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, Jun 12 1992 Date: Fri, 12 Jun 92 05:19:42 EDT Message-ID: 06-12 0000 DECISIONLINE: Energy USA TODAY Update June 12-14, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network REFINERS, DEALERS SQUARE OFF: Independent gasoline dealers sparred with refiners Thursday over a bill to prevent refiners who sell gasoline at retail from undercutting independent competitors. One independent dealer told a House panel he buys regular unleaded gasoline from Total and Phillips at $1.012 per gallon. But Total and Phillips' stations are selling the same gas down the street at 99.9 cents a gallon retail. (For more, see special Undercutting package below.) GAS SELL-OFF SENDS MARKET LOWER: Energy futures fell Thursday, led by a sell-off in the gasoline pit. Light sweet crude oil for July delivery settled at $22.35 a barrel, down 16 cents, at the New York Mercantile Exchange. Wholesale unleaded gasoline for July delivery fell 1.06 cents a gallon to settle at 66.10 cents. Natural gas for July delivery settled at $1.592 per 1,000 cubic feet, down 2.7 cents. RECORDS SEIZED FROM IGTS: The FBI Thursday seized records from the Iroquois Gas Transmission System - the company that built the Iroquois Pipeline, a natural gas conduit that has sparked controversy from Canada to Long Island during its construction. A probe of allegations of environmental violations and other matters is under way. Iroquois says it doesn't know why the government seized the records U.S. FIRM SELLS WINDMILLS: Selling windmills to the Dutch might sound like selling ice to Eskimos, but a U.S. manufacturer is doing just that. U.S. Windpower Inc. has agreed to sell a 25-megawatt project - enough to serve 20,000 homes - to the Dutch utility NV Energiebedrijf. The project will include scores of U.S. Windpower's most advanced wind turbine and is expected to be complete by the end of 1994. ORYX GAS INTERESTS PURCHASED: Mitchell Energy & Development Corp. and Conoco have formed a joint venture to acquire Oryx Energy Company's interests in 14 natural gas processing plants in Texas and Oklahoma. Mitchell and Conoco said Thursday they are negotiating a purchase and sale agreement, and terms will be released upon closing, which is expected in August. PRODUCTION TO BE INCREASED: Conoco's and Mitchell Energy's acquisition of interests in 14 natural gas processing plants through a joint venture will boost each company's natural gas liquids production by about 10,000 barrels per day. This would hike Mitchell's production to between 55,000 and 60,000 barrels per day and place it among the top 10 NGL producers. Conoco expects its output to reach 70,000 barrels daily. PRICES COULD RISE IN ANCHORAGE: Gasoline prices in Anchorage, Alaska, could jump 15 cents to 25 cents in November in order for the city to meet the Environmental Protection Agency's winter emissions standards. Regular unleaded could sell for $1.30 a gallon, since the cleaner-burning fuel must be imported. PGT TO SELL ANG INTEREST: Pacific Gas Transmission Co. said Thursday that TransCanada PipeLines Ltd. of Calgary, Alberta, has agreed to purchase PGT's 49% interest in Alberta Natural Gas Co. Ltd. for $97 million. The sale, which is expected to be completed on June 30, 1992, has been approved by the boards of directors of PGT and TransCanada, and is subject to certain regulatory reviews and approvals. WHOLESALE PRICES UP IN MAY: Wholesale prices rose 0.4% last month, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The jump was attributed mostly to increases in energy and tobacco prices. The wholesale-price index rose to 123.1 last month from 122.2 in April. Most of the gain was blamed on energy prices, which surged 0.9% in May. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON UNDERCUTTING: INDEPENDENT CAN'T COMPETE: Robert Phillips Jr., president of Purity Oil Co., told a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee Thursday that the undercutting of his company's gas prices by Total and Phillips is forcing him to either drop his prices and sell at a loss or keep prices up and watch customers go elsewhere. "There is simply no way for my company ... to compete with these refiners' outlets," he said. REFINERS CITE PRICE INVERSIONS: Such disparities in price are known within the industry as price inversions and spokesmen for both refiners said they are temporary phenomena caused by changes in world oil prices. Dewey Mark, representing the Independent Refiners-Marketers Association, said price inversions are "infrequent, short-lived and do not justify the drastic measures embodied" in a bill to prevent undercutting. BILL WOULD OUTLAW UNDERCUTTING: A bill by Rep. Mike Synar, D-Okla., would prohibit refiners from selling gasoline to their own company-owned stations at any lower price than they sell to independent dealers. It would also give independents an opportunity to take them to court if they try. Mark said Synar's bill would force many refiners to close their retail service stations, leaving the market to independent stations. HEARING SPARKS DISPUTES: Thursday's hearing sparked disputes between Democratic and Republican members of the subcommittee over whether Synar's bill would stop predatory pricing by oil refiners or be a governmental intrusion into the free market. Synar noted price inversions occur more frequently than refiners claim and that efforts by refiners to cushion their effects on independents have been ineffective. (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. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM