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 Thu, Mar 5 1992 Date: Thu, 5 Mar 92 05:55:52 EST Message-ID: 03-05 0000 DECISIONLINE: Energy USA TODAY Update March 5, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network CRUDE PRICES FALL: Oil prices were mixed Wednesday as the market digested supply figures. Light sweet crude oil for delivery in April settled at $18.63 a barrel, down 1 cent, on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Later contract months were higher. Lower-grade sour crude for May delivery fell 4 cents to $15.96 a barrel. Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute said the USA's crude supply rose last week. REFINED PRODUCTS UP: Refined petroleum products posted gains on the New York Merc Wednesday. Home heating oil for April delivery rose half a cent to 51.42 cents a gallon. April unleaded gasoline rose 0.55 cent to 59.61 cents a gallon. In natural gas trading, the April contract rose 2.4 cents to $11.91 per 1,000 cubic feet. API said Tuesday that heating oil and gasoline stocks fell last week. GM PLANS TO WIN ELECTRIC RACE: General Motors Corp.'s new electric car won't be on the market for at least a year or two, but the automaker is wasting little time. While other automakers are testing electric concept cars and demonstration fleets, GM is diving in with a promise to mass-produce a sporty electric by the mid-1990s. "We are in a race," says Kenneth R. Baker, head of GM's electric vehicle project. (For more, see special GM package below.) DOMESTIC PRODUCERS WIN SUPPORT: The Bush Administration supports giving U.S. oil and gas producers some tax relief to spur domestic drilling, Treasury Secretary Nicholas Brady said Wednesday. In a letter circulated on Capitol Hill, Brady said President Bush recognizes the oil industry was suffering and would benefit from changes to the alternative minimum tax. The letter was written to Sen. Don Nickles, R-Okla. INTANGIBLES ARE 75% OF COSTS: Oil producers have long argued that the alternative minimum tax deters them from drilling because it prohibits them from deducting certain expenses from their taxable income. These include intangible drilling costs - the expenses of drilling and bringing an oil well to production. They represent 75% of the cost of drilling, says the Independent Petroleum Producers Association. DISPUTE OVER NUKE PLANT SETTLED: Westinghouse Electric Corp. said Wednesday that it and the Republic of the Philippines have agreed to settle their dispute over Westinghouse's construction of a nuclear power plant there. Under the agreement, the Philippines will pay Westinghouse $400 million to upgrade and remobilize the mothballed plant. The plant has been virtually complete since 1985 but has never been operated. GROUP FORMED TO FIGHT DUMP: Citizens Against Nuclear Waste in Nevada, or CANWIN, was formed Wednesday to fight the federal government's plans to put a nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain. Monday, the state issued the last of three major permits the Department of Energy needs to begin studies at the proposed nuclear waste dump site. STUDY OF PUHCA CHANGES ASKED: The National Association of Counties Wednesday issued a resolution calling for further study of the impact of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 on the cost and reliability of the USA's electricity before Congress adopts new PUHCA legislation. The Senate has already passed a bill amending PUHCA and the House Energy and Commerce Committee is considering similar legislation. EMPIRE, SITHE ENERGIES INK PACT: Empire State Pipeline will provide natural gas transportation services to Sithe Energies Inc.'s new cogeneration facility near Oswego, N.Y., sponsors of the proposed pipeline said Wednesday. Under the 20-year pact, Empire will provide up to 185 million cubic feet per day of natural gas to Sithe's Independence Station, which will be used by the plant to produce both electric power and steam. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON GM: STAFF UP FOR CHALLENGE: The challenge to mass produce a sporty electric car has charged up GM's electric vehicle project staff of 200 engineers, designers, marketing experts and production specialists, who talk of "winning for America" and "beating Japan." The electric vehicle project, small though it is, suggests a nimbler, more aggressive, less hidebound GM than the hobbled behemoth portrayed in the press. GM TRYING NEW APPROACH: In their quarters at GM's Technical Center in Warren, Mich., GM is building an electric car from the ground up. Financial planners mingle with manufacturing experts, marketers work with engineers. Some came over from GM's Saturn unit. "This is very non-GM in the traditional sense," said David E. Cole of the Office for the Study of Automotive Transportation at the University of Michigan. ASSEMBLY PLANT DESIGNATED: GM is the only major automaker to designate a plant to assemble an electric car, and three others, in Indiana and California, to produce parts. "Our intention is to develop a commercial market and grow it to where it is a viable business, not just to put a few cars out on the road and demonstrate them," said Kenneth Baker, head of GM's electric vehicle project. CONSUMER READINESS A WORRY: Many industry observers doubt consumers will take readily to electrics, which could present problems of cost and practicality. In a recent speech, GM Chairman Robert Stempel compared electric cars to microwave ovens. For years, he said, people shunned microwaves because they were bulky and costly. Sales soared after technology shrank the size and price. (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. 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