Energy Sector Roundup: Sellers drive down oil

Following is a summary of top stories in the energy sector Monday afternoon.

As Gasoline Passes $4, Oil Falls Back

Gasoline prices continued to rise above a national average of $4 a gallon, but oil futures retreated after Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said he will not rule out intervention to stabilize the dollar _ boosting the greenback against the euro _ and Saudi Arabia said it will call for a meeting to discuss crude-oil prices.

Light, sweet crude for July delivery fell $4.19 to settle at $134.35 a barrel in volatile trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In other Nymex trading, July gasoline futures dropped 15.4 cents to settle at $3.394 a gallon, and July heating oil futures lost 9.7 cents to settle at $3.877 a gallon.

Natural-gas futures fell 89 cents to $12.604 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Saudi Arabia Wants Conference on Oil Prices

Saudi Arabia will call for a meeting of oil-producing countries and consumers to discuss soaring oil prices and work to prevent unjustified rise in prices.

Information and Culture Minister Iyad Madani says the kingdom will work with OPEC to "guarantee the availability of oil supplies now and in the future."

In a statement following the weekly Cabinet meeting, the minister said Saudi Arabia will work to control "unwarranted and unnatural" price hikes.

Miami Man Sues OPEC

A Miami lawyer is suing OPEC over the skyrocketing price of oil.

Attorney Larry Klayman claims in the lawsuit that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is violating U.S. antitrust laws by fixing oil prices.

The lawsuit claims OPEC is operating a conspiracy aimed at causing economic harm to the U.S. and other western nations.

BP CEO Calls for Lower Tariffs and Taxes

BP PLC Chief executive Tony Hayward told an oil and gas conference in Malaysia that governments should lower trade barriers and cut taxes for the industry to boost production and help stabilize global oil prices.

Hayward says the world is not short of petroleum resources, but high operating costs, rising taxes and lack of access are hampering investment in new production.

"The taxes that governments take from the oil and gas industry have continued to increase across the world," said Hayward. "I believe this is unsustainable and counterproductive. All it means is that we have less money to invest in new production," he said.

He also thinks government subsidies to shield consumers from rising oil prices cannot be maintained, strain public finances and discourage fuel efficiency.

Analysts Ponder Murphy Oil Malaysia Production

Analysts disagree on how much Murphy Oil Corp. stands to gain from its stake in a deepwater offshore Malaysian oilfield, with Goldman Sachs giving a strong recommendation and JPMorgan downgrading the stock.

Murphy owns an 80 percent stake in the Kikeh field, where it began drawing oil in August 2007. The company shares production with Malaysia's Petronas Carigali, which holds the remaining 20 percent.

Goldman Sachs analyst Arjun Murti upgraded the stock to "Buy" from "Neutral," raising his share price target to $115 from $105. He said that rising production from Kikeh puts the company in a position to benefit from record crude prices.

JPMorgan analyst Katherine Lucas Minyard said high oil prices have allowed Murphy to recover costs in Kikeh quicker than expected. But once the $1.8 billion in costs have been recovered, she said, the company will begin sharing profits with Petronas Carigali, and Murphy's gains from production will be smaller than Wall Street expects.

She downgraded the stock to "Underweight" from "Neutral."

The Kikeh field is about 75 miles offshore, beneath 4,300 feet of water. Murphy hopes to eventually produce 120,000 barrels of oil per day from it.

Murphy shares rose $1.32 to $94.64 in afternoon trading.

Truckers in Spain Protest High Fuel Costs

Tens of thousands of truckers in Spain are on strike over soaring fuel costs, parking their big rigs and snarling traffic around Madrid and Barcelona.

The Spanish protest is one of a number across Europe, and comes as a Spanish fishermen's protest against high fuel prices enters a second week, with smaller boats now joining the boycott, according to news reports.

Truckers warn their strike could bring the country to a standstill, if the government does not step in to help compensate them for high fuel costs.

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Duke Energy Unit Proposes Solar Installations

A unit of Duke Energy Corp. wants to spend about $100 million to install solar panels to generate electricity at as many as 850 sites.

The proposal, filed with the North Carolina Utilities Commission, aims to install the panels at schools, homes, stores and factories.

If approved, Duke Energy Carolinas would spend two years installing the panels, which will add about 16 megawatts of power, enough to power more than 2,600 homes, the company said.

Over the life of the program, it will increase the average customer's bill by no more than 25 cents a month, Duke said.

The plan helps Duke satisfy the state's requirement that 12.5 percent of its power come from renewables or energy efficiency projects by 2021.

--Compiled by AP Business Writer Greg Stec. Questions or comments can be directed to gstec@ap.org.