoline supplies increased and pump prices continued to slide across the country.  More »

The Obama administration says it has serious concerns about due process violations in this week’s decision to uphold the former Yukos Oil chief’s conviction for stealing billions of dollars’ worth of oil and laundering the proceeds.  More »

The oil minister had left for Tunisia on May 16 in a move several of his close colleagues described as a defection. The news was seen as a blow to leader Moammar Gadhafi, whose forces are locked in a battle with rebels in the east.  More »

Sen. David Vitter, R-La., blocked an almost $20,000 raise for the Interior Department secretary but then offered to allow the raise to go forward if the Interior Department issues six new deep-water permits a month.  More »

Since buying XTO Energy last year for $29 billion, Exxon has become the largest natural gas company in the United States. It now owns more gas than crude oil. Shareholders at a meeting today voted on whether to disclose more information about how Exxon uses hydraulic fracturing to unlock shale gas plays.  More »

Legislative leaders say the closure of three claims offices could increase frustrations against the Gulf Coast Claims Facility and would be a disservice to those still struggling to recover from the Deepwater Horizon disaster.  More »

Benchmark crude added $1.89 to settle at $99.59 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Retail gasoline prices fell for a 12th straight day to an average of $3.828 per gallon.  More »

Petróleos de Venezuela is among the seven companies facing penalties for supplying or transporting refined petroleum products to Iran. PDVSA will be barred from any U.S. government contracts, U.S. import-export financing and export licenses for sensitive technology.  More »

The decision means the former Yukos chief, once Russia’s richest man, will remain in prison until 2016. He was convicted in December of stealing tens of billions of dollars’ worth of oil from Yukos and laundering the proceeds, a ruling that drew international condemnation.  More »

As U.N. inspectors launch probe into the Fukushima Dai-ichi disaster, TEPCO reveals that fuel in three of the plant’s six reactors started melting after the March 11 tsunami knocked out cooling systems, prompting huge releases of radiation into the atmosphere.  More »

An explosion blamed on a gas leak rocked Iran’s largest refinery on Tuesday around the time of a visit to the plant by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Iranian media reported that at least two people were killed in the blast.  More »

A safety agency reprimanded the oil giant over issues at Shell’s Draugen facility, located in shallow water off Norway’s west coast, following a 2010 incident the agency said had “major accident potential.”  More »