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1. Local refinery weighs return to oil

   Alon USA Energy Inc. is considering whether to start processing oil at its Rosedale Highway refinery, which has not refined crude in 3 1/2 years. The Dallas-based company confirmed this month that it hopes soon to begin hauling relatively...

2. Alon refinery ends hiatus

   Production has resumed at the Alon refinery on Rosedale Highway, ending a half-year hiatus brought on by difficult financial conditions. The restart was confirmed Wednesday by an official with the union that used to represent workers at the...

3. Mubarak health crisis comes along with new turmoil in Egypt

   CAIRO -- Egypt's Hosni Mubarak was moved out of prison to a military hospital Tuesday after the 84-year-old ousted leader suffered a stroke and his condition rapidly deteriorated, officials said, adding a new element of uncertainty just as...
4. 

   Monterey Shale brightens Kern's oil prospects

   Kern County's oil industry is working to tap a huge, previously overlooked reservoir that could greatly reduce California's dependence on foreign crude and support many local jobs. The Monterey Shale, a vast "source rock" discovered two...

5. Taft oil company TRC's cyber fraud loss becomes fodder for debate in Washington

   A Taft oil producer has become a poster child of sorts for cyber fraud after suspected Ukrainian thieves managed to remove almost $300,000 from a company bank account last fall. TRC Operating Co. Inc.'s unfortunate experience, now the...

6. Oil service company reaches into Bakersfield

   A large national company active in North Dakota's booming petroleum industry has stepped into Kern County's crowded oil services business with the purchase of a family-run operation with offices in Bakersfield and Colorado. The...

7. N. Dakota oil, brought here, could help gas prices

   Something curious is happening here in the heart of California oil country. A 26,000 barrel-a-day refinery on East Panama Lane is buying large amounts of crude from North Dakota and paying to have it hauled by train to Bakersfield, where...
9. 

   Deadly sinkhole still gushing but flow is easing

   Oil and dirty water continue to overflow -- albeit at a greatly reduced rate -- near a broken well that state investigators have linked to a deadly sinkhole west of Taft. Regulators reported this week that fluids totaling 30 barrels a day...

10. West Texas Intermediate: $82.14/barrel, up 93 cents; Midway-Sunset: $105.45/barrel, up 95 cents.

    West Texas Intermediate: $82.14/barrel, up 93 cents; Midway-Sunset: $105.45/barrel, up 95 cents. Oil rebounded Thursday following encouraging economic news in the U.S. and Europe. The Commerce Department said the U.S. economy grew a...

11. West Texas Intermediate: $81.21/barrel, down $3.24; Midway-Sunset: $104.50/barrel, down $3.25.

    West Texas Intermediate: $81.21/barrel, down $3.24; Midway-Sunset: $104.50/barrel, down $3.25. Oil gave up almost all of its gains for the week as the U.S. and Europe appeared to have little appetite for more fuel. Western countries...

12. West Texas Intermediate: $84.45/barrel, up $4.21; Midway-Sunset: $107.75/barrel, up $4.20.

    West Texas Intermediate: $84.45/barrel, up $4.21; Midway-Sunset: $107.75/barrel, up $4.20. Oil rose more than 5 percent Tuesday on hopes that European leaders are closer to drafting a plan to contain the region's debt crisis. Investors are...

13. West Texas Intermediate: $80.24/barrel, up 39 cents; Midway-Sunset: $103.55/barrel, up 40 cents.

    West Texas Intermediate: $80.24/barrel, up 39 cents; Midway-Sunset: $103.55/barrel, up 40 cents. Oil hovered around $80 a barrel Monday after new home sales dropped to a six-month low, adding to worries about energy demand in the slowing...

14. West Texas Intermediate: $80.51/barrel, down $5.41; Midway-Sunset: $104.15/barrel, down $5.50.

    West Texas Intermediate: $80.51/barrel, down $5.41; Midway-Sunset: $104.15/barrel, down $5.50. Oil prices fell more than 6 percent Thursday as gloomy data showed a world economy at risk of slipping into recession. Bad news emerged from...