Gas prices in Cleveland hovered around the $4.20 per gallon in the past week, but may already be on the decline as oil prices fell 15 percent this week, the steepest decline in two and a half years. In the Northeast Ohio area, gas prices were already below $4 in the Tremont neighborhood on Cleveland's west side, where prices ranged from $3.96 to $3.99 per gallon, and prices of $4.09 were spotted in North Ridgeville and Downtown Cleveland. Some experts are now suggesting that gas prices could continue decline, hitting $3.50 by the end of May.

Small changes can already been seen, but don't expect prices to fall to $3.50 overnight. It will take some time for the lower oil prices to translate into lower gas prices for consumers.

Oil hit a two-year high of $114.83 in Monday trading, and closed Friday at $97.18. The plunge in oil was part of a sharp sell-off across various commodities this week. Analysts say that investors got nervous that metals, oil and grains had risen over the past few months to unrealistically high levels. Similarly, silver fell 28 percent, sugar was down 13 percent, and natural gas was down 10 percent this week.

In 2009, FirstEnergy was under quite a bit of fire for trying to force compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulb use on Ohioans by sending them out, unsolicited to their customers. If the light bulbs were free, no one would have cared, but the Akron-based utility company pallned to add an additional 60 cents to monthly electric bills for 3 years to cover the cost of the new light bulbs. The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio put a stop to the plan, asking FirstEnergy to make revisions. PUCO approved the plan on Wednesday after receiving a revised plan of action from FirstEnergy.

The only apparent revision in the plan is that the light bulbs will no longer be delivered to you unsolicited. If you want them, you have to ask for them, but they're still going to charge you that extra 60 cents per month for the next three years, so you may as well claim them. Customers are allowed to ask for up to six bulbs.

It seems that the new plan favors FirstEnergy even more. By making consumers request the bulbs, there will undoubtedly be those who do not request them. Those who don't request the bulbs will still be charged the extra fee, increasing the utility company's profits because they don't have to give them the bulbs that they're already forcing them to pay for.

Gas prices have been on the rise throughout the United States for the past few weeks. On Sunday, White House Chief of Staff William Daley said that the Obama administration was considering tapping into the U.S. strategic oil reserve as a way to help ease soaring gas prices.

Daley spoke on "Meet the Press", and said:

"We are looking at the options. The issue of the reserves is one we are considering. It is something that only is done -- and has been done -- in very rare occasions. There's a bunch of factors that have to be looked at. And it is just not the price.

All matters have to be on the table when you see the difficulty coming out of this economic crisis we're in and the fragility."

Congress has been putting pressure on President Obama to look to the emergency oil supply to ease consumer fear over rising gasoline prices. At the current rate of increase, gas prices are threatening to surpass $4 per gallon.

Higher gas prices would undermine the already fragile American economy, and could damage Obama's political career as he moves towards his 2012 re-election bid.

Saudi Arabia has decided to increase is oil output about 8 percent to above 9 million barrel per day (bpd), to make up for a halt in Libyan exports. This moves follows reassurances from Ridyadh earlier in the week that it was prepared to act to prevent shortages as a result of the rebellion against leader Muammar Gaddafi in Libya that has severely reduced the country's 1.3 million bpd of oil exports.

With Saudi Arabia increasing the oil output, prices have fallen further from the highest since 2008.

A source familiar with Saudi production said:

"We have started producing over 9 million barrels per day. We have a lot of production capacity."

Saudi Arabia is the only country that is capable of pumping the such large amounts of extra oil on short notice. The OPEC nation occasionally steps in to meet shortages or when it feels that prices have risen to levels that could threaten economic growth or oil demand.

Meanwhile, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has not issued any calls for a formal increase, and is not planning to meet until June.

BP, who must pay fines for the oil that spilled into the Gulf of Mexico when the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded in late April, is now claiming that the U.S. government estimates on the size of the spill are far too high, by as much as 20 to 50 percent. Of course, there's a reason they'd like to argue that the spill was much smaller -- the more oil spilled means the more fines they have to pay.

BP attorneys made the arguement during an October 21 meeting with staff members of the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling. This information was revealed at a hearing on Friday.

