Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.energy,americast.usa-today.energy From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: energy Fri, Oct 2 1992 Date: Fri, 2 Oct 92 04:56:03 EDT Message-ID: 10-02 0000 DECISIONLINE: Energy USA TODAY Update Oct. 2-4, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network BORDER CLASH BOOSTS OIL: Crude oil prices closed higher as traders bought futures on reports of a border clash between Saudi Arabia and Qatar, brokers said. Qatar's government suspended a 1965 border agreement with Saudi Arabia after a skirmish left at least two people dead. Light sweet crude finished up 12 cents a barrel to $21.83. December light sweet crude closed 11 cents up at $21.74 on the N.Y. Merc Thursday. PETROLEUM TRADING WAS DULL: Despite cold weather in New England and Mid-Atlantic states, trading for petroleum products was uneventful Thursday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, traders said. The heating oil contract settled 0.25 cents a gallon higher at 63.87 cents. Unleaded gasoline settled up 0.70 cents a gallon at 57.90 cents. Natural gas traded at $2.518 per million British thermal units, up 0.3 cents. ENERGY BILL NEARS PASSAGE: Congress is poised to pass an energy bill this weekend aimed at pushing the country toward conservation and alternative fuels. Major provisions include: Easing licensing for new nuclear-power plants; toughening efficiency standards for products from light bulbs to shower heads; and forcing industry to buy vehicles that run on alternative fuels. President Bush is expected to sign. BUSH ALLOWS ETHANOL USE: Hoping to recapture dwindling farm support, President Bush Thursday announced a complicated plan to used corn-based ethanol fuel as an antidote to urban smog. "It's good for the farmers, good for the rural areas and good for the environment," Bush said in Washington. The announcement also is expected to be good for Bush politically, particularly in key agriculture states. ETHANOL PLAN `WILL HELP BUSH': President Bush's plan to allow corn-based ethanol fuel to combat urban smog is a shrewd political move that will "help the president throughout the Midwest," Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar said Thursday. The plan would let ethanol-blended gasoline account for as much as 30% of all fuel sold in smoggy Northern cities. It also would provide tax incentives for ethanol production. CONGRESS STAYS OUT OF GAS LAWS: Congress will not interfere with new natural gas production laws in Oklahoma and Texas that some critics say could lead to higher prices for consumers. But the Northwest-Mideast Institute, lobbying against those laws, says the energy bill negotiated by House-Senate conferees gives consumers and consuming states an opportunity to challenge those laws in court if they are abused. NIAGARA ANALYSIS IS DELAYED: Niagara Mohawk Thursday said it has delayed submitting its economic analysis of its Nine Mile Point Unit One nuclear facility to the state's Public Service Commission until mid-November. The analysis was scheduled to have been filed Thursday, 90 days before the plant's next refueling outage. That fulfills state regulations. The company plans to push back refueling to mid-February. TEXACO TOLD TO CLOSE PITS: The Environmental Protection Agency said Thursday it has ordered Texaco to close all unlined oil and gas waste pits on Navajo territories. The EPA said the pits could endanger the quality of surface or ground water. The move is the first in a joint initiative by the EPAs of the USA and Navajos to close all unlined pits in the area. Texaco operates 191 in Utah. DRAKE TO ACQUIRE WASTE PROCESS: Drake Petroleums Ltd. Thursday signed an agreement to acquire industrial waste removal technology. Stock rose 160%, or 40 cents, on the news. Drake has agreed to pay HydroMet Corp. of Sydney, Australia, $2.8 million for the rights and knowledge to a process that turns poisonous mine and smelter waste into chemicals such as copper, zinc, mercury and arsenic, and sand for landfills. TRANSCO SIGNS COAL CONTRACTS: Transco Energy Co. said Thursday that it has signed long-term coal sales contracts with two existing customers, Georgia power Company and South Carolina Public Service Authority. The contracts total 28.6 million tons of coal. The addition of the contracts gives Transco Coal subsidiaries sales contracts for more than 40 million tons of coal for up to 10 years. COMPANY CAN RAISE RATES: Texas-New Mexico Power Co. said Thursday it expects the Public Utility Commission of Texas will allow it to raise rates enough to generate $25 million. That is about 70% of the firm's initial request. The rate increase is related to the firm's two-unit 300 megawatt generating facility known as TNP One. JUDGE ALLOWS STUDY OF RECORDS: A bankruptcy court judge Thursday allowed Southwestern Public Service Co. to study financial and other business details of El Paso Electric Co. Southwestern is considering bidding for all or part of the bankrupt utility. Southwestern last March said it was interested in an acquisition or business combination with El Paso but had not developed a proposal. Energy Editor: Beth Mann. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution purposes violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. 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