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 Mon, Aug 10 1992 Date: Mon, 10 Aug 92 04:17:59 EDT Message-ID: 08-10 0000 DECISIONLINE: Energy USA TODAY Update Aug. 10, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network OIL DROPS ON LACK OF NEWS: Oil futures fell Friday at the New York Mercantile Exchange amid a lack of fresh developments in the U.S.-Iraq situation. Traders said they regarded President Bush's remarks about Iraq at a morning news conference as nothing new. Light sweet crude oil for September delivery fell 20 cents to $21.22 a barrel. Bush said the U.S. will not waiver in demanding that Iraq comply with all U.N. resolutions. PETROLEUM PRODUCTS MIXED: Heating oil for delivery in September dropped .87 cent to 58.72 cents a gallon Friday on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Unleaded gasoline for September fell .24 cent to to 60.07 cents a gallon. Natural gas for delivery in September rose 1.2 cents to $1.889 per 1,000 cubic feet. EPA TO JOIN MOWER STUDY: The Environmental Protection Agency said Friday it will join the electrical utility industry in studying emissions from gas-powered lawn mowers. Some 1,000 used gas-powered mowers will be collected from consumers who will get battery-powered Black & Decker mowers to test. The gas-powered mowers will be studied for air pollution. Mowers emit more pollution than the average car. (For more, see special Mower package below.) ENERGY BUYS 1M BARRELS OF CRUDE: The Department of Energy Friday purchased one million barrels of crude oil from Cargill Petroleum Inc. of Boston, according to Bloomberg Business News. The Brent North Sea sweet crude cost $19.83 per barrel and will be placed in the department's Strategic Petroleum Reserve in September. The Military Sealift Command is expected to handle tanker shipment. MORE OIL TRANSFERRED TO SPR: The Department of Energy has announced the transfer of 2.4 million barrels of oil to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, according to Bloomberg Business News. The oil is to be shipped from the Naval Petroleum Reserves in California. The SPR has a capacity of 750 million barrels. It currently holds approximately 569.5 million barrels in six salt domes in Texas and Louisiana. IPC CAN'T RECOVER $230 MILLION: The Illinois Commerce Commission Friday barred Illinois Power Co. from recovering $230 million in nuclear power plant costs. The company had recovered some of the money through rate increases, but has been ordered to refund $9 million to customers. The utility also must write off $202 million and reduce existing rates by $21.5 million, according to spokesman Craig Nesbit. CMS WITHDRAWS ACQUISITION OFFER: CMS Generation Co. has withdrawn a proposal to acquire certain assets of the Oxford Energy Company, Oxford said Friday. The proposal would have canceled Oxford's outstanding debt to CMS, returned CMS-owned Oxford shares and provided cash to Oxford. CMS had said it was no longer working on tire-to-energy projects and would not contribute to a joint development limited partnership. GREENWOOD TO PURCHASE PRC: Greenwood Holdings announced Friday a letter of intent to purchase PRC, says Bloomberg Business News. Greenwood, an oil and gas exploration company, holds about 20% of outstanding stock in PRC, a Denver-based maker of food-processing equipment. Greenwood also holds a promissory note convertible to 51% of PRC's stock. AIR REFORMS REPORT ADOPTED: Regional air quality officials in southern coastal California Friday adopted a report calling for sweeping program reforms. The governing booard of the South Coast Air Quality Management District adopted recommendations from a commission. The board's action include reducing the cost of pollution control rules and streamlining AQMD's ride-sharing program. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON MOWER: BATTERY MOWERS POLLUTE LESS: The Environmental Protection Agency said Friday it will work with the electrical utility industry to study emissions of gas-powered mowers. New battery-powered mowers from Black & Decker emit just 2% of the smog ingredients that gas-powered models emit. SMALL ENGINES LACK CONTROLS: Small gasoline engines don't have computer controls and pollution-trapping systems that cars contain. As a result, small engines pour out volatile organic compounds and nitrous oxides, which cook in sunlight to form lung-damaging ozone. It's commonly called smog, and nearly half of all Americans live in regions that don't meet the federal standard. EPA PROPOSES RULES TO CUT SMOG: Under the 1990 Clean Air Act, the EPA has proposed tough smog-cutting rules for cars, trucks, refineries, factories and utilities. Now it's tackling so-called off-road engines, which contribute 15% to 20% of the ingredients in smog during the summer. Such engines represent "the last significant uncontrolled mobile source" of smog pollution, says EPA chief William Reilly. (End of package.) Energy Editors: Beth Mann and Martin Baucom. (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