The Department of Energy recently gave out $564 million in grant money to biofuels research.

The weekend will bring with it Big Oil quest for work in Iraq's big fields.

Editor's Note: This article was written by Fawzia Sheikh of OilPrice.com which offers free information and analysis on energy and commodities. Sheikh focuses on fossil fuels alternative energy metal oil prices and geopolitics.As multinational military forces have left Iraq international petroleum companies have eagerly descended -- seduced by the long-term potential of vast oil reserves off-limits to foreigners for decades. Yet lingering violence legal questions and political uncertainty make doing business in this country a gamble.In the first international oil auction held last June and widely seen as a failure the Iraqi government awarded a firm contract to only ...

BANGALORE, INDIA--December 8, 2009--Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--BP plc (NYSE:BP) (London, England) and Eni SpA (NYSE:E) (Rome, Italy), through their 50:50 joint ventures--Virginia International Company Indonesia (VICO) and Virginia International Company (VIC)--have acquired a major share in a production-sharing contract recently signed with the Indonesian government to produce coal-bed methane (CBM) from the Sanga-Sanga block in East Kalimantan. The gas will be liquefied and in all probability supplied by pipeline to the Bontang liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant.

Other companies featured: Japan Petroleum Exploration Company Limited (TYO:1662), Osaka Gas Company (TYO:9532), Nippon Mining Holdings (TYO:5016), Sumitomo Corporation (TYO:8053)

Finding these stocks on U.S. indexes can be difficult, so here's a start.

Bruce Vincent, CEO of Houston's Swift Energy and chairman of the Independent Petroleum Association of America today declared the industry's campaign against President Obama's proposals to eliminate oil and gas company tax breaks a success -- at least for now,...

As multinational military forces have left Iraq, international petroleum companies have eagerly descended - seduced by the long-term potential of vast oil reserves off-limits to foreigners for decades. Yet lingering violence, legal questions and political uncertainty make doing business in this country a gamble. In the first international oil auction held ...

What seemed like a small leak of a mix of oil and water from the North Slope oil fields a week ago is looking more like one of the area's largest, with about 46,000 gallons leaking onto the frozen tundra....

Pennsylvania officials have fined Schlumberger and Chesapeake Energy each $15,557 for a 295-gallon hydrochloric acid spill at a natural gas drilling site earlier this year: "Fortunately, this hazardous waste spill was promptly reported, which proved critical in limiting the environmental...

Upstream capital costs continue to drop... (IHS-CERA) The cost of building oil and gas exploration and production projects dropped four percent in the past six months, but operating costs increased by 1 percent, according to research firm IHS CERA,...

Companies featured in this segment: Fiat (OTC:FIATY), Scottish and Southern Energy plc (OTC:SSEZY), E.ON AG (OTC:EONGY), BP plc (NYSE:BP), RWE AG (OTC:RWEOY), General Electric Company (NYSE:GE), Eni SpA (NYSE:E), BP plc (NYSE:BP), Emerson Electric Company (NYSE:EMR), Korea Electric Power Corporation (NYSE:KEP), Reliance Industries Limited (BSE:500325), Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX), Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM), Total S.A. (NYSE:TOT)

Companies featured in this segment: Sunoco Incorporated (NYSE:SUN), Eni S.p.A (NYSE:E), Royal Dutch Shell plc (NYSE:RDS.A), National Grid plc (NYSE:NGG), developer Iberdrola SA (OTC:IBDRY)

Companies featured in this segment: Honeywell International Incorporated (NYSE:HON), E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (NYSE: DD), Total SA (NYSE:TOT), ConocoPhilips (NYSE:COP), BASF SE (OTC:BASFY), ENI SpA (NYSE:E), E.ON AG (OTC:EONGY), Scottish and Southern Energy plc (OTC:SSEZY), Drax Group plc (LSE:DRX), Al Ezz Steel Rebars SAE (CAI:ESRS), Al Ezz Dekheila Steel SAE (CAI:IRAX)

Companies featured in this segment: Dominion Energy (NYSE:D), FPL Group Incorporated (NYSE:FPL), General Electric Company (NYSE:GE), Dow Chemical Company (NYSE:DOW), The Shaw Group Incorporated (NYSE:SHAW), ABB Limited (NYSE:ABB), Mitsui & Company Limited (NASDAQ:MITSY), Siemens AG (NYSE:SI), Canadian Solar Incorporated (NASDAQ:CSIQ), GDF Suez SA (EPA:GSZ), Eni SpA (NYSE:E), Energie Baden-Wuerttemberg AG (ETR:EBK), E.ON AG (OTC:EONGY), Marubeni Corporation (OTC:MARUY), SNC-Lavalin Group Incorporated (TSX:SNC)

Companies featured in this segment: Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F), Huntsman Corporation (NYSE:HUN), Eni SpA (NYSE:E), BASF SE (OTC:BASFY), Dow Chemical Company Limited (NYSE:DOW), Nevada Geothermal Power Incorporated (OTC:NGLPF), Scottish and Southern Energy plc (OTC:SSEZY), Heritage Oil plc (LSE:HOIL), Tullow Oil plc (LSE:TLW), Tower Resources plc (LSE:TRP)