Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.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 Wed, Oct 28 1992 Date: Wed, 28 Oct 92 04:40:26 EST Message-ID: 10-28 0000 DECISIONLINE: Energy USA TODAY Update Oct. 28, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network OIL PRICES DOWN IN SELL-OFF: Oil prices fell in an afternoon sell-off Tuesday as investors grew anxious about supply figures that were expected to show strong supplies of oil and refined products. Light sweet crude oil for delivery in December settled at $21.02 per barrel, down 25 cents, at the New York Mercantile Exchange. The drop gained support when technical traders joined in the selling, analysts said. UNLEADED PUSHED UP: There was some heavy buying Tuesday in the cash market for unleaded gasoline, which pushed up the near-month futures market price by 0.6 cent to 61.65 cents on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Home heating oil for November fell 0.2 cent and settled at 61.65 cents a gallon. Natural gas prices were higher, with December settling at $2.295 per 1,000 cubic feet, up 1.8 cents. PRICE OF GAS INCHES UP: The price of self-serve regular unleaded gasoline regained the 0.2 cent it lost last week to average $1.158 per gallon nationwide, the American Automobile Association reported Tuesday. According to the weekly AAA Fuel Gauge Report, gasoline prices have been fluctuating less than a penny per gallon weekly for the last three months, cresting at $1.171 on July 28. SHELL SUED FOR DUMPING: The National Environmental Law Center is suing Shell Oil Co. for polluting San Francisco Bay, court officials said Tuesday. The suit claims that Shell's 140,000 barrel-per-day Martinez refinery is dumping selenium and cyanide into the bay at illegal limits. High levels of selenium can cause birth defects in humans and kill sea life, the group said. GE GETS GENERATOR CONTRACT: GE Power Generation Tuesday announced an order for about $27 million with CSW Development I to supply an 83.5-megawatt GE MS7001EA gas turbine-generator and a 46-megawatt straight condensing GE steam turbine-generator. CSW Development is a subsidiary of CSW Energy Inc. The equipment will be used at a combined-cycle cogeneration plant to be built in Florida. MOBIL, UTILITY TEAM UP: Mobil Corp. and San Diego Gas & Electric Tuesday announced plants to construct up to three public fueling facilities for natural gas-powered vehicles. The natural gas would be sold at pump dispensers at Mobil service stations in San Diego County. San Diego Gas will supply the gas. The two companies said they plan to have the natural gas fueling facilities open within the next year. NITROGEN OXIDE TARGETED: The Environmental Protection Agency has drafted a proposal for a method for cutting nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions. The method is known as low-NOx burner technology and would be widely used at utilities and large industrial plants if the proposal is enacted. NOx is thought to contribute to acid rain and to ground-level ozone, or smog. ORYX SAYS SUN CHEATED: Oryx Energy Co. has accused former parent company Sun Co. Inc. of cheating the Dallas energy company out of $21.5 million of tax reserves. Oryx claims it paid Sun the money before the two companies split in 1988. The suit is the latest in a yearlong fight between the two that stems from an Internal Revenue Service audit of Sun's taxes for 1979 to 1981. CONSERVATION FIRMS MAY MERGE: Western Energy Management Inc. Tuesday announced it has entered into a nonbinding letter of intent to merge with or acquire assets of Onsite Energy, a private company in Carlsbad, Calif. Onsite is a firm experienced in power generation, cogeneration and alternative energy fields. The company is complementary to Western Energy's development of energy conservation projects, Western Energy says. MESA ASKS FOR SHAREHOLDER HELP: Mesa Inc. Tuesday asked shareholders to give up more than $250 million of interest payments over three years so the Dallas-based natural gas company can regain access to capital markets and meet obligations. The company says it wants shareholders to exchange $600 million of 12% and 13.5% subordinated discount notes for new debt securities with interest to by paid in 1996. PLANT MAY HAVE DAMAGED SOIL: The municipal power plant in Dover, Del., for 15 years burned large quantities of oil containing highly toxic chemicals, possibly contaminating the soil of surrounding neighborhoods with dioxin, state investigators say. The extent of any contamination off the McKee Run Power Plant site is expected to be known early next week when soil test results come in. POOR EXEMPT FROM FEES: Maine's poor are expected to be exempt from emissions inspection fees when the tests begin in mid-1994, state officials say. Other residents in York, Cumberland, Androscoggin, Kennebec, Sagadahoc, Lincoln and Knox counties will pay from $17 to $30 every two years for tests that could lead to hundreds of dollars in repairs. GROUP WANTS RATE PLAN ROLLBACK: A plan to increase New Hampshire Electric Cooperative rates 25% should be rolled back, a group called New Hampshire Citizen Action says. The group says state regulators should wait for the results of a state attorney general's probe on whether there was an illegal lobby on behalf of the co-op. CHEVRON EARNINGS INCREASE: Chevron Corp. Tuesday reported third-quarter earnings of $378 million, an increase of 21% from the $313 million earned in the third quarter of 1991. Because of fewer shares outstanding in 1992, earnings per share increased 23% from $.90 to $1.11. The company praised worldwide increases in crude oil and refined products and U.S. natural gas prices. 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