Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.energy From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: energy Tue, Apr 28 1992 Date: Tue, 28 Apr 92 05:41:28 EDT Message-ID: 04-28 0000 DECISIONLINE: Energy USA TODAY Update April 28, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network OIL UP SLIGHTLY IN DULL SESSION: Oil prices rose modestly Monday in dull trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Light sweet crude oil for delivery in June settled at $20.29 a barrel, up 7 cents, at the Merc. Unleaded gasoline for delivery in May settled at 62.08 cents a gallon, down .09 cent. NATURAL GAS DROPS SLIGHTLY: Home heating oil for delivery in May settled at 55.30 cents a gallon, up .01 cent on the New York Mercantile Exchange Monday. Natural gas prices fell, with contracts for delivery in June settling at $1.383 per 1,000 cubic feet, down 0.3 cent. Traders found nothing to motivate them in an extremely lackluster session. OCCIDENTAL ANNOUNCES TESTING: Occidental Petroleum Corp. Monday announced that Occidental Petroleum (Malaysia) Ltd. has successfully tested gas and condensate in a very large carbonate reef offshore Sarawak in East Malaysia. Jintan-1 is in the 4.2-million-acre Block SK-8 and flowed 32.9 million cubic feet of gas and 832 barrels of 47.2-degree API gravity condensate per day. JINTAN-1 SECOND WELL: Jintan-1, flowing 32.9 million cubic feet of gas per day, is the second well drilled in a multi-well program for Occidental Petroleum (Malaysia) Ltd. in 1992, according to Dr. Ray R. Irani, chairman. Occidental is the operator of Block SK-8 with a 37.5% interest. Nippon Oil holds a 37.5% interest which they acquired from Occidental in 1991. Petronas Carigali holds a 25% interest. BUSH UNDECIDED ON EARTH SUMMIT: President Bush still has not decided if he'll attend the Brazil Earth Summit, apparently hamstrung by the White House decision-making process. He's made it clear he wants very much to go. The last round of negotiations on global warming is set to begin this week. Goal: Draft an agreement to limit the fossil fuel emissions that eat away at the ozone and contribute to global warming. PUMPING MUST STOP: The state of Alaska Monday ordered developers of the $150 million Alaska Native Medical Center to cease pumping suspected oil-contaminated water into a creek from the construction site. The site formerly held the state's largest asphalt and gravel plant, closed in 1976. Teale Management Inc. must test the area. POWER EDUCATION OFFERED: Massachusetts Electric Co. Monday announced the utility will offer power quality education, consulting and diagnostic services to commercial and industrial customers. It's the first utility in the state to offer a power quality assistance program, designed to help customers analyze disturbances that may cause malfunctions of some microprocessor or computer systems. PLANT COMMENT PERIOD EXTENDED: Federal and state officials have extended through May 24 the public comment period on the cleanup of Idaho National Engineering Lab's Power Burst Facility. The plant, which tested pressurized-water reactor fuel rods, was shut down in 1985. SAFETY MONTH ANNOUNCED: In an effort to further reduce the number of electricity-related deaths and injuries, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the National Electrical Manufacturers Association and Underwriters Laboratories, Inc. have collaborated on a May 1992 National Electrical Safety Month Campaign. The theme of the campaign is home inspection. Contact Janet Goebel, NEMA, 202-457-8455. ELECTRIC CARS WOULD BE USED: Electricity is the clean-air vehicle fuel of choice for most Southern Californians, according to a recent survey commissioned by Southern California Edison and released Monday. Most people also would be willing to pay a little more for emission-free electric vehicles and wait a little longer for electric vehicles to become available, reported the survey by Fairbank, Maullin & Associates. GE, GM HANG IN THERE ON LIST: Only two companies on the first Fortune 500 list, in 1955, remain there. General Electric, with $3 billion in revenue in 1955, was ranked No. 4. Now it's No. 5 with $60 billion in revenues. General Motors, No. 1 in 1955 with $9.8 billion in revenue, was No. 1 as well in 1991, with $124 billion in revenue. INDIANA SLOW ON WASTE OFFENDERS: The state of Indiana takes an average 441 days - a year and 10 weeks - to take final action against its worst hazardous-waste offenders. That's far beyond the Environmental Protection Agency's benchmark of 135 days, or less than six months, records show. INDIANA EARNINGS ANNOUNCED: Indiana Energy Inc., the holding company for Indiana Gas Company Inc., and other subsidiaries, Monday reported consolidated earnings available for common stock of $15 million for the three months ended March 31, 1992, the second quarter of the current fiscal year. This compares to $17.8 million for the same period in 1991. The change was attributed to warmer weather. 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