Maine heating oil price same as last week – $3.86 a gallon

AUGUSTA – Maine energy officials say there’s been no change since last week in the statewide average cash price for No. 2 heating oil, $3.86 per gallon.

The Governor’s Office of Energy Independence and Security conducted its weekly heating fuel price survey on Monday.

Energy Director Ken Fletcher says that since 2004, heating oil has increased from an average price of $1.93 per gallon to the current level of $3.86 per gallon.

With that trend in mind, Fletcher says consumers need to consider efficient alternative energy sources if they are going to have some control of their heating costs.

Fed to fine eight additional companies over foreclosures

WASHINGTON – The Federal Reserve said Monday that it plans to fine eight additional U.S. bank holding companies for improperly foreclosing on homeowners.

The financial firms – EverBank, Goldman Sachs Group, HSBC Holdings PLC, PNC Financial Services Group, MetLife, OneWest Bank, SunTrust Banks and U.S. Bancorp – were not part of last month’s settlement over alleged foreclosure abuses.

Suzanne G. Killian, a senior associate director at the Federal Reserve, called the fines “appropriate” during a congressional hearing in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Killian offered few details about the size of the fines or when they’ll be levied.

UPS to buy Dutch rival TNT, Europe’s No. 2 mail service

UPS is giving a vote of confidence to Europe with its $6.77 billion purchase of Dutch rival TNT Express, by far the company’s biggest deal ever.

After weeks of negotiations, the world’s largest package delivery company on Monday locked in a deal for Europe’s No. 2 express mail company. Although TNT has struggled during the European financial crisis, it’s a valuable prize that allows UPS to better compete with Germany’s DHL. UPS will have between one-quarter and one-third of the vast European package delivery market, according to an analyst’s estimate.

The deal also allows UPS to expand in growing markets such as Brazil, and comes at a time when business is picking up in the U.S.

UPS entered the European market with service to Germany in 1976.

– From news service reports

 

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