www.vheadline.com Posted: Wednesday, March 05, 2003 By: Robert Rudnicki  

The World Bank is calling on the Venezuelan government to bring an end to its foreign currency controls as quickly as possible.

The measures were imposed around six weeks ago to protect international reserves which were dropping by around $70 million per day as the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) fought to support a plummeting bolivar that was suffering as a result of the opposition's national work stoppage and fears of a upcoming devaluation. 

World Bank chief economist Guillermo Perry told Reuters that the measures the government have imposed are "transitory and can only work temporarily."

However, the government has said that it would keep the measures in place until six months after oil production had returned to normal.

www.vheadline.com Posted: Wednesday, March 05, 2003 By: Robert Rudnicki

According to the lawyers of rebel Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) executives, for whom Control Court 50 issued arrest warrants following a request from the Attorney General's Office, their clients have instructed them to appeal against the court's decision. 

The lawyers insist that the Court's decision violates their clients' rights and the matter is now in the hands of the appeals court. 

One of the lawyers, Carlos Sanz, says that if the appeal is successful then Court 13 will be called upon to take action and declare all charges against the PDVSA strike leaders to be null and void. 

The appeals court now has three days to consider if the appeal is admissible, and if it is, it will have another ten days to reach a final decision.

www.dailynews.com209541220774,00.html 3/5/2003 By Gregory J. Wilcox Staff Writer

The average price of a gallon of regular gasoline hit $2.036 Tuesday -- a record high price in California -- and industry experts said there was no relief in sight.

Tuesday's price barely beat the old record of $2.034 reached on May 15, 2001, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California.

Prices were just below the record in Southern California but were as high as $2.188 a gallon in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Regular fuel prices have soared 67.8 cents a gallon in the past 12 months. In some cases, the price spike has been rapid. For example, the state average climbed 3.2 cents a gallon from Monday to Tuesday.

Prices varied widely across California, with most of Southern California still below record levels, according to the Auto Club survey.

In the Los Angeles area, the price of regular self-serve averaged $2.006, 3 cents below the record. In Orange County, it was $2.022, just 1.8 cents shy of the record $2.04.

However, drivers in San Francisco paid a record $2.188; in Sacramento, gas prices hit a record $2.044, and in San Diego they hit a record $2.039.

Los Angeles-area drivers could find prices in record territory by week's end, said Auto Club spokesman Jeff Spring.

The question now is: how much higher -- and how much longer -- will prices rise?

"Who knows?" said Spring. "There is a lot of speculation going on, but some of the (price) underpinning is based on real facts."

The American Petroleum Institute, an industry trade group, notes that many factors are contributing to the high pump prices. A barrel of crude oil is trading near a two-year high; turmoil in Venezuela interrupted supply; there is uncertainty in the marker over war with Iraq; and it's been bitterly cold in the Northeast and Midwest. The latter means that, in some cases, heating oil production will be stepped up, which will cut into gasoline supplies.

The API also noted that the price of barrel of crude oil was in the high $30 range versus $18 a barrel a year ago.

In California, a seasonal change is also taking place as refiners switch from a winter to summer blend, which will now contain ethanol.

Also, this is the time of year that some refiners shut down part of their production lines for maintenance, said the California Energy Commission, and this could cut into supplies.

At the present time, "a couple" of refiners are this mode, but the state cannot divulge their names, said commission spokesman Rob Schlichting.

"Those are planned events, so they boosted their inventories to get ready for that. But supplies are a little tighter than we would like them to be," he said.

Schlichting also notes that the Auto Club price survey tends to be on the high side because it does not capture some low price outlets that do not accept credit cards.

The commission's survey for the week ending Monday found regular gasoline averaging $2.01 a gallon, the highest since it began in 1996.

And Schlichting agreed with the API assessment that, when adjusted for inflation, gasoline is a relative bargain.

For example, in 1981, the nation's motorists paid an average of $1.35 for a gallon of gas. In today's market, that would equal $2.70.

DRIVING FOR A BARGAIN

Here are some tips for driving around the record high gas price.

Shop Around: Follow the advice of Smokey Robinson and the Miracles who sang, "My Momma told me, you better shop around."

Knock off five to 10 cents a gallon or more by looking for the cheapest gasoline station near you. And despite advertising, all gasoline is pretty much the same.

