Feds approve partial start of pipeline that ruptured

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration has approved the partial start of Exxon Mobil Corp.’s Silvertip oil pipeline in Montana.

The regulator approved the startup plan for a 20-mile section of the line from Laurel, Mont., to Billings, Damon Hill, a spokesman for the agency, said in an email.

The 12-inch pipeline was shut July 1 after rupturing and leaking an estimated 1,176 barrels of oil into the Yellowstone river, according to the Montana Department of Environmental Quality.

 

Kraft Foods cuts prices on two brands of coffee

Kraft Foods Inc. is lowering coffee prices in the U.S. by about 6 percent, a week after J.M. Smucker Co. announced a similar reduction.

Kraft said Tuesday that the price reduction covers its Maxwell House and Yuban brands and excludes Gevalia, Tassimo and the Maxwell House International line of specialty soluble beverages.

The Kraft price cut translates to 20 cents per pound on roast and ground coffees and 2 cents per ounce on instant coffees.

Smucker’s price cut, also by about 6 percent, primarily affects its Dunkin’ Donuts, Folgers and Folgers Gourmet Selections lines.

 

Dish seeking permission to build wireless network

Satellite TV broadcaster Dish Network is asking regulators to let it build a wireless broadband network. Having one would let Dish compete more effectively with cable companies that can bundle broadband and TV signals.

In a filing late Monday, Dish Network Corp. asked the Federal Communications Commission to let it use the wireless spectrum of satellite company TerreStar Corp., which it bought out of bankruptcy, for ground-based broadband service.

The Englewood, Colo., company didn’t say when it would build the network or how many people it would cover. It plans to use a technology for which devices could show up in 2014.

 

Boeing, Japanese airline prepare to put 787 in service

The new Boeing 787 is moving closer to its first commercial flight.

Boeing said Tuesday on Twitter that a certification event will be held Friday. All Nippon Airways, the first customer scheduled to receive the plane, said on its website that regular service aboard the 787 will begin Nov. 1.

The Japan-based airline said the 787’s first regular commercial flight will be from Tokyo’s Haneda airport to Okayama, Japan.

Boeing completed flight tests with Rolls-Royce engines Aug. 17 and plans to deliver the first 787 to ANA in September.

Delivery is about three years late. Boeing has orders for more than 800 of the planes from 55 customers.

 

Sprint to start selling iPhone in mid-October

Sprint Nextel Corp., the country’s third-largest cellphone company, will start selling the iPhone in mid-October, The Wall Street Journal said Tuesday.

Citing unnamed people familiar with the matter, the newspaper said the wireless company will get to sell both the new iPhone 5 and the current model, the iPhone 4. The iPhone 5 will launch at the same time that AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless get it, the newspaper said.

Apple Inc. normally launches a new iPhone model in June or July, but this year’s launch has been delayed for unknown reasons. Apple watchers had expected the new phone to arrive in September, but speculation has recently shifted toward October.

 

Agency: More natural gas from shale than thought

The U.S. Geological Survey said Tuesday that the Marcellus Shale region contains some 84 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered, recoverable natural gas, far more than thought nearly a decade ago.

Tuesday’s figure is much higher than the last government assessment in 2002, which suggested about 2 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas.

The USGS said the estimate came from new data about the gas-rich formation underlying New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia, and from technical improvements in how wells are drilled.

Environmental groups have expressed concerns that the process of extracting the gas from deep underground could contaminate the water supply. But gas industry groups welcomed the independent government estimate.

 

Heinz reports sales growth, though profits are slipping

H.J. Heinz Co.’s profit for the fiscal first quarter fell 6 percent as the world’s largest ketchup maker shuttered plants and slashed jobs. But, excluding these cost-cutting measures, results beat Wall Street estimates because of sales growth in emerging markets.

Officials said the company’s performance exceeded their expectations although it faced tough economies in developed markets like the U.S. because of strong growth in places such as China and Brazil.

Heinz, like most food and beverage companies, has been working to improve efficiency as it faces higher costs for commodities and as American consumers continue to cut back on spending during the economic downturn.

 

Copy the Story Link