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 Tue, Aug 18 1992 Date: Tue, 18 Aug 92 04:30:58 EDT Message-ID: 08-18 0000 DECISIONLINE: Energy USA TODAY Update Aug. 18, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network CRUDE RISES WITH GULF TENSIONS: Energy prices moved slightly higher in moderate trading Monday as traders' attention was dominated by tensions in the Persian Gulf. Light sweet crude oil for delivery in September settled at $21.45 a barrel, up 17 cents, at the Mercantile Exchange. Weekend reports said President Bush is poised to use military force in Iraq if U.N. inspectors are blocked from examining military sites. REFINED PRODUCTS MIXED: Unleaded gasoline for delivery in September settled at 61.58 cents a gallon, up 0.78 cent Monday on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Home heating oil for delivery in September ended at 59.35 cents a gallon, up 0.45 cent. Natural gas prices were lower, with contracts for delivery in September settling at $1.762 per 1,000 cubic feet, down 7.0 cents. FLUCUATIONS BEING INVESTIGATED: Federal nuclear regulators are investigating unusual power fluctuations that shut down the Hanford nuclear power plant near Richland, Wash. The boiling-water reactor, operated by the Washington Public Power Supply System, was powering up when the strange oscillations were detected Saturday. The plant will be closed at least a week. MAXUS WANTS HELP IN CLEAN-UP: Maxus Energy Corp. is demanding that the federal government help pay clean-up costs at a New Jersey factory that made Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. Bloomberg Business News reported Monday that Maxus, which as Diamond Shamrock operated the Diamond Alkali plant in Newark, N.J., already has paid $31.5 million for clean-up work at the plant and surrounding property. (For more, see special Maxus package below.) DOE NETWORK TO BE UPGRADED: A national data communications network, designed at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, is being upgraded to provide next-generation capabilities. DOE Monday announced the selection of Sprint to provide Asynchronous Transfer Mode, or ATM, broadband service for moving digital information on the Energy Sciences Network using Sprint's fiber-optic network. GROUP FILES AIR PERMIT APPEAL: International Oil Recovery Corp. said Monday a group of Delaware residents has filed an appeal with the Delaware Department of Resources and Environmental Control against air permits granted to the company's used oil recycling facility in Wilmington. The appeal isn't expected to delay the opening of the facility, scheduled for early fall, International Recovery said. CHILES TO MAKE OFFERING: Chiles Offshore Corp. Monday said it plans to make a $30 million rights offering to reduce debt. The offering will reduce outstanding debt to $50 million from $67.9 million. Chiles, based in Houston, said results in the latest quarter include a $21.1 million writedown on the carrying value of the company's rig fleet. MOBIL JOINS JOBS CAMPAIGN: Mobil Oil dealers have pledged to contribute at least $250,000 to Love Is Feeding Everyone and to participate in the "Jobs For A Future" campaign, it was announced Monday. The jobs program will place former gang members in jobs. Mobil and seven other companies have agreed to place 100 graduates of L.I.F.E.'s job training programs. L.I.F.E. is also involved in food distribution. SOCAL ED CUSTOMERS SET RECORD: Southern California Edison customers set an all-time record peak demand and an all-time Saturday peak demand over the weekend. The all-time record, set at 3 p.m. Friday, was 17,867 megawatts. That was 220 megawatts higher than the previous record of 17,647 set on June 27, 1990. The all-time Saturday record was 15,875 megawatts, set at 4 p.m. FLORIDA POWER TO SELL NOTES: Florida Power Corp. said Monday it has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to sell as much as $200 million of Series B medium-term notes. The St. Petersburg, Fla., electric utility may issue the notes periodically on terms to be released at the time of sale, it said in the S-3 filing. Underwriters will include Merrill Lynch and Citicorp Securities Markets. QUAKER STATE, CASTROL SETTLE: Quaker State Refining Corp. agreed Monday to withdraw its challenge to the text of a Castrol print ad in settling a lawsuit with Castrol Inc. The ad stated that Castrol's GTX 20W-50 motor oil meets all of Europe's demanding CCMC industry standards, while the leading 5W-30, 10W-30 and 10W-40 motor oils - including Quaker State's - do not. Quaker State brought the suit in April. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON MAXUS: SITE ON SUPERFUND LIST: Maxus Energy Corp. has said it already has paid $31.5 million for clean-up costs at the Diamond Alkali plant in Newark, N.J., and it expects to spend another $4 million this year at the site. The site is on the government's Superfund list for hazardous waste contamination. Now the oil company is asking the government for help. GOVERNMENT `COMMANDEERED' PLANT: In a lawsuit filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Dallas,Maxus Energy Corp. is demanding the government pay an "equitable share" of the clean-up costs. Maxus didn't specify the amount of recovery it seeks. Maxus claims the government is partially responsible for the contamination because it "effectively commandeered" the plant during the Vietnam War. SITE USED FOR AGENT ORANGE: The government used the site to step up production of Agent Orange, used as a defoliant in Vietnam, Maxus' lawsuit states. The oil company also claims federal inspectors visited the facility regularly and knew spills and leaks were inherent in the production process. The inspectors also knew hazardous substances would be released, Maxus claims. (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