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 Thu, Oct 22 1992 Date: Thu, 22 Oct 92 04:38:37 EDT Message-ID: 10-22 0000 DECISIONLINE: Energy USA TODAY Update Oct. 22, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network ENERGY FUTURES FALL: Energy futures plunged Wednesday on the New York Mercantile Exchange as a selloff spurred by crude oil inventory figures was accelerated by heavy fund selling. Light sweet crude oil for December settled 44 cents lower at $21.61 a barrel. November heating oil was 1.56 cents lower at 62.65 cents a gallon and November unleaded gas: 0.63 cent lower at 58.72 cents a gallon. KUWAIT GETS NEW OIL MINISTER: Kuwait Wednesday appointed Shiite independent Ali Ahmed al-Baghli as its new oil minister. The new minister is one of six deputies in the Kuwaiti cabinet who is not a member of the ruling party, which controls the ministries of the interior, defense and information as well as the foreign ministry. Some Middle East analysts interpreted the move as a downgrading of the oil ministry. APPOINTMENT IS POLITICAL: Although the appointment of an independent as Kuwait's new oil minister has been interpreted as a downgrading of the oil industry by some analysts, advisers for London's Kuwait Petroleum Company call the move political. The oil ministry ultimately is controlled by the al-Sabah family, they said; therefore, Ali Ahmed al-Baghli would not have been chosen if the family did not accept him. EL PASO MAY ENTER CHAPTER 11: El Paso Refinery LP said Wednesday it is considering entering Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company is at an impasse with creditors and Internal Revenue Service liens. The refinery operates a high-conversion petroleum refinery and terminal facility with output of 53,000 barrels per day. The company said a continuing weak market for its products has made it hard to be in the black. TURKEY POINT CAN'T REOPEN: Federal nuclear regulators say the Turkey Point nuclear power plant in Dade County, Fla., can't reopen yet because questions remain about the effectiveness of evacuation plans that take into account the new tent cities and other chaos caused by Hurricane Andrew. Dade County is home to Homestead and Miami. Turkey Point was put on standby during the storm. UTILITY TO BUILD PLANTS: TransCanada Pipelines Ltd. Wednesday said it plans to build two cogeneration plants at a cost of $146 million each. The plants will be built in northern Ontario in 1993. The plants will produce 150 megawatts of electricity per day and will use natural gas and waste heat from the firm's adjacent compressor stations. The firm holds a 40% interest in the Ocean State Power Project in Rhode Island. YORK SELLS NAVY YARD INTEREST: York Research Corp. Wednesday said it has completed the sale of its 50% interest in its Brooklyn Navy Yard electrical cogeneration project. The New York-based company sold its interest to a subsidiary of Mission Energy Corp. which itself is a unit of SCE Corp. SCE Corp. is a holding company for Southern California Edison. Terms of the sale were not disclosed. MISSION PART OF NAVY YARD DEAL: Mission Energy Co. said Wednesday it has completed negotiations to build, own and operate a 286-megawatt natural gas-fired power plant as part of the Brooklyn Navy Yard revitalization project. Mission is working with an affiliate of York Research Corp. The project will provide electrical power to Consolidated Edison Co. of New York Inc. under existing power sales agreements. TEXAS INSTRUMENTS DEAL MADE: Electric & Gas Technology Inc. Wednesday said it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Texas Instruments Inc.'s magnetics operations. Terms were not disclosed. The company said newly formed unit Superior Magnetics Inc. will complete the transaction by the end of the year. Texas Instruments' magnetics unit is an internal supplier and will continue to serve TI. AMOCO GIVES TO QUAKE RELIEF: Amoco Egypt Oil Company Wednesday announced that contributions from the Amoco Foundation Inc. and Amoco Egypt will allow for deliveries of $1 million of medical supplies to victims of the earthquake in Cairo. Amoco said it arranged for AmeriCares to select medical supplies, transport and distribute them. The airlife left a Connecticut airport at noon ET Wednesday. POWER CORP. MUST IMPROVE: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission says that Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. in Brattleboro must discuss its plans to improve its self-assessment program Oct. 29. A report by the commission noted deteriorating performance in security, engineering and technical support, as well as safety assessment and quality verification. UTILITIES GO WITH PRIVATE BUYS: Utilities say a planned futures market based on sulfur dioxide emission credits won't be the foundation for their clean-air compliance plans, Bloomberg Business News said Wednesday. "The interested parties tend to gravitate towards the private placement transactions," said Bill Malec of the Tennessee Valley Authority. The TVA has bought 10,000 credits from a Wisconsin utility. 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. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM