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Crude and gasoline futures both climbed to levels not seen since before the pandemic as Hurricane Laura rattled toward a key stretch of the U.S. Gulf Coast that is home to the nation’s greatest concentration of refining capacity.

Hurricane Laura is poised to strengthen rapidly and come ashore along the Texas-Louisiana coast as a tree-snapping Category 3 storm, forcing residents to flee their homes despite the threat of COVID-19.

For the second week in a row, the price of diesel remained essentially flat compared with the prior week, dipping just one-tenth of a cent to $2.426 a gallon, the Energy Information Administration reported Aug. 24.

Environmentalists and Alaska natives are challenging the Trump administration’s decision to sell drilling rights in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, arguing the government gave short shrift to the impact on polar bears and the region’s other wildlife.

Back-to-back tropical storms pose a combined threat to the U.S. Gulf Coast this week, where more than half of offshore oil production is already shut and residents from Texas to Florida are warily watching the skies.

Oil is poised for the first weekly decline this month as signs of stumbling recoveries in major economies from Europe to Asia threaten to delay a demand rebound.

Navistar Inc. joined a global coalition of industrial and automotive businesses pushing to create standards for electric vehicles, the company announced Aug. 20.

Advanced Clean Transportation on Aug. 18 kicked off a four-month series to discuss environmental sustainability in trucking and the challenges those efforts still face.

Valaris Plc became the latest casualty of the global slump in oil prices, filing for bankruptcy Aug. 19 as the world’s largest offshore rig owner by fleet size seeks to restructure a roughly $7 billion debt load.

General Motors Co. is accelerating its push into the fast-growing electric-car segment in China, the world’s largest market, seeking to challenge sales leader Tesla Inc. and a slew of local contenders.