The governors of North Carolina and Arkansas joined two of their Northeast peers onTuesday in asking the federal government to temporarily suspend the U.S. ethanol quota, piling pressure on President Barack Obama to make a tough choice months before the election.

Federal and state investigators are trying to determine how to safely enter the area where a fire broke out in a Chevron Corp. refinery last week so they can examine a failed pipe blamed for the blaze, which the company reportedly considered replacing nearly a year ago.

HONG KONG, Aug 14 (Reuters) - SouthGobi Resources Ltd said on Tuesday that it expectsstate-controlled Chalco to drop its takeover offer forthe Mongolia-focused coal miner as the Mongolian governmentopposes the deal.

"I personally believe Chalco is not continuing to work onthe deal," Southgobi Chief Executive Alex Molyneux told Reuters.

Tesoro Corp moved on Monday to create the biggest U.S. refining empire in the Pacific Basin with a $2.5 billion deal to buy BP's Carson plant in the isolated California market.

Oil company BP says it has agreed to sell its refinery in Carson, California and other West Coast assets to Tesoro Corp.

German utility E.ON stuck to its results forecasts for the year as it posted a sharp increase in first-half earnings thanks to new gas deals with Russia.

Federal investigators probing the cause of a massive Chevron oil refinery fire are focusing on possible corrosion in a decades-old pipe the company inspected late last year.

Several thousand Richmond residents have filed legal claims against Chevron Corp., seeking compensation for a refinery fire that fouled the region's air for hours.

Ogoniland needs the world's biggest oil clean-up, taking at least 25 years and costing an initial $1 billion. Shell and the government pledged to undertake it. One year on, residents say they've seen no evidence that it has begun.

By Peg Mackey and Andrew Callus
LONDON (Reuters) - Iraqi Kurdistan's crude oil is plentiful and easy to get at, rare among undeveloped energy resources. The man managing it, a former North Sea engineer and consultant turned politician, knows how to attract investment.