Ohio Gov. John R. Kasich vetoed a state senate bill that included an expansion of the state’s exemption from the sales tax of tangible personal property tax directly used in the production of oil and gas that was retroactive to 2010.

US commercial crude oil inventories, excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, increased 600,000 bbl for the week ended Dec. 23 compared with the previous week, the US Energy Information Administration reported.

ExxonMobil Corp.’s Muruk-1 well was drilled to 10,630 ft and encountered similar high-quality sandstone reservoirs as in Hides field 13 miles to the southeast. Hides field is the main source of gas for the new Papua New Guinea LNG project.

Crude oil prices for February delivery rose slightly on the New York and London markets on Dec. 28 pending release of the weekly US oil and product inventory report, scheduled for Dec. 29, which was a day later than normal because of the Christmas holiday.

A new report finds that governments are paying closer attention to energy conservation programmes as part of meeting emissions reduction targets.

The report by The Economist Intelligence Unit cites International Energy Agency research showing that in 2030, energy efficiency will account for 49 per cent of global greenhouse gas reduction.

The report considers efficiency initiatives in five developed countries: the UK, Canada, Germany, France and the US.

The initiatives fall into three main categories: increasing access to information on energy use and ways to reduce it; offering incentives in the form of grants, loans or tax breaks for upgrades; and supporting or directly providing energy-use labelling and ratings systems for products and for buildings.

Gains-sharing deals between building owners and tenants, in which tenants’ energy charges are based on actual use and tenants share some of the costs of upgrades, have proven useful in boosting the energy efficiency of buildings, the research finds. The US ‘energy star’ product labelling scheme has also been successful in saving energy and reducing emissions.

However the report states that while promoting investment in energy efficiency, governments have identified a risk in the ‘rebound effect’, in which consumers – encouraged by greater energy efficiency of appliances – buy more gadgets that drive up their overall energy use.

To download the report click here