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 29 1992 Date: Wed, 29 Jul 92 04:32:50 EDT Message-ID: 07-29 0000 DECISIONLINE: Energy USA TODAY Update July 29, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network TENSIONS EASE; OIL SETTLES DOWN: Apparent calming of tensions in the Middle East sent energy futures down. Energy futures settled lower on the Mercantile Exchange Tuesday, with crude oil losing early gains after statements by U.S. officials that an attack on Iraq is not imminent. September light sweet crude oil was 1 cent higher at $22.05 a barrel. HEATING OIL SETTLES LOWER: The market was pulled lower Tuesday by selling in heating oil futures, sparked by expectation of a buildup in distillate stocks. Heating oil for August delivery settled .66 cent lower at 61.75 cents a gallon; August unleaded gasoline was .14 cent lower at 61.75 cents a gallon; September unleaded natural gas was .018 cent lower at $1.838 per 1,000 cubic feet. GAS PRICES SLIGHTLY HIGHER: The average price of self-service regular unleaded gasoline rose half a cent this week, according to a survey for the American Automobile Association Tuesday. The average price was $1.171 a gallon. The average price was higher in the Great Lakes and West and lower in other regions, the auto club said. The survey was conducted for AAA by Computer Petroleum Corp. of St. Paul, Minn. TRITON TO PAY EX-EMPLOYEE: Triton Energy Corp. Tuesday agreed to pay former controller Jimmy Janacek $9.5 million, Bloomberg Business News said. The settlement, for one of the nation's largest wrongful termination cases, means Triton won't have to pay $124 million in damages awarded to Janacek in May by a Dallas jury. Triton spokesman said that "this resolves all claims with regards to the Janacek suit." GROWTH OF METHANE LEVELS SLOWS: After carbon dioxide, methane is the most important gas linked to global warming. Atmospheric levels have been rising rapidly - more than 1% a year - but a new study shows that rate has been halved over the last eight years. If that continues, methane's abundance will stop growing by 2006 for the first time since the Industrial Revolution began. OIL, GAS CONTROLS HELP SLOWING: The slower buildup of methane - linked to global warming - may be due to better controls at oil and gas wells, according to researchers at the University of Colorado and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Their study appears in this week's issue of the British journal, Nature. Other major sources of methane include cattle, rice paddies, landfills and coal mines. CLEAN COAL TO AID COMPANIES: To comply with the Clean Air Act, coal-burning power plants soon will have to cut sulfur dioxide pollution in half. Some plan to use low-sulfur coal, while others plan to add pollution controls called scrubbers. Another route may be to buy precleaned coal from Custom Coals Corp. of Pittsburgh. Crushed coal will be floated in a solution in which sulfur and other pollutants sink. COAL HELPS MEET STANDARDS: A new company, Custom Coals Corp. of Pittsburgh, will offer precleaned coal to power plants who need to comply with the Clean Air Act. Coal will be floated in a solution to remove pollutants, then spiced with lime to help prevent acidic pollution. The company will begin selling the coal in 1994, when the first of 10 planned plants opens. It hopes to sell 50 million tons a year. ALTAMONT WANTS EXPANSION HALTED: Altamont Gas Transmission Co. is trying to hold up expansion by rival Pacific Gas Transmission Co. after postponing its own pipeline project by a year, according to Bloomberg Business News. Altamont has asked Canada's National Energy Board to halt approval of matching new facilities on the Canadian inlet to the PGT system operated by Alberta Natural Gas Co. ETHANOL CAR TEST BEGUN: Illinois has begun a three-year test of 12 ethanol-powered cars built by General Motors. Officials hope ethanol, a corn-based alcohol fuel, will prove more efficient and less polluting than gasoline. The new test cars run on up to 85% ethanol. COMPANY TO SELL SECURITIES: Appalachian Power Co., a unit of American Electric Power Co., Tuesday filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to sell as much as $100 million of debt securities. The company, based in Roanoke, Va., may issue the securities periodically on terms to be released at the time of sale, it said. Proceeds will be used to refund long-term debt and for other uses. TENNECO REPORTS TURNAROUND: Tenneco Inc. reported second-quarter earnings of $178 million, compared with a loss of $14 million for the same quarter a year ago. Tenneco credited a $3-billion restucturing and hard-line management policies for the turnaround. The company reported per-share earnings of $1.23, compared with a loss of 15 cents in the second quarter of 1991. DELMARVA EARNINGS DOWN: Delmarva Power & Light Company Tuesday reported that earnings for the second quarter of 1992 were $12.5 million, or 24 cents per share, compared with $15.1 million, or 30 cents per share, for the same period a year earlier. Core utility earnings declined 6 cents per share, primarily because milder weather reduced electric sales, which were 7% below 1991 for the same period. Energy Editor: Beth Mann. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. 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