www.theledger.com Published Friday, February 21, 2003 By BRAD FOSS The Associated Press

The middle of winter feels more like the heart of summer at gas stations nationwide, as fuel prices surge past $2 a gallon in some places and motorists grumble about being gouged. When a gallon of gas costs more than a cup of gourmet coffee around the July 4 holiday, drivers chalk it up to industry greed during the peak driving season. Now consumers are accusing oil companies of taking advantage of the prospect of war in Iraq -- an allegation the industry brushes aside as a conspiracy theory. Gas station owners tell a more complicated story, explaining that today's high pump prices are partly the result of avarice, but not their own. The average retail price of regular unleaded has risen 56 cents since the beginning of the year to $1.66 a gallon. Meanwhile, wholesale gas prices have increased only 14 cents over the same period of time. That disparity is the source of ire for much of the public, while others accept high gas prices as a consequence of war rhetoric from the Bush administration. Earlier in the week, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., called on the Federal Trade Commission to launch an investigation of industry practices. "It appears as if price gouging is taking place across the country," Schumer said in a letter to FTC chairman Timothy Muris. The American Automobile Association supports Schumer's request. The travel company said it is also concerned about why prices have gone up so much in such a short period of time, though a spokesman stopped short of using the term gouging. "We feel that most of the increase has been due to fear and speculation, rather than any change in the supply or demand for crude oil or gasoline," said Jeff Sunstrom, a spokesman for AAA. Regardless of the reasons, Sunstrom worries that today's high prices could be a harbinger of even costlier fuel by the end of April. "Watch out between April 15 and May 31," said Tom Kloza, director of Oil Price Information Service, a Lakewood, N.J., publisher of industry data. Kloza said the imports lost after Venezuela's oil workers went on strike in December have not been adequately replaced and that could be a problem when the weather heats up and demand rises. Trucker Tommy Wimberly paid $280 to fill up his rig with 166 gallons of diesel in Camillia, Ga., or about a third more than a month ago. "I don't like the high prices, but I'm not angry," said Wimberly, 43, who expects prices to go even higher if the United States goes to war with Iraq. "There's nothing I can do about it," he said. As the public face of the industry, gas station owners are frustrated by accusations of profiteering, but they insist they're not the ones to blame. They say suppliers have been steadily upping their "rack" prices for weeks and that station owners are merely passing along the changes to customers without any benefit to their bottom lines. "I realize that the price of a barrel of oil has gone up tremendously, but the way that rack prices have gone up for the last two weeks is just not right," said Richard Loeber, owner of a Hess station in Union Beach, N.J. About 40 percent of the retail cost of gasoline is attributed to the price of crude oil, which has risen 19 percent since the start of the year to $36.79 per barrel. Loeber and other retailers attribute the rapid increases to "zone pricing," a phenomenon in which suppliers value their product based upon the highest level a particular market will bear. For example, if their customers' rivals are getting a nickel more per gallon at the pump, they will set their rack price accordingly, even if the supplier's costs haven't gone up. "People know they're getting gouged, but believe me, it's not from the dealers," Loeber said. For its part, the petroleum industry fends off critics at times like these by pointing to higher oil prices. The surge has mainly been attributed to traders' fears of supply disruptions in the event of a war in Iraq and the impact of the Venezuelan oil strike.

Last modified: February 21. 2003 12:00AM

www.nationalpost.com Tony Seskus Financial Post Friday, February 21, 2003

CALGARY - Soaring natural gas prices and shrinking conventional gas reserves threaten to stunt growth plans in Alberta's energy-rich oilsands, a leading economist said yesterday.

Carol Crowfoot, president of GLJ Energy Publications Inc., said record prices for natural gas -- used in the extraction and refining of the tar-like bitumen -- are boosting input costs while conventional gas production is flat or declining.

The challenges add to the costs already confronting oilsands projects and means producers need to find new gas to maintain oilsands growth as well as develop new technologies to cut their reliance on natural gas, she said.

