"Energy companies are nervously following the investigation of Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s alleged corruption in Mexico. While the link between the energy industry and the retail behemoth isn't obvious, attorneys who advise oil and gas companies say the U.S. government will focus more on petroleum companies as a result of the Wal-Mart investigation."

"Spain's Repsol oil company announced Tuesday it was 'almost certain' to withdraw from exploration in Cuba, after spending an estimated $150 million on a dry well and seeing far more profitable prospects in other countries such as Brazil and Angola."

"TEHRAN, Iran - Computer technicians battling to contain a complex virus last month resorted to the ultimate firewall measures - cutting off Internet links to Iran's Oil Ministry, rigs, and the hub for nearly all the country's crude exports."

"SEATTLE -- The Seattle City Council unanimously passed a resolution Tuesday opposing the development of coal-export terminals in Washington state after raising concerns about increased train traffic and potential harm to health and the environment.

The vote came as the federal government is reviewing the first of at least six port facilities proposed in Washington and Oregon to ship coal from the Powder River basin of Montana and Wyoming to hungry markets in Asia.

"Job growth in the nation's coal fields has taken a hit amid tough market conditions for U.S. coal and competition from natural gas, according to a review of federal employment statistics."

"The Bureau of Land Management is advancing what could become the world's largest solar power project in a region of the Southern California desert where environmental groups and American Indian tribes have filed multiple federal lawsuits to stop already approved, large-scale renewables projects."

President Obama's preoccupation with Shell's proposal to drill for oil in the offshore Arctic -- even after the BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico -- appears to signal that it will be inevitable, barring a major legal challenge.