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 Tue, Nov 10 1992 Date: Tue, 10 Nov 92 05:07:26 EST Message-ID: 11-10 0000 DECISIONLINE: Energy USA TODAY Update Nov. 10, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network SPECULATION DRIVES CRUDE UP: Crude oil futures rose strongly on the New York Mercantile Exchange Monday on speculation that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries may try to rein in production and halt a month-long slide in prices. OPEC's oil production averaged 25.25 million barrels a day in October. Light sweet crude oil for December delivery rose 32 cents to $20.62 a barrel. REFINED PETROLEUM PRODUCTS UP: December heating oil Monday climbed 0.98 cent to 58.36 cents a gallon on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Unleaded gasoline for delivery in December climbed 0.15 cent to 56.23 cents per gallon. Natural gas for delivery in December increased 0.9 cent to $2.354 per 1,000 cubic feet. LEAK CAUSES PLANT SHUTDOWN: The Trojan Nuclear Electric Plant in Portland, Ore., was shut down early Monday morning after a small leak was found in one of the plant's four steam generators. The leak of about one pint per minute was contained inside the generator an hour after it was detected. A small amount of gaseous radioactivity was released from the plant while the plant was being shut down. LEAK WITHIN FEDERAL LIMITS: A small amount of gaseous radioactivity was released from the Trojan Nuclear Electric Plant in Portland, Ore., while the plant was being shut down following a leak in a steam generator. The plant monitoring equipment showed the release to be what the plant called "a small fraction of federal limits." The plant will remain shut down until technicians finish making repairs. JUDGE RULES AGAINST EXXON: Exxon Corp. Monday was blocked by a federal court judge from ending franchise agreements with more than 50 Southern California service-station operators. The company also can't require stations to buy Exxon gas on a cash-on-delivery basis between now and a Jan. 20 hearing. Those rulings came in a suit filed in July by service-station operators after Exxon planned to withdraw from the market. FAR EAST TRADERS NOT SURE: Crude oil traders in the Far East say it's too early to say whether prices will continue to rise Tuesday following Monday's gains in Europe and North America. Bloomberg Business News reports that oil prices rose on talk Saudi Arabia would cut production. Saudi officials could not be reached for comment, nor could officials of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. QFB TO SELL PETROLANE TO UGI: QFB Partners Monday said it has agreed to sell Petrolane to the AmeriGas unit of UGI Corp. Petrolane is the largest gas distributor in the USA. QFB Partners was formed in 1989 by Quantum Chemical Corp. and First Boston Corp. to buy Petrolane from Panhandle Eastern. The sale and restructuring of Petrolane will make UGI's AmeriGas unit the USA's largest marketer of propane. KOCH PURCHASES UNITED GAS: Koch Industries Monday said it has purchased all the stock of United Gas Pipe Line Co. United Gas is a wholly-owned subsidiary of United Gas Holding Corp., based in Houston. The sale will be closed this week. Terms of the transactions were not disclosed. United Gas Pipe Line owns and operates a 9,600-mile interstate gas transmission system in the Gulf Coast area. ENRON GETS INTEREST IN BLOCK: Enron Oil & Gas Co. Monday said the government of Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies, has assigned one of its subsidiaries an interest in undeveloped oil and gas fields. Enron Oil & Gas Trinidad Ltd. has been assigned a 95% working interest in three undeveloped fields on the South East Consortium Block offshore southeastern Trinidad. CHEVRON PREDICTS PRICE DROP: Chevron Chairman Kenneth Derr Monday predicted that crude oil prices will continue to drop because of slack demand and excess production by OPEC members. Speaking at the American Petroleum Institute annual meeting, Derr predicted oil prices on the New York Merc will average $20 a barrel. Higher production from OPEC won't last long, Derr said. WATERED-DOWN GAS RARER: New York City Mayor David Dinkins says the odds of becoming a victim of watered-down premium gasoline has dropped to 1 in 25 from 1 in 6 in 1991. Dinkins has praised the city's Consumer Affairs chief for padlocking pumps at any gas station caught selling bad gas. TAX HEARING SCHEDULED: There is a hearing Tuesday on the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission's proposal to increase the tax on oil and gas production to $6 from $4 per $10,000 worth of production. A conservation commission official says the commission is spending $13,000 more per month than it takes in. No oil companies have protested so far. 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