Oil settled slightly higher Wednesday April 27, 2011 after Fed chairman Ben Bernanke said the nation's economy will continue to recover. Here's how energy contracts traded.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange:

Crude rose 55 cents to settle at $112.76 per barrel.

Gasoline gained 5.10 cents to settle at $3.2481 a gallon.

Heating oil gave up 2.08 cents to settle at $3.2481 a gallon.

Natural gas fell 1 cent to settle at $4.377 per 1,000 cubic feet.

On the ICE Futures exchange: Read more »

Ron Hilliard came home from church one Sunday to find hundreds of plastic $5, $10, $20 and $100 bills hanging on his fence in Flower Mound, another message from townsfolk angry at him for signing a natural gas drilling lease for his suburban Dallas property.

In Damascus, Pa., about 1,500 miles away, drilling advocate Marian Schweighofer found the word "LORAX" — from the Dr. Seuss book about environmental destruction — spray-painted on the road near her family's farm. Read more »

Scientists say it is taking far too long to dole out millions of dollars in BP funds for badly needed Gulf oil spill research, and it could be too late to assess the crude's impact on pelicans, shrimp and other species by the time studies begin.

The spring nesting and spawning season is a crucial time to get out and sample the reproduction rates, behavior and abundance of species, all factors that could be altered by last year's massive spill.

Yet no money has been made available for this year, and it could take months to determine which projects will be funded. Read more »

For the first time in more than 25 years, drilling is being conducted in southeast Nebraska to determine how much of a valuable and rare heat-resistant element lies hidden underground.

The drilling that began Thursday night is part of a Canadian mining company's exploration of the site. Quantum Rare Earth Developments is trying to determine whether to build a mine to retrieve niobium and possibly other rare elements from more than 500 feet underground. Read more »