Heating oil declines to $3.70, up 14 cents from a year ago

State officials say the cost of a gallon of home heating oil in Maine has dropped 6 cents in the past week to an average of $3.70. Still, the current price is 14 cents higher than at the same time last year.

The Governor’s Energy Office reported Monday that the drop in heating oil and kerosene prices may be due to a projected surplus in global oil output for the last quarter of 2012. Decreased turmoil in the Middle East, combined with fewer transportation and production problems in some parts of the world, are considered to be factors.

The lowest prices for heating oil were in the southwest of the state, where it averaged $3.63 per gallon. The highest prices were in the northern reaches, where the average was $3.84.

Cargo shipping suspended on turbulent Great Lakes

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. – Cargo shipping on the Great Lakes is at a standstill as crews have taken refuge from waves up to 20 feet high churned up by superstorm Sandy.

Freighters as long as 1,000 feet haul loads of iron ore, coal and other bulk commodities on the lakes. Most if not all have taken refuge in harbors or bays to escape the storm’s wrath.

Glen Nekvasil of the Lake Carriers’ Association said Tuesday he wasn’t aware of ships moving anywhere on the lakes. His Cleveland-based organization represents U.S.-flagged vessels. Robert Lewis-Manning of the Canadian Shipowners Association says everything had come to a halt in Canadian waters as well.

Bad weather has caused many shipwrecks on the lakes, including the legendary ore carrier Edmund Fitzgerald that sank in a monster 1975 Lake Superior storm.

Emails indicate White House sought solar loan guarantee

DENVER – Emails between an independent consultant and the Obama administration suggest the consultant felt pressure to help arrange a loan guarantee for a Colorado solar panel manufacturer that later went bankrupt.

The House Committee on Energy and Commerce asked the administration this month to explain what the U.S. Department of Energy knew about problems with a $400 million federal loan guarantee awarded to Abound Solar. The Loveland-based company filed for bankruptcy protection this summer and laid off about 125 workers after spending approximately $70 million of its loan guarantees.

Emails between the department and an independent consultant, Jim McCrea, suggest McCrea felt pressure to help arrange the loan guarantee. In a 2010 email sent about two months before the loan was announced, McCrea said technical analysts “have major issues with the transaction,” including company plans for a second plant and the high price of mineral supplies needed by the firm.

Despite the warnings, the Energy Department told an agency contractor that the “WH (White House) wants to move Abound forward.”

The documents first appeared on CompleteColorado.com, a website operated by the Colorado-based, free-market-oriented Independence Institute. The Denver Post reported on the documents Tuesday.

An Abound spokesman didn’t return phone calls seeking comment.