Energy Sector Roundup: Oil, retail gas edge up to new highs

MTBE, or methyl tertiary butyl ether, is a chemical added to gasoline to boost its octane level and cut air pollution. It was first added to gasoline in 1979, but its use declined after it was found in some communities' drinking water supplies and banned in a number of states.

Iran sees oil at $200 a barrel soon

Iran's oil minister predicted oil prices will soon rise to $200 per barrel, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari attributed crude's recent spike to production slowdowns in Nigeria and the dollar's weakening against other currencies. A number of analysts around the world have cited both factors as contributing to the recent surge in crude.

"The time when the price of oil is $200 a barrel is not far," Nozari was quoted as saying. "In fact oil has not been expensive, the dollar has been weak," he added.

Iran is the second-largest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

U.S. unveils latest blueprint for "clean coal" plants

The U.S. Energy Department laid out plans to spend up to $1.3 billion on multiple "clean" coal-fired plants designed to capture carbon emissions and store them underground. The unveiling of the project kick-starts two weeks of public comment on the proposal.

The new proposal comes after the Energy Department killed an earlier plan that would have sited a plant in Mattoon, Illinois.

Rather than site the project in a single location, the department says it prefers to distribute the money out to several projects across the U.S.