Amid sticker-shock fuel prices, researchers in Pennsylvania are reporting results of laboratory tests and road tests verifying that a simple, inexpensive device attached to a car engine's fuel injector can boost gas mileage by up to 20 percent.

ON 12 October 2000, the destroyer USS Cole hove into port at Aden in Yemen for routine refuelling.

Diesel fuel prices approaching $5 a gallon – and the resulting economic impact on products transported by truck – have created renewed interest in fuel-saving technologies developed during the past decade at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI).

From next week Air New Zealand will charge travellers more for domestic and trans-Tasman flights, as well as trips to the Pacific Islands.

The price of oil rose to a new record above US$96 a barrel Thursday after a surprise drop in U.S. crude stockpiles raised concerns about supplies for coming winter demand. Other energy futures also gained.

Corn-based ethanol production has influenced U.S. food prices this year but not nearly as much as oil prices and weather problems. Acting USDA Secretary Chuck Conner said ethanol "clearly had some impact" on food price inflation, but the fuel is getting too much of the blame "for what's happening in grocery store aisles."

There are fears that oil companies may be manipulating diesel prices because of the current inquiry by the competition watchdog into petrol price fixing.

There has been a sudden rise in Tasmanian petrol prices. The RACT says it has received many calls and emails from members complaining about price rises of up to 18 cents a litre for unleaded fuel in the space of 24 hours in Hobart.

Crude oil prices continued to decline in Asia on Tuesday on concerns about the U.S. economy and as investors sold to lock in profits from last week's record-setting rally.

Oil prices edged higher in Asian trading Thursday following a U.S. government report that showed an unexpected fall in gasoline stocks amid peak summer driving season demand.

Nigeria's powerful labor unions launched a general strike Wednesday to protest government price hikes, leaving many schools and banks shuttered and normally bustling streets quieter in Africa's oil giant.

Oil prices were little changed Friday after rising overnight to a nine-month-high finish on worries the U.S. refining industry can't meet peak summer gasoline demand.