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 Fri, May 8 1992 Date: Fri, 8 May 92 05:31:37 EDT Message-ID: 05-08 0000 DECISIONLINE: Energy USA TODAY Update May 8-10, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network SENATORS TAKE STAND ON ETHANOL: Corn-state senators Thursday threatened to amend the 1990 Clean Air Act if the Environmental Protection Agency doesn't give on proposed rules that could block use of ethanol. The rules make it unlikely that corn-based ethanol would be used in reformulated gasoline required for summertime use in cars in nine cities with the worst smog problems. (For more, see special Ethanol package below.) OIL PRICES FINISH MIXED: Oil prices finished mixed Thursday in a market propped up by demand for home heating oil. Light sweet crude oil for delivery in June settled at $20.71 per barrel, down 6 cents, at the New York Mercantile Exchange. Unleaded gasoline for delivery in June settled at 64.77 cents a gallon, down .48 cent. Home heating oil for delivery in June settled at 57.41 cents a gallon, up .34 cent. NATURAL GAS PRICES DOWN: Natural gas prices were mostly lower Thursday, with contracts for delivery in June settling at $1.484 per 1,000 cubic feet, down 1.2 cents at the New York Mercantile Exchange Thursday. Lower-grade sour crude for delivery in June settled at $18.21 per barrel, down 4 cents at the Merc. NICKEL BATTERY DEVELOPED: Matsushita Battery Industrial Co. said Thursday it has developed the world's first nickel hydride battery, which would allow an electric car to run 2.8 times farther than with a conventional battery. The actual distance would depend on the car and the size of the battery, the Japanese battery maker said. Company officials said they plan to start selling the battery in the mid-1990s. SHAREHOLDERS VOTE DOWN PROPOSAL: Gulf States Utilities Co. shareholders Thursday voted down a proposal that urges the utility's board of directors to seek stockholder approval in the future of any executive compensation agreements that are contingent on a change in control of the company. With 86.5 million shares of common stock represented, 49.4% favored the proposal. APPROVAL NOT NEEDED: In early 1991, the Gulf States Utilities board of directors adopted an executive continuity plan that would provide severance benefits to officers who might be terminated within two years following any merger or acquisition. A proposal voted down Thursday recommended shareholder approval of any such change of control agreements in the future. PG&E WINS CITIZEN AWARD: The American Lung Association of San Francisco Thursday awarded Pacific Gas and Electric Company its "Corporate Citizen Award" as part of the association's inaugural Clean Air Awards. PG&E was recognized for "establishing a far-reaching Customer Energy Efficiency program ... designed to make energy efficiency a priority of all customers." AMOCO TO BUILD CNG STATION: Amoco Production Company, the exploration and production subsidiary of Amoco Corporation, Thursday announced plans to build New Mexico's first retail compressed natural gas fueling station in Farmington, a key center of natural gas production activity in the Southwest. The facility will be Amoco Production's first retail natural gas sales venture. CHEVRON, KAZAKHSTAN CONFIRM DEAL: Chevron Corporation Thursday confirmed an announcement made earlier in Alma Ata, Kazakhstan, that it has signed a protocol agreeing on principles of cooperation between Chevron and the Republic of Kazakhstan for the creation of a joint venture for the Tengiz area. Documents to enable the project to move forward are being developed for signature. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON ETHANOL: ETHANOL MAKES GAS MORE VOLATILE: Corn-state senators Thursday threatened to amend the Clean Air Act, concerned that corn-based ethanol probably would not be used in gas required for summer use in nine smog-laden cities. Those cities include New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. Ethanol helps cut carbon monoxide, but makes gasoline more volatile. The more volatile the gas, the more summer smog from vapors. METHANOL PRODUCTS ALTERNATIVE: The alternatives to corn-based ethanol are oil-based methanol products. The corn lobby wants the EPA to ease emissions restrictions for ethanol-enhanced gasoline while studies are done on the volatility problem. Republican Minority Leader Robert Dole of Kansas said, "EPA appears to be anti-ethanol." And he said if EPA won't change the rules, "we'll do it through legislation." JOBS COULD BE ELIMINATED: Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said the rules as written could eliminate the market for 600 million gallons of ethanol a year and cost 30,000 jobs. The lone non-Midwesterner to take the floor was Sen. James Jeffords, R-Vt., an advocate of renewable fuels. "We are selling our country, gallon by gallon to foreign interests," he said. It's "almost like we're being colonized," he said. (End of package.) 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. 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