Crude oil stockpiles fall 2.8 million barrels

Crude oil inventories declined by 2.8 million barrels on the week ending July 10, at 344.5 million barrels, the Department of Energy said on its weekly report on U.S. stockpiles on Wednesday. Gasoline inventories increased by 1.5 million barrels last week, and distillate fuel inventories including heating oil and diesel raised by 0.6 million barrels, the EIA reported.

FutureGen project moves forward

The U.S. Department of Energy and the FutureGen Alliance moved forward to proceed with site-specific activities for the first commercial scale, fully integrated, carbon capture and sequestration project in the U.S. After these activities, in early 2010, the Department and the Alliance will decide whether to construct and operate the coal-fueled 275-megawatt facility, the DOE announced.

U.S.-China agree on Clean Energy Research Center

The United States and China agreed to develop a joint Clean Energy Research Center that will focus on building energy efficiency, clean coal including carbon capture and storage, and clean vehicles. Each country pledged $15 million to support initial activities, the Department of Energy said.

4 North American geothermal firms plan to merge

Four North American geothermal companies Polaris Geothermal Inc, Western GeoPower Corp, GTO Resources Inc and Ram Power announced plans to merge on Wednesday and raise the equivalent to $90 million, Reuters reported.

China Energy