This is bad news considering that refineries had been running flat out in recent months to keep up with high demand.

ECONOMIST: Oil and troubled waters | The

"The people I talk to inside the company say they're running flat out, " says a former top PDVSA executive who, like many in Caracas, is fearful of being identified.

FORBES: Magazine Article

The scowling men in long dark coats and hats, led by the severely elegant John Dillinger (Johnny Depp), march into some grand Midwestern bank, take over the place, throw the cash in bags, and make their getaway, jumping onto the running boards of flat-topped black Fords.

NEWYORKER: Public Enemies

In addition, some vehicles have broken down due to running out of fuel and flat batteries and they also need to be recovered from the hard shoulder, they said.

BBC: A2 closed near Gravesend after car transporter crash

In other words, when Steve Forbes was running for president on his Flat Tax plan in 1996, the public saw no burning need for fundamental tax reform, and no reason to put up with the inequities (even minor ones) that reform invariably brings.

FORBES: Fundamental Tax Reform Is Now Unstoppable

Eaton will be able to attach its sensors and connect all the wiring back to a flat-panel display running the Windows CE operating system in the cab.

FORBES: Power trains made sexy

Then Carol got a running start and barrelled into the nest, knocking it flat.

NEWYORKER: Max at Sea

Shafquat Saleem helped torched the Edinburgh flat in June 2001 during a long-running family feud with relatives.

BBC: Barn Park after the fire

His mute and illiterate mother, and her extended family, raised her two sons in a small flat in Algiers with neither a lavatory nor running water.

ECONOMIST: In search of the real Camus

The BRC said that, after allowing for inflation, overall sales were flat in December, which, together with rising costs, meant retailers were "running fast to stand still".

BBC: Branch of Debenhams in Liverpool