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 Mon, Jun 15 1992 Date: Mon, 15 Jun 92 05:41:48 EDT Message-ID: 06-15 0000 DECISIONLINE: Energy USA TODAY Update June 15, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network SUMMIT COMES TO A CLOSE: Leaders of the 152 nations at the U.N. Earth Summit emerged Sunday from the 12-day gathering in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with a climate treaty to slow global warming among their accomplishments. Countries agreed to try cutting greenhouse gas emissions, though targets are voluntary. "After the summit, the world will never be the same," said Maurice Strong, organizer of the meeting. PUBLIC PAYS FOR EXPLORATION: The federal Bureau of Land Management is losing $5 million a year monitoring private oil and gas exploration on public lands in the West because it refuses to charge explorers for costs incurred, an internal government report says. The Interior Department's inspector general suggested that geophysical explorers be charged processing fees and fair-market value for use of the land. (For more, see special BLM package below.) HOUSE TO TALK ENERGY: The House this week is expected to debate energy and water spending for 1993, including money for two Purdue University programs. The Department of Energy bill sent to the House by the Appropriations Committee includes $2.5 million for the Midwest Plant Biotechnology Consortium and $3 million for the Midwest Superconductivity Consortium, both headquartered at Purdue. PRICE OF GAS KEEPS CLIMBING: The average price of a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline has risen 9.5% since prices stopped falling at the end of March, according to the American Automobile Association. Prices averaged $1.17 on June 9, up 7 cents from $1.107 May 4. They were as low as $1.049 on March 24. RIG COUNT FALLS BELOW 600: The Baker Hughes Inc. rig count fell to 596 for the week ending June 12, its first dip below 600 in 52 years. The U.S. rig count stood at 610 rigs - the previous low mark - in the last report and at 871 rigs in the weekly year-ago period, according to the report by the oil field services company. Its the first time the rig count has fallen below 600 since records were started in 1940. OIL PRICES FALL: Oil prices fell Friday in lackluster trading, closing with a loss for the week. Light sweet crude oil for delivery in July settled at $22.30 a barrel, down 5 cents for the day and 32 cents for the week on the Mercantile Exchange. Natural gas prices also fell. Contracts for delivery in July settling at $1.535 per 1,000 cubic feet, down 5.7 cents for the day and 11.8 cents for the week. REFINED PRODUCTS MIXED: Refined petroleum products ended mixed Friday at the Mercantile Exchange. However, unleaded gasoline and heating oil both posted losses for the week. July unleaded gasoline settled at 65.98 cents a gallon, down .12 cent for the day and 1.26 cents for the week. Home heating oil for July delivery settled at 61.15 cents a gallon, up .27 cent for the day but down .70 cent for the week. ENERGY PRICES ADVANCE IN MAY: Energy prices, which had turned up in April, continued to advance in May, the government said Friday. Gasoline prices rose by 1.2% in May while home heating oil costs were up 0.6%, according to the Commerce Department's Consumer Price Index. Natural gas prices fell 1.6% last month. Overall, consumer prices inched up just 0.1% in May. WYO. ACCIDENT RATE LOW: Wyoming's oil refinery industry has an accident rate of about four lost work-time injuries per year for every 100 workers, figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show. The rate justifies infrequent inspections, says Stephen Foster, head of the state's Occupational Health and Safety Commission. One man was killed last week and five were injured in a fiery explosion. UTILITY PLANS TO CUT JOBS: The Cincinnati Gas & Electric Co. has told its 5,400 employees to expect job cuts because it was not granted the rate increase it requested. The utility said it has taken in $90 million less this year than expected. Ohio approved only $114.6 million of CG&E's $204.8 million rate-hike request. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON BLM: BLM LOST $26M OVER LAST 5 YEARS: Unlike other agencies that charge for geophysical exploration, the BLM has steadfastly resisted the idea, an Interior Department report says. As a result, the agency lost roughly $26 million over the last five years and will continue to lose up to $5 million a year inspecting exploration sites and doing the necessary paperwork, said Harold Bloom of the inspector general's office. BLM IS CONSIDERING FEE: The BLM is considering charging $500 for each exploration fee processed, BLM Director Cy Jamison wrote in response to the report. But charging operators fair-market value for exploring for oil and gas on public land would have a depressing effect on the industry and drain more royalty money from federal coffers than a fair-market fee would generate, Jamison argued. FEES SAID TO DISCOURAGE BIDDING: "Geophysical exploration is an expensive and speculative effort at the best of times," the director wrote. New fees would discourage explorers from bidding on lands believed to contain little oil or gas, he said. The inspector general's office disputed Jamison's claim, saying the BLM offered no evidence for its contention that royalties would drop if fees were imposed. INSPECTION OF LAND QUESTIONED: The report concluded that it was questionable whether the agency has inspected exploration activities closely enough to know whether damage done to the land had been repaired. BLM workers said they lacked the resources to inspect every site. Without such documentation, the report said, the agency has no assurance that wildlife were protected and the land was properly reclaimed. (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