Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.energy From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: energy Wed, Jul 22 1992 Date: Wed, 22 Jul 92 04:31:58 EDT Message-ID: 07-22 0000 DECISIONLINE: Energy USA TODAY Update July 22, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network RUMOR SENDS CRUDE DOWN: Energy futures were lower on the New York Mercantile Exchange, with crude oil prices affected by a rumor that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had been assassinated in Baghdad. The rumor was denied by the Iraqi Embassy in Washington. August light sweet crude oil was one cent lower at $21.78 a barrel. August unleaded gasoline was .22 cent higher at 60.39 cents a gallon. HEATING OIL SETTLES LOWER: Heating oil settled lower on fears the latest American Petroleum Institute data would show a buildup in distillate stocks. API data released after the close of trading showed distillate stocks up 990,000 barrels last week. August heating oil was .73 cent lower at 59.87 cents a gallon on the New York Mercantile Exchange; August natural gas was 2.1 cents higher at $1.770 per 1,000 cubic feet. PRICE OF GAS EDGES DOWN: The national average price of self-service regular unleaded gasoline is down .2 cent this week to $1.166 per gallon, the American Automobile Association reports. AAA's Fuel Gauge Report shows the average price of regular unleaded is lower or unchanged in all regions. The Fuel Gauge Report is based on a nationwide spot check of gasoline stations. SCRAPPED CARS WOULD MEAN CREDIT: Car-scrapping programs would retire high-emission vehicles at twice the current rate under guidelines being developed by California's Air Resources Board, the board said Tuesday. The board is developing guidelines that would allow credit to industrial facilities that scrap cars in order to comply with future anti-smog requirements. (For more, see special Guidelines package below.) GE GETS NAVY ENGINE CONTRACT: General Electric said Tuesday that it has been awarded a $754.1 million contract for developing a Navy jet engine. GE said the multiyear contract is the largest military development contract awarded to its aircraft engines division in Lynn, Mass. The contract calls for the design and manufacture of 14 F414 engines for ground testing and 21 engines for flight test programs. UTILITY RATE INCREASE APPROVED: Bay State Gas Co. in Westborough, Mass., announced Tuesday that its subsidiary, Northern Utilities Inc., has received approval for an increase in its annual New Hampshire operating revenues. The 6.5%, or $1.3 million, rate increase approved by the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission will take effect Aug. 1. HIGHER INCREASE HAD BEEN SOUGHT: Northern Utilities, which has received approval for a $1.3 million rate increase, filed in July 1991 for a $2.5 million increase. The company was allowed to charge $1.9 million on a temporary basis effective Sept. 30, 1991. Because the permanent rates are lower than the temporary rates currently in effect, the company plans to refund the difference in a rate credit to customers. UTILITY DECLARES DIVIDEND: Directors of Southern Indiana Gas and Electric Company Tuesday declared a quarterly dividend on its common stock of 39 cents per share. The dividend will be payable Sept. 21 to stockholders of record at the close of business Aug. 21. A regular quarterly dividend of $1.20 per share on the 4.8 percent preferred stock was declared payable Nov. 2 to stockholders of record Oct. 9. OHIO ED ANNOUNCES DIVIDENDS: The board of directors of Ohio Edison Tuesday declared quarterly dividends on two series of the company's preferred stock. Its 8.20% series has a quarterly dividend of $2.05 per share, payable Aug. 26 to shareholders of record Aug. 14. The company's 4.56% series has a quarterly dividend of $1.14 per share, payable Sept. 1 to shareholders of record Aug. 14. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON GUIDELINES: BOARD DEVELOPS GUIDELINES: Accelerating the replacement of high-polluting diesel-powered buses with models that run on cleaner-burning fuels such as compressed natural gas can help earn pollution credit under guidelines being developed by California's Air Resources Board. The board is developing the guidelines for the mobile credits in response to businesses concerned with air quality standards. SOME WANT TO SPEED COMPLIANCE: Industrial companies, utilities, environmental groups and air pollution agencies seek to trade the extra cleanup of automotive emissions for credit toward meeting future clean-air rules. Some hope to speed up compliance with air quality standards. ARB regulations say that credit can be given only for emissions that would not otherwise be regulated by existing anti-smog standards. EVALUATION DEMONSTRATED: The guidelines include the board's evaluation of some potential projects. The board estimates that scrapping 540 15-year-old cars could generate 25 tons per year of hydrocarbon credit by effectively cutting the remaining six years of the cars' estimated roadlife. The board's executive officer invited participation in the development of procedures. (End of package.) 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