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, Mar 18 1992 Date: Wed, 18 Mar 92 05:44:27 EST Message-ID: 03-18 0000 DECISIONLINE: Energy USA TODAY Update March 18, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network CRUDE, GASOLINE STOCKPILES FALL: The USA's supplies of crude oil, home heating oil and gasoline all fell last week, the American Petroleum Institute reported Tuesday. The nation's supply of crude fell by 4.8 million barrels, to 342.0 million, the API said. The stockpile of distillates, which include home heating oil, fell by 228,000 barrels, to 105.5 million; gasoline stocks fell by 113,000 barrels, to 225.3 million. NRC SAYS PLANT NOT READY TO GO: Too many mistakes still are being made by Sequoyah Fuels workers to permit the controversial uranium enrichment plant to begin production again, Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff said Tuesday. The NRC staff said that while Sequoyah Fuels has made strides in improving staffing, procedures and training at the plant, the problem to which that new approach has permeated into the site. (For more, see special Sequoyah package below.) OIL PRICES MIXED: Crude oil prices were mixed Tuesday. Light sweet crude oil for delivery in April settled at $19.24 per barrel, up 9 cents, at the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was oil's highest close since Feb. 14, when it closed at $19.46. Oil for delivery in May and June closed higher than April crude, while later months were lower. Sour crude for May delivery settled at $16.50 per barrel, up 10 cents. REFINED PRODUCTS UP: Refined petroleum products for next month delivery posted gains Tuesday at the Mercantile Exchange. Home heating oil for delivery in April settled at 54.13 cents a gallon, up .48 cent. Unleaded gasoline for April delivery settled at 60.16 cents a gallon, up .14 cent. Natural gas prices were mixed, with contracts for delivery in April settling at $1.245 per 1,000 cubic feet, up 1.8 cents. INDUSTRIAL OUTPUT RISES: The Federal Reserve said Tuesday that output at the USA's factories, mines and utilities rose 0.6% in February - the biggest increase since July - after dropping in the previous three months. The Fed reported that total industrial production grew for the first time since September. The Fed said its industrial production index stood at 107.2% of its 1987 base, up from 106.6% in January. PIPELINE WAS OLD: Age may have caused the rupture in a 10-foot section of a Tenneco natural gas pipeline in White Bluff, Tenn., an official said Tuesday. Metallurgist and other specialists are probing the Sunday blast that leveled 4 houses, burned over 400 acres and killed livestock. The pipeline was built in the 1940s. ELECTRIC BILLS TO RISE IN IOWA: The average monthly residential electric bill would go up $6.2 - a 10.4% increase - starting April 16 under a $36.1 million rate hike sought by Iowa Power. The utility has 254,000 customers. The plan needs the Iowa Utilities Board's approval. PEACH BOTTOM IS IMPROVING: Conditions at Peach Bottom are improving and the King of Prussia, Pa., nuclear plant is safe, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Tuesday. The commission said the plant is redefining workers' duties and ensuring all operators are fully trained. Faulty maintenance led to a recent $285,000 civil fine for Philadelphia Electric Co. UTILITIES OPPOSE FILING: Utilities serving over 1 million people in Michigan Tuesday filed at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in opposition to a transmission access filing made by Consumers Power last month. The utilities, members of the Michigan Municipal Cooperative Group, told FERC that although the filing contained some steps in the right direction, the proposed rates were far too high. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON SEQUOYAH: STAFF NOT COMFORTABLE: NRC Regional Administrator Robert Martin said until he and his staff see Sequoyah Fuels' changes at the Gore, Okla., plant fully implemented and followed, he said he cannot recommend the NRC or its staff approve resumption of operations. "We're not far away from that point, but I do not believe that I or my staff feel comfortable," he said. GO AHEAD MAY NOT BE GIVEN: Preliminary staff documents prepared for the meeting seemed to indicate it would ask the commission for a green light to let Sequoyah Fuels resume operations once it had met some remaining staff concerns. Martin's testimony put an end to that possibility, taking both commissioners and Sequoyah Fuels officials by surprise. "We've got a lot to think about," NRC Chairman Ivan Selin said. STARTUP MAY BE MONTHS AWAY: Sequoyah Fuels President Joe Sheppard said after the hearing that "obviously, we have to better understand Mr. Martin's reservations," although he said he still thinks a re-start may be weeks, not months, away. Sequoyah Fuels has not operated its plant since fall, when the NRC ordered it not to resume operations at the end of a scheduled maintenance shutdown. COMMENTS TO BE TAKEN: Selin gave Sequoyah Fuels, the NRC staff, Native Americans for a Clean Environment (NACE) and the Cherokee Nation until Friday to file any additional written comments they want on the testimony heard Tuesday. He said the commission may want to hear from the NRC staff again before Sequoyah Fuels is allowed to resume operations. General Atomics is Sequoyah Fuels' parent. (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. 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