It also comes at a time when Canada's reliance on the oilsands production continues to grow, with production of synthetic crude expected to soon eclipse conventional production in Alberta.

"If the price of natural gas was the only risk factor, then obviously it wouldn't have much of an impact," Ms. Crowfoot said at a Canadian Institute oilsands conference in Calgary.

"Unfortunately, it's a cumulative effect of all of the risk factors -- the regulatory regime, the costs of Kyoto, competing with Venezuela, upgraders -- we need to go through that whole chain."

She added: "We do need to find additional sources of supply."

Natural gas futures yesterday rose for the fourth straight session, gaining 0.5% to their highest levels in more than two years after supplies of the fuel last week fell more than analyst' forecasts. Gas for March delivery rose US2.8¢ to US$6.16 per million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest close since Feb. 9, 2001.

April gas closed 1.2% higher at US$5.98, a contract high, after reaching US$6.01.

A bitterly cold winter in the U.S. put the squeeze on tight natural gas supplies, which has kept prices at high levels for months.

That's bad news for most oilsands developers, who must fight to reduce costs in a business with notoriously tight margins.

Natural gas prices are a particularly important cost component because the fuel is used in many facets of oilsands operations, though to a lesser degree in oilsands mining. The most significant user of natural gas are SAGD operations (steam-assisted gravity drainage technology), which uses the gas to produce the steam needed to warm the reservoir before extracting the tar-like bitumen from the earth.

The oilsands have been identified as a key growth area for Canadian energy supplies. The region surrounding Fort McMurray contains 315 billion barrels of recoverable oilsands reserves, rivalling those found in Saudi Arabia.

But Ms. Crowfoot cautioned that when gas prices reach levels around US$6 or US$7 per thousand cubic feet, oilsands growth plans are put "at risk" because they add to the development cost.

She also noted that with such high prices there is also concern of an opportunity cost lost because a high-quality, high-value resource is being used to develop a lower-quality product.

She said producers need to develop new technologies and fuel alternatives to reduce their dependency on natural gas.

Ms. Crowfoot said it is important that new gas reserves are brought on stream in order to meet the needs of the oilsands. She said gas production in Canada has been flat for the last two to three years.

"I think the industry is starting to realize that in order to grow production, not just stay flat but grow to meet the incremental demands for the oilsands, we have to get another source of supply," she said. "We need to replace about 3.5 [billion cubic feet] a day just to offset the declines."

She said that while tight gas supplies and high prices threaten to have a short-term effect, that she is "completely optimistic" that the oilsands projects will be viable through technological advances.

tseskus@nationalpost.com

english.pravda.ru 13:30 2003-02-21

It seems like the long running conflict between Chavez and his detractors is turning into a battle to the end. Only to weeks after the finalization of the national strike that claimed for the resignation of the President, the opposition is trying to recover from its defeat and strike back.

According to the last reports from Caracas, the opposition threatened the Government with new mobilizations after a strike leader was arrested by the secret police facing charges of treason and violence instigation. Also, opposition politicians denounced the assassination of three dissident military officers and an opposition activist.

International human right groups took part on this case, as the bodies of the four were found in the suburbs of Caracas showing signs of torture: hands tied and faces wrapped with tape. Darwin Arguello, Angel Salas and Felix Pinto and opposition activist Zaida Peraza, 25, had multiple bullet wounds and showed signs of torture, Raul Yepez, deputy director of Venezuela's forensics police, said Wednesday.

Carlos Ortega, head of the Venezuelan Workers Confederation, said that the murders and arrests were "terrorist attacks" against country's opposition. On Thursday, the morning after the midnight arrest of Carlos Fernandez, president of Venezuela's largest business federation FEDECAMARAS, opposition leaders threatened to call a new strike in response.

