Oil Industry United States

This week's nose-dive in oil prices has sent a chill through the U.S. oil and gas industry, triggering a reassessment of its cautiously optimistic plans to produce and look for more oil in 1988. While good news for consumers, the sudden drop in prices puts the industry in a squeeze just as it was showing signs of recovery, and that could bring more hard times to the nation's already reeling Oil Patch states.

President Bush mounted a renewed push Saturday for a broad national energy policy that emphasizes production over conservation--one of his top domestic priorities since taking office--but signs are piling up that the president may fall short of his goal. As the Senate prepares to tackle the issue this week, Bush called again for opening Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling, arguing that greater domestic production is vital to national security and economic growth.

It has become the most controversial--and mysterious--of President Clinton's last-minute pardons: Marc Rich, a fugitive commodities trader indicted in 1983 on charges of massive tax fraud and illegal oil trading with Iran, is now free from prosecution after 17 years on the lam. But why would a billionaire who thumbed his nose at the U.S. justice system, a businessman facing more than 300 years in prison, receive such largess?

Exxon Mobil Corp., BP Amoco, Royal Dutch/Shell Group, TotalFinaElf and other oil companies may sign multibillion-dollar gas projects with Saudi Arabia as early as April, the country's foreign minister said.

The retail price of gasoline fell over the last two weeks, reflecting declines in the cost of crude oil and seasonal demand, an industry analyst said Sunday. The average price of gas at the pump nationwide on Friday was about $1.50 per gallon, down 2.26 cents from Feb. 9, according to the Lundberg Survey of 8,000 stations. The drop was most dramatic in the Midwest, where the price fell more than 8 cents a gallon.

With consumers facing a possible increase in gasoline prices at the pump, President Bush's Energy secretary said Saturday that the decision by major foreign oil producers to slash output emphasizes the need to increase production within the United States.

With consumers facing a possible increase in gasoline prices at the pump, President Bush's Energy secretary said Saturday that the decision by major foreign oil producers to slash output emphasizes the need to increase production within the United States.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission said some oil companies independently restricted supplies last year, contributing to gasoline price increases in Chicago, Milwaukee and elsewhere in the Midwest. In a nine-month investigation into why the price of a gallon of gas soared to more than $2, the FTC found that the companies hadn't colluded to raise prices but did act individually to increase profits.

Gas prices shot up 7 cents at the pump in the last two weeks, the first such rise since early January, an oil industry analyst said Sunday. The price increase was due mainly to seasonal demand, said analyst Trilby Lundberg. The average price of gasoline was about $1.54 a gallon, up 7.1 cents from March 23, according to the Lundberg Survey of 8,000 stations nationwide. Prices had fallen more than 5 cents per gallon since Jan. 15 as the winter season reduced driving and thus gasoline demand.

Exxon Mobil Corp., the No. 1 oil company, said Monday that first-quarter earnings jumped 51% as it cashed in on strong crude oil and natural gas prices as well as better profits from refined fuels such as gasoline. The company, which last year set a record for the world's highest corporate profits, recorded first-quarter income of $5.05 billion, or $1.44 a diluted share, excluding merger effects, up from $3.35 billion, or 95 cents a diluted share, in the year-earlier period.