Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!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 29 1992 Date: Fri, 29 May 92 05:20:41 EDT Message-ID: 05-29 0000 DECISIONLINE: Energy USA TODAY Update May 29-31, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network HEATING OIL HITS HIGH FOR YEAR: Home heating oil futures hit new highs for the year Thursday at the New York Mercantile Exchange on supply fears. Home heating oil for delivery in June settled at 59.96 cents a gallon, up .65 cent. Heating oil traders have become concerned that the USA's supply of the fuel, now at its lowest level in years, could lead to tightness in the market when colder weather arrives. ENERGY FUTURES MIXED: Oil prices were mixed Thursday. Light sweet crude oil for delivery in July settled at $21.95 per barrel, up 3 cents, at the New York Mercantile Exchange. Unleaded gasoline for delivery in June settled at 65.23 cents a gallon, down .21 cent. Natural gas prices were higher, with contracts for delivery in July settling at $1.617 per 1,000 cubic feet, up 2.7 cents. ENERGY BILL ANNOYS AND PLEASES: Energy legislation now headed for House-Senate negotiation could bring positive results in efficiency, alternative energy and nuclear power but not everyone is singing its praises. It's not perfect, but it's a start, said Eli Bergman, director of Americans for Energy Independence. And that's echoed by groups as polarized as the oil industry and environmentalists. (For more, see special Energy package below.) CHEVRON AGREES TO PAY $8M FINE: Chevron has agreed to pay an $8 million fine, the third largest in U.S. history, for 68 criminal and civil violations of the Clean Water Act. The violations occurred between 1982 and 1987 at Platform Grace, an oil drilling platform off southern California. Waste water was dumped in the ocean untreated or diluted before being tested and limits on oil and grease pollution were exceeded. KENTUCKY HAS TO CLEAN UP SITE: Kentucky is responsible for cleanup costs that could reach $100 million for the contaminated Maxey Flats nuclear-waste disposal site, a federal judge has ruled. In 1978, the state absolved the plant's former operator, U.S. Ecology, of responsibility when it agreed to close the operation. The contract predates the Superfund law, which divides cost between owners, operators and users. DOE BEGINS COMPETITION: The Department of Energy has formally opened the competition for a future operator of its top petroleum research facility. Thursday, DOE issued a request for proposals, which are due July 29, providing guidelines to those interested in running the National Institute for Petroleum and Energy Research in Bartlesville, Okla. The winner would operate the facility for at least five years. ENERGY EXCHANGE DEALS ANNOUNCED: The Bonneville Power Administration and various utilities have entered into energy exchange agreements aimed at improving air quality. Thursday, U.S. Secretary of Energy James D. Watkins and representatives from the utilities announced the agreements, under which BPA will make energy available to cities during the peak summer energy-use months of May through August. POWER TO BE RETURNED: Under energy exchange agreements between the Bonneville Power Administration and various local utilities, the utilities will generate additional power in the fall and winter months during off-peak evening and night hours to return the energy to BPA during a time that the Pacific Northwest requires additional power for winter heating. MITCHELL ENERGY REPORTS LOSS: Mitchell Energy & Development Corp. said Thursday that restructuring and charges resulted in a net loss of $15.7 million, or 33 cents per share, in the first quarter. Minus the charges, earnings amounted to $5.4 million, or 12 cents per share, on revenues of $186.3 million. In the same period a year earlier, the company reported earnings of $9.2 million, or 20 cents per share. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON ENERGY: BILLS HAVE SOMETHING FOR ALL: Eli Bergman, director of Americans for Energy Independence, said that the House energy bill, passed Wednesday evening, and the Senate bill, approved in January, are predictable. He said the two versions, with differences to be hammered out in a House-Senate conference committee, have "something for everybody," consumers, producers, environmentalists, regional interests. CONTROVERSIAL ISSUES LEFT OUT: But Bergman is critical of the legislation for ducking the issues that he said could have greatly reduced the USA's dependence on imported oil - opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling, setting new fuel efficiency standards for cars and increasing the gas tax. The topics are too controversial he said, but they "are likely to be the most effective." U.S. PRODUCTION NOT ADDRESSED: An environmental caucus derailed the Senate Energy Committee's attempt to put Arctic drilling and fuel efficiency in its bill. The House completely avoided both issues. Arthur Wiese of the American Petroleum Institute said, "Our general concern about both bills is that they do a fair amount for conservation and alternative fuels ... but little for enhancing production in the United States. LICENSING PROVISION NOT LIKED: Environmentalists, who applaud both bills' conservation and renewable energy provisions, are especially upset by a plan to ease licensing for nuclear power plants. The nuclear licensing provision, included in both bills and assured of passage, combines the current licensing process, requiring separate approval before construction and before operation of a new plant, into one step. (End of package.) Energy Editor: William Snoddy. (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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