According to the New York-based Human Rights Watch, a witness saw the victims being forced into two vehicles by men wearing ski masks, not far from a plaza that has become the opposition's central rallying point. "The circumstances strongly suggest that these were political killings," said Jose Miguel Vivanco, executive director of the Americas Division of Human Rights Watch to the foreign press in Caracas.

The vice president of the Fedecamaras business association, Albis Munoz, warned of another nationwide strike. She said Fernandez was seized without a court order and was being held at secret police headquarters. "Definitely there will be actions, and very strong actions," Munoz said, adding that Fernandez was "practically kidnapped."

OAS Secretary General Cesar Gaviria issued a statement urging Venezuela's judiciary to treat Fernandez's case in "strict compliance with the laws and rights guaranteed by the (Venezuelan) constitution." These actions come only days after a formal declaration signed by all parties compromising not to use violence for political reasons.

For the sake of good order, is important to remark that is difficult to check reports from Venezuela, as the local media is completely against the Government. For instance, TV chains did not presented advertising during the general strike, financing with their own money the 24 hours anti-Chavez transmissions.

President Chavez has not yet referred to these episodes; instead, the national Assembly has passed new legislation about "media social responsibility", which threats, according to the opposition, freedom of speech in the country.

Hernan Etchaleco PRAVDA.Ru Argentina

money.cnn.com February 21, 2003: 8:58 AM EST By Justin Lahart, CNN/Money Staff Writer

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Heading into the open on Friday, Wall Street was sitting firmly on its hands and trying to take deep breaths for fear that it might do anything rash.

Stocks were cued to open steady, perhaps shading toward the positive column, on a day when investors were scratching their heads over what to do next. Although the diplomatic ruckus over Iraq hasn't settled down, it appears that little will really be known until March gets under way and U.N. weapons inspectors give their next report.

"There's a lack of desire to do anything," said Miller Tabak equity strategist Pete Boockvar. "It's not going to be until March that we get a really good idea about what kind of time table were looking at with Iraq."

But the light volume Friday could lead to choppy trading -- particularly since February options on stocks and indexes expire, often a recipe for volatility.

Inflation at the consumer level in January was in line with expectations. The Consumer Price Index rose 0.3 percent for the month compared to 0.1 percent in December. The "core," which excludes the volatile food and energy sectors, gained 0.1 percent, in line with the December reading.

Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had expected the CPI to rise 0.3 percent, with the core logging a 0.2 percent gain. But after the Producer Price Index showed a surprisingly strong reading on wholesale prices Thursday, the market was girded for a higher reading.

The implication is that although companies are paying more for goods, so far they haven't been able to pass these costs onto consumers. The end result, unfortunately for them, is that profits may be getting squeezed.

There was fresh news on the war front for investors to mull over. Thursday night on PBS Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said U.S. and U.K. troops in the Persian Gulf are ready to go to war. This was in contrast with the popular perception that a couple more weeks are needed to put needed forces in place. Certainly politically attacking Iraq now doesn't seem expedient. Rumsfeld's remarks may have been more of an attempt to put pressure on the French and German faction than anything else.

Meantime, the impasse between Washington and Turkey over using Turkish territory as a launchpad for attacking Iraq's northern border appears close to being resolved. Friday Turkish Prime Minister Abdullah Gul said that his government had come to a "mutual understanding" with the United States.

Finally, amid confirmation from U.N. weapons inspectors that Iraq has not increased its cooperation, London's The Times reports the U.N. Security Council has tentatively scheduled a meeting for March 7 which could set the way for a compromise. Chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix is putting together a list of 40 questions for Iraq that could serve as an ultimatum, according to The Times.

Elsewhere, Merrill Lynch made changes in its weighting for five tech sectors. The firm upgraded Internet and storage to "overweight" from "equal weight" and communications equipment to "equal weight" from "underweight," but downgraded the services sector to "equal weight" from "overweight" and hardware to "underweight" from "overweight."

Other stocks to watch Friday include Texas Instruments (TXN: Research, Estimates), which rose in after-hours trading Thursday after it said it plans to buy back up to 18 million shares.