BP also is taking issue with one of the presidential oil spill commission's draft reports, stating that the assertion that "a consensus is emerging that roughly 5 million barrels of oil were released by the Macondo well is both premature and inaccurate."

Furthermore, BP said that estimates by the Energy Department and an inter-agency group "appear biased toward the maximum amount of oil that could have been discharged, rather than the amount of oil most likely to have been discharged."

The penalties for spilling oil start at $1,000 a barrel, but can rise up to $4,300 if negligence can be proved.

In light of the massive BP oil spill earlier this year, the Obama administration is set to announce a new seven-year policy on Wednesday that will prohibit all new oil drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico.

The ban on new drilling leases off Florida is in addition to new safety regulations that were imposed since the oil spill on April 20, 2010, which was the worst offshore oil spill in US history.

Immediately after the catastrophe, President Obama put into place a controversial moratorium banning all deepwater oil drilling in the Gulf. This was partially lifted in October after objections were raised by local communities that their economies were being destroyed by the ban.

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar was scheduled to formally announce the ban later Wednesday.

Three companies have teamed up on a joint venture known as Great Lakes Ohio Wind to develop the first offshore wind farm in the Great Lakes. The privately held construction giant Bechtel, along with Cavallo Great Lakes Ohio Wind LLC and Great Lakes Wind Energy LLC, will own and develop the wind farm.

The group announced Tuesday that it is planning to build a five-turbine, 20 megawatt pilot wind farm from 5 to 10 miles offshore from Cleveland. Construction is set to start later this year.

If you're like me, you were taken aback this weekend when heading out to the gas pump. In the morning, when I filled up my gas tank, gas was priced at $2.65 per gallon. By the time I began my evening commute home, gas was a staggering 20 cents higher at $2.85/gallon. Now, it's expected to jump to at least $3/gallon, but why? You can thank a break in a major pipeline that feeds Canadian crude oil to Midwestern refineries for that.

Unfortunately, the repair won't be quick and could take up to 60 days to fix. Speculation about the lengthy repairs has already led to talks of a possible gas shortage in some areas.

Last Thursday, Enbridge Energy Partners of Houston shut down a pipeline about 30 miles south of Chicago. This particular pipeline would carry about 459,000 barrels of crude oil daily to regional refineries. A leak in the line allowed more than 6,000 barrels of oil to spill onto a road before it was able to be shut off.

Wholesale prices quickly shot up in the Midwest. Dealers were paying between $2.20 and $2.30 per gallon, whereas a week ago they were paying $2.10. The average price at pumps for consumers on Monday was $2.79, according to AAA.

On Friday, Alabama attorney general Troy King announced that the state was suing BP Plc., Halliburton, and Transocean for "catastrophic harm" caused by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Alabama is the first state to sue BP for damage from the worst oil spill in United States' history.

Alabama's decision stems from the fear that economic victims will not be adequately compensated, and that BP will shirk its financial responsibility.

King explained:

"We are making this claim because we believe that BP has inflicted catastrophic harm on the state ... We are suing them for the amount it will take to make Alabama whole."

Amongst others, the lawsuit also named Anadarko Petroleum Corp.

Transocean was the owner of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig that exploded and sank in April. BP hired the rig. Hallburton provided the cement work for the well, and Anadarko was a minority owner.

The lawsuit alleges:

"It is believed the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon was a blowout relating to the cementing work."

It also accuses BP and other defendents of "negligent or wanton failure to adhere to recognized industry standards of care." Furthermore, the lawsuit says:

The Gulf of Mexico and the coastline surrounding it has had its fair share of oil-leak related problems in recent months, and now it's about to get worse. During the early morning hours on Tuesday, a boat struck an oil well and now there is a second leak in the Gulf.

A barge collided with the well, shearing off its valve structure and releasing pressurized natural gas and light oil. The welli s located in Barataria Bay, which is south of New Orleans. According to the Jefferson Parish Homeland Security Director, Deano Bonano, the area has been evacuated and a US Coast Guard team is on its way to the accident site.

The USCG will be responsible for coordinating the response from command centers in Mobile, Alabama and New Orleans. Clean-up workers are currently using a boom to contain the spill, however, oil is still shooting up at least 20 feet in the air.

Bonano says that a contractor who handles the well is also on the way. Federal officials do not yet know who owns the well.