US gas prices rise 4 cents per gallon

US gas prices rise 4 cents per gallon

CAMARILLO, Calif.

The average price of gasoline has increased 4 cents a gallon over the past two weeks to $2.84 a gallon.

Still, that’s a tiny increase compared with the 35-cent jump recorded over the previous five weeks.

Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg said Sunday that it’s also an indication gas prices may be close to peaking as the summer driving season approaches.

Lundberg says oil prices rose only slightly last week.

Meantime, with more refineries coming back online after maintenance, supplies should increase, stabilizing prices.

Ohio city will use drone to eye erosion

AVON LAKE

A northern Ohio city says it will employ a drone to monitor soil erosion along the Lake Erie shoreline.

Officials in Avon Lake, just west of Cleveland, say the drone will be a safer way to keep an eye on the cliffs along the lake.

They tell The Morning Journal in Lorain that the drone also will give more accurate readings on shoreline changes and cost less than lowering employees down the cliffs.

Avon Lake Mayor Greg Zilka says he wants to reassure residents that the drone won’t be used for surveillance of the city.

W.Va. intrastate pipeline to carry gas to Columbia line

CLARKSBURG, W.Va.

An intrastate pipeline under construction in northern West Virginia will help fill a need for new infrastructure to transport natural gas produced in the state to markets, state and industry officials said.

The Stonewall Gas Gathering pipeline will connect gas-producing areas in and around Doddridge and Harrison counties with Columbia Transmission’s interstate pipeline, which runs through Braxton County.

The new pipeline also will run through Lewis County, The Exponent Telegram reported.

“Any time you can build a pipeline that connects into a major transmission line, then you create capacity for wells that are drilled or will be drilled to produce,” said Charlie Burd, executive director of the Independent Oil and Natural Gas Association of West Virginia.

Report: Intel to offer $17 billion for Altera

Semiconductor chip maker Intel Corp. is expected to announce plans today to buy chip designer Altera Corp. for about $17 billion, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.

The deal, part of an ongoing wave of industry consolidation aimed at boosting revenue and profit, follows an earlier round of talks between the two companies that ended in April.

If the acquisition goes through, it likely would be the biggest in Intel’s 47-year history.

Intel, based in Santa Clara, Calif., is the world’s largest maker of PC chips and sells most of the chips used in servers, a much more profitable product.

Bidding window opens for annual Buffett lunch auction

OMAHA, Neb.

Billionaire Warren Buffett will again try to sell the world’s most-expensive lunch this week to raise money for a San Francisco charity that helps the poor and homeless.

Over the past 15 years, Buffett’s lunch auction has raised $17.9 million for the Glide Foundation. Buffett has often said that Glide gets remarkable results while helping “people that society had given up on.”

The 16th annual lunch auction started Sunday with a $25,000 minimum bid on eBay, and continues until 10:30 p.m. Friday.

Associated Press