Energy in America

___ Apple's tax break yields big dividend boost, stock buybacks SAN JOSE, Calif.

A plan to temporarily store tons of spent fuel from U.S. commercial nuclear reactors in New Mexico is drawing fire from critics who say the federal government needs to consider more alternatives.

The parent company of Maine's largest electricity utility could earn about $60 million a year through a new project that would bring power from Quebec to Massachusetts.

Regulators have approved a $1.8 million natural gas pipeline project in northwestern North Dakota.

Shares were higher in Japan and Australia on Tuesday while most other major Asian markets were closed for public holidays.

BP says first-quarter earnings surged 70 percent as the energy company profited from rising oil prices and increased production.

Officials say crews have finished capping and sealing two electric cables that were severed by a suspected boat anchor strike in the waterway that connects Lake Huron and Lake Michigan.

The Latest on sage grouse protections in Western U.S. states: (all times local): 2:45 p.m. Environmental groups have started a new court battle over protections for an imperiled bird on Western U.S. public lands but called a truce in a separate lawsuit involving the bird's smaller cousin.

A burst of corporate deals and strong earnings reports helped push U.S. stock indexes higher in early trading Monday.

Environmental groups are suing the Trump administration for selling oil and gas leases on huge swaths of Western U.S. public lands while allegedly ignoring policies meant to protect an imperiled bird.

The Latest on a court hearing over lawsuit a Louisiana oil pipeline (all times local): 11:10 a.m.

A company building a crude oil pipeline in Louisiana is asking a federal appeals court to throw out a judge's order that had halted construction work in an environmentally fragile swamp.

With drivers beginning to take note of rising prices at the pump, Marathon Petroleum is buying the refiner and pipeline owner Andeavor for more than $23 billion, creating a refiner with an extensive reach across the U.S. Marathon, based in Findlay, Ohio, has operations concentrated in the East while Andeavor, formerly known as Tesoro, has operations in the West.

Shares were higher in Europe and Asia on Monday following the release of better-than-expected manufacturing data for China.

Get ready for a little bit more pain at the pump this summer.

Shares were higher in Hong Kong, Australia and South Korea on Monday following the release of reassuring manufacturing data for China, though a number of Asian markets are closed for holidays.

Libya's oil agency says a transport plane has crashed just outside one of the country's largest oil fields, killing three crew members.

Austria's OMV has signed a deal worth $1.5 billion for a 20 percent stake in two offshore concessions in the United Arab Emirates' capital, Abu Dhabi.

__ US economic growth slowed to 2.3 percent pace in Q1 WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy slowed to a moderate 2.3 percent annual growth rate in the first quarter as consumer spending turned in the weakest performance in nearly five years.