Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.energy From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: energy Wed, Feb 19 1992 Date: Wed, 19 Feb 92 06:39:08 EST Message-ID: DECISIONLINE: Energy USA TODAY Update Feb. 19, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network ARCTIC DRILLING NO LONGER ISSUE: An amendment to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling was withdrawn from a Senate energy bill Tuesday. Shortly before the Senate was to debate the matter, Sen. Frank Murkowski, R-Alaska, backed off introducing the amendment. "Politics has overtaken policy," he later said. Opponents had threatened to defeat the entire energy bill if the measure was included. OIL PRICES PLUNGE ON NYMEX: Oil futures traders, disappointed over OPEC's inability to agree on output cuts, sent crude prices down $1.34 cents Tuesday, their biggest one-day drop in more than a year. Crude oil for delivery in March closed at a five-week low of $18.12 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil hasn't made a one-day move that large since a $2.88 fall on Jan. 22, 1991. REFINED PRODUCTS FALL: Refined petroleum products also posted losses on the Mercantile Exchange Tuesday. Heating oil for March delivery fell 3.17 cents to 51.32 cents a gallon; March unleaded gasoline fell 2.40 cents to 55.08 cents a gallon. Natural gas for delivery in March rose 0.2 cent to 1.045 cents per 1,000 cubic feet. All other natural gas contracts retreated. NO COMMON GROUND ON DRILLING: Lobbyists in the debate over whether to boost U.S. reliance on offshore oil and gas drilling are girding for a battle royale this week. After nearly two weeks of negotiations, lawmakers still have not found compromise language that would avert a floor fight when the offshore drilling provisions of a sweeping energy bill are debated in the Senate this week. (For more, see special Drilling package below.) GAS PUMP PRICES RISE: The price of gasoline at the pump snapped a 12-week slide, rising .4 cent last week, the American Automobile Association said Tuesday. The nationwide average price for a gallon of self-serve regular unleaded rose to $1.049, the auto club said. It was the first increase recorded by AAA since Nov. 19, when the price was $1.143 per gallon. PHILLIPS TO CUT 1,100 JOBS: Phillips Petroleum Co. said Tuesday it will cut about 1,100 jobs by the end of June. The cuts will affect 850 employees and 100 full-time contract personnel in Bartlesville, where the company is based. About 150 employees at the Houston office and several field locations also will be laid off. Phillips, the nation's 11th largest oil company, said it expects to save $150 million in costs. OIL STOCKS BATTERED: Stocks of many oil producers suffered Tuesday as the OPEC was unable to agree on substantial oil-production cuts. That led to the biggest one-day drop in oil prices in more than a year on the Mercantile Exchange. Dean Witter downgraded many oil stocks to hold or swap. Atlantic Richfield fell 1 1:2 to $103 7:8. Amerada Hess plunged 3 1:4 to $40 1:4. Chevron slid 2 1:8 to $61 5:8. DESIGNS TO SPEED UP PROCESS: The nuclear power industry is awaiting approval of four standardized nuclear plant designs. When those are approved, a utility will be able to build a plant in four years, with another two to three years required for public hearings before an operating permit is issued. That could cut the time required to get a plant built and operating down to six years from the current 14 years. BORDER CHANGE GOOD FOR KUWAIT: Kuwait would be given several Iraqi oil wells and part of a naval base as a result of a United Nations border proposal. The U.N. Commission, established as part of the Gulf war ceasefire agreement, isn't expected to present its findings until April. The demarcation will place in Kuwaiti territory between five and seven oil wells in the Iraqi portion of the Rumalia oilfield. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON DRILLING: SIDES HAVE BEEN CHOSEN: A brewing battle over offshore drilling provisions of the Senate energy bill leaves Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., and other anti-drilling lawmakers pitted squarely against the bill's architect, Sen. Bennett Johnston, D-La., the powerful chairman of the Senate Energy Committee. And the special-interest groups, with their powerful lobbying campaigns, are lined up right behind them. INDUSTRY BACKING JOHNSTON: The oil industry is backing Johnston, who has drafted his energy bill to make it easier for the federal government to lease offshore tracts to private companies for oil and natural gas exploration. The bill also paves the way for overturning temporary bans on new leasing off Florida and other coastal states. Environmentalists are resting their hopes on Graham. GRAHAM WANTS TO BAN LEASING: Graham wants to ban new leasing of tracts within 100 miles of Florida and give coastal state's more power to stop drilling on parcels already leased off their shorelines. Observers say Graham has a good chance of winning a ban on new leasing within 100 miles of his state's coast - lawmakers from New Jersey and California have won similar deals in exchange for their support of the bill. COMMUNITIES OFFERED INCENTIVES: However, Graham is being asked to give up efforts to stop development of gas finds on tracts already leased off Northwest Florida. As further incentive to allow those operations to go forward, Johnston's bill offers communities near offshore drilling operations a share of the revenues from the government's leasing of the property for exploration. (End of package.) Energy Editor: William Snoddy. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. 08:0002190000D0219 HEAL- R P Leaks-may-cause-immune-problems....... A D0219 This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM