Word: crude
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...reminder that the U.S. energy supply is increasingly under the influence of outside forces. During March commodities traders bid the price of oil above the $20-a-bbl. threshold for the first time in 17 months. Last week the futures price of West Texas Intermediate, the benchmark U.S. crude, reached $20.15 a bbl., up some 50% since last October. The rally largely reflects an unexpectedly successful campaign by members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, along with several non-OPEC countries, to curb their output and reduce the world's oversupply. Since early January, OPEC production has fallen about...
What would happen if foreign producers cut off the U.S. supply of crude, as OPEC did in the 1970s? In the short run, the U.S. would not experience dire shortages. A Commerce Department study found that in the event of war, the country's demand for fuel could be met by domestic production and the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Created 13 years ago, the reserve is now up to 515 million bbl., equivalent to about three months' total consumption, stored in salt caverns along the Gulf Coast of Texas and Louisiana...
...struck last week, on the very day that the 3,100 residents of Valdez had planned to commemorate the 25th anniversary of another disaster: the great Alaska earthquake of 1964, which sent a towering tidal wave smashing into Valdez, killing 131 people. After taking on 1.2 million bbl. of crude at the Valdez terminal, the southern end of the 800-mile Trans- Alaska Pipeline, the 987-ft. tanker Exxon Valdez headed out through Prince William Sound. Maneuvering to avoid icebergs, the tanker rammed into an ; underwater shoal called Bligh Reef. The vessel's side split open and thick North Slope...
...threat to local marine life quickly became apparent. As oil gushed out at the rate of 20,000 gal. an hour, emergency teams found ducks coated with crude and sea lions with flippers drenched in oil clinging to a buoy near the wreck. By the time the leak had slowed to a dribble a day later, an estimated 270,000 bbl. of oil had escaped, producing a slick 8 miles long and 4 miles wide. It appeared to be the largest spill, if not the worst in terms of ecological damage, in U.S. history...
...Christmas Eve the hostages hear on the radio that Church of England envoy Terry Waite has failed to negotiate their freedom, and has returned to London. Anderson is crushed. Father Jenco tries to sing carols but is too depressed. Jacobsen draws a crude Christmas tree on a piece of cardboard and sticks it on the wall...