And retailer Nordstrom (JWN: Research, Estimates) reported higher fourth-quarter profits but projected earnings for the first quarter and year that would be near the low end of Wall Street forecasts.

Treasury prices were little changed, leaving the 10-year note yield at about 3.85 percent.

In currency markets, the dollar was steady in light trading after getting drubbed by Thursday's spate of bad economic news.

Overseas, most Asian markets fell, hurt by worries the weakened dollar will damage exports. Tokyo's Nikkei and Hong Kong's Hang Seng both down about 1.5 percent.

With traders unsure of where the U.S. market would head, stocks in Europe were straddling the flatline midsession.

Rumsfeld's words of word appeared to be trumping news that Iraq is illegally exporting a glut of oil. Brent crude oil for April delivery jumped 30 cents to $31.86 a barrel in London.

For analyst comments, click here.  

www.star.niu.edu By Ben DeVries Photo Editor

How could a picture story about real life situations be so threatening to the public’s disposition? Is the public really frightened to see images about those less fortunate than them? This is one of the many ethical questions and concerns that come up now and again in photojournalism.

Recently a picture story published by the Austin American-Statesman in Texas, also at www.helpjacqui.com, showed some compelling photos of a girl who was involved in a terrible vehicle accident. This picture story depicted her struggle with extensive surgeries and her life as it is now. E-mail this page to a friend Printer-Friendly Version

Jacqui Saburido, originally from Venezuela, was driving home with three friends after a party one night in September 1999 when another driver swerved into their car and both vehicles crashed.

Both the drivers were driving drunk.

Two people in Jacqui’s car died, but she survived with major burns to her body after the car caught fire.

Jacqui’s body was over 60 percent burned from the car wreck and she has gone through and is still going through extensive surgeries to repair her body.

Jacqui lost the use of her hands, the sense of touch over most of her body and most of her vision. After going through many surgeries, she has regained some of her vision and the use of her hands to an extent, but she still has a long way to go.

Some people consider pictures of her “disturbing,” but they’re not.

People would rather just read the story than see the photos, but the photos are the story. We see violence and horror in movies and on television every day, but when it’s really happening, we turn our heads. Why do we try to hide from this reality?

The overall perception of the public seems to be right in the middle of two extremes, neither “shocking” nor “dull,” but just decent. An image in the newspaper that goes beyond the bounds of what the public is used to from newspapers raises concerns about the content presented, but yet the public is faced with much more graphic violence and sexual innuendos on a day to day basis through television and movies.

Another example of this would be a story about a child that was killed a few years ago. The father had suffocated the child, wrapped it in a plastic bag, and buried it in a park not far from his home. After an investigation and some interrogation, the father led the authorities to where the child had been buried. The local newspaper and television station covered the story, and a photo of an officer carrying out the child, still in the plastic bag, ran on the front page of the local newspaper.

The paper got various calls concerning obscenity and invasion of privacy from local residents. This came up as an ethical question the night before it ran with the editors of the newspaper. Should we run this photo or not? The debate came down to this— the story was of legitimate public concern and breaking news that the public needed to know.

There are photos every year that run in the newspaper that people would rather not see. Pictures of car accidents, fire or floods show the gravest of moments for people, but those stories need to be told. In one way or another, those stories will help people think twice. The cause of the problems in each situation is printed in the newspaper after the incident, and they are there for a reason— to inform the public about what is happening around you and to help stop the problem before it starts.

The story of Jacqui is more than just touching; it’s the harsh reality of our mistakes. Every time that someone drives drunk, they are putting themselves at risk, just as Jacqui and her friends did that fateful night.

There are no real words that could describe how powerful the images in this story are.

The photos showed Jacqui’s tremendous courage and will to survive with the help of her family and friends. The will to move on and to teach others about the horror that she went through shows just how far one incident can touch other lives and save them from the fate that she has endured.