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 Mon, Mar 30 1992 Date: Mon, 30 Mar 92 05:43:33 EST Message-ID: 03-30 0000 DECISIONLINE: Energy USA TODAY Update March 30, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network WEATHER BRINGS PRICES DOWN: Oil prices fell as traders responded to warmer weather and higher refinery output. Light sweet crude oil for delivery in May settled at $19.16 a barrel Friday, down 12 cents on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Unleaded gasoline for delivery in April settled at 58.48 cents a gallon, down .07 cent. Home heating oil for delivery in April was 52.21 cents a gallon, down .60 cent. NATURAL GAS PRICES MIXED: Petroleum futures started lower, but staged a partial recovery on a rally in the gasoline pit. Prices were under pressure from the changing seasons. Natural gas prices were mixed, with contracts for delivery in May settling at $1.326 per 1,000 cubic feet, up 0.4 cent on the New York Mercantile Exchange Friday. For the week, natural gas rose 5.8 cents on contracts for next-month delivery. COURT TO HEAR THREE WASTE CASES: The Supreme Court hears cases Monday that will have far-reaching implications for waste management firms and disposal practices. New York challenges the power of government to require it to develop a plan for disposal of the type of low-level radioactive waste produced by hospitals, research centers and nuclear power plants. Lawyer Charles Hahn says liability was forced on the states. BELDEN & BLAKE CONSOLIDATES: Belden & Blake Energy Co. Friday consolidated with Belden & Blake International Ltd. and substantially all the oil and gas assets of Henry S. Belden IV. The new business is known as Belden & Blake Corp. and is an independent oil and gas company with gas distribution and marketing capability. Its common stock will trade in the NASDAQ National Market. HYDRO-QUEBEC SAYS NO TO NYPA: Hydro-Quebec Friday announced it will not accept New York Power Authority's offer of a 30% price reduction on its contract for a 21-year, 1,000-megawatt contract for electricity. Increased energy-saving measures plus economic perspectives have lowered New York State's electricity needs and the power authority forecasts it will not need the 1,000 megawatts before 2000, possibly later. RELATIONSHIP WILL CONTINUE: Hydro-Quebec's Pierre Bolduc said the company's announcement that it has declined the New York Power Authority's price reduction offer is "not the end of the road" in the businesses' relationship. NYPA cited a predicted need for less power and a drop in the price of alternative sources in asking for a 30% drop in the price of its electricity purchase from Hydro-Quebec. WELLS NOT ECONOMIC: Shell Canada Ltd. Friday announced that neither of two wells drilled this winter in the Mackenzie Delta contained economic volumes of oil. The wells were Unipkat B-12 and Shavilig J-20. They were drilled to follow up on the 1990 oil discovery and Unipkat N-12 northwest of Inuvik in the Northwest Territories. That well contains more than 100 meters of oil pay. GM TO MOVE TRUCK PLANT: General Motors Corp. on Friday said Mexico's pressure to reduce dangerous pollution in Mexico City will force it to relocate its truck plant there within five years. The world's No. 1 automaker said the move will cost an estimated $400 million and take place sometime in 1995-97. The 56-year-old plant employs 2,900 people and makes vans and light and heavy trucks for sale in Mexico. POLLUTION PROBLEMS `RECOGNIZED': General Motors Corp., planning to move its truck plant from Mexico City, will relocate in Mexico, announcing the exact location in a few days. "We recognize the severe environmental situation in Mexico City," General Motors de Mexico Managing Director Robert Hendry said. The government is trying to curb severe air pollution in and around the capital city where 22 million people live. SHELL TO BUY POLYESTER BUSINESS: Goodyear Tire & Rubber says it plans to sell its polyester business to Shell Chemical to help cut its $2.6 billion debt. The sale price wasn't disclosed, but analysts estimate the world's No. 3 tiremaker could get up to $250 million from the deal. The sale is part of Goodyear's plan announced last year to bring its debt below $2 billion this year through asset sales. BIDDING DEADLINE EXTENDED: The deadline for proposals for the purchase of CN Exploration, Canadian National Railways' Western Canada oil and gas unit, has been extended three weeks to May 1, 1992. The extension will allow foreign investors to participate in the bidding process following recently-announced changes in federal foreign investment policy for the Canadian oil and gas industry. SAMSON ANNOUNCES RESULTS: Samson Energy Company Limited Partnership announced Friday its financial results for calendar year 1991. Net cash flow from operating activities totaled $15 million compared to $13.4 million for 1990. For the year ended Dec. 31, the company recorded a net loss of $8.8 million compared to net income of $637,000 for 1990. Energy Editor: Beth Mann. (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