Develop Habits: Accelerate gently but steadily, as NASCAR-style starts can decrease mileage by up to 12 percent. Try to avoid traffic jams, and use the radio to find alternate routes around congested areas. On the highway, use cruise control, since it saves fuel by maintaining a steady speed.

Slow Down: Fuel economy decreases as speed increases. For every mile per hour that you drive above 55 mph, a vehicle loses about 1 percent in fuel economy.

No Idle Time: Idling an engine equals zero miles per gallon. If you are not in a traffic lane and are going to be stopped for more than 30 seconds, turn off the engine. Restarting uses less fuel.

Chill Out. Turn off the air conditioner and let flow-through ventilation cool the car.

Slim Down: Shed excess weight like luggage racks and clean out the trunk. On average, each 100 pounds of needles weight reduces mileage by up to a half-mile per gallon.

Source: California Energy Commission

www.nytimes.com By NEELA BANERJEE

he oil industry is already feeling powerful repercussions from the current economic and political volatility spawned by fears of war in the Persian Gulf, according to Lee Raymond, the chairman and chief executive of Exxon Mobil, the world's largest oil company.

In a rare and broad-ranging meeting yesterday in New York with securities analysts and journalists, Mr. Raymond pointed out, for example, that oil prices near $40 a barrel create a number of problems for oil companies.

"Frankly, we're not comfortable with oil prices in the high 30's," he said. "They can have long-range impacts that are not all that attractive."

When prices rise so high, they usually fall quite far and quite rapidly, and such volatility "over a long period of time puts a damper on investment" in the industry, Mr. Raymond said.

"It's easy to live with the peaks, but the fear is what the valleys will bring," he said. When investment in new fields and projects declines, less oil gets produced and prices generally remain higher.

Mr. Raymond said he also worried that high prices would lead to a backlash against the oil industry.

"We seem to have an investigation every time prices are high," he said. "Why is there never an investigation when prices go down?"

With the strike in Venezuela continuing and the looming possibility of war with Iraq, Mr. Raymond declined to predict how long oil prices would stay high.

Analysts estimate that Iraq currently exports a little less than 2 million barrels a day, legally and otherwise, and there is a very strong chance those exports would halt if the United States attacked.

"If the Iraqi oil disappears, you get into the question of whether it is transitory or whether capacity has been lost," Mr. Raymond said. "It's clear if there is a war, they will stop exporting. But what the markets will ask is, how long the war will be? Or will Saddam Hussein have torched his oil fields?"

Mr. Raymond said he thought the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries would try to make up for any shortfall of Iraqi oil, although they were already pumping at near full capacity. But he also predicted that if supplies dwindled and an oil shortage became a real possibility, the Bush administration might step in.

"I think under those circumstances the United States government would start releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve," Mr. Raymond said, referring to an emergency stockpile of crude oil the country keeps to cushion disruptions of oil supplies.

Mr. Raymond said that the energy crisis of 1973 had taught the government and the oil companies how to cope with supply crises. He urged the government not to cap prices, as it did in the 1970's, or domestic supplies might dwindle and rationing might have to begin.

"You have to focus on whatever you need to do to keep the continuity of supply," he said. "It's very important not to have gasoline lines at service stations."

www.sunspot.net By Joe Christensen Sun Staff Originally published March 5, 2003

O's, Mora on opposite sides of fence he's swinging for Player sees dollars in HRs; team cites falling average

Instead of serving as the Orioles' super utility player or their perpetual 10th man, he's their everyday center fielder. He's a powerful presence in their lineup, and his strength helps propel the team back to the top, putting him in the playoffs for the first time since 1999, when he was a New York Met.

"If you play me in one position every day," Mora said, "I can hit .270 with 80 RBIs and 30 home runs."

The Orioles appreciate Mora's desire and admire his resolve, but they have an entirely different view of his ideal role. They see him as a table setter who's not afraid to lay down a bunt, sacrificing power numbers for average. However, Mora, in his quest for an everyday starting job, has tried to morph himself into a home run hitter.

For Mora, it all goes back to a conversation he had last year with Orioles third baseman Tony Batista.

"I used to hit .290 or .295 with six homers," Mora said this week. "I never got a chance to play. I said to myself, 'What do I have to do?' I was talking to Tony, and he said, 'If you want to play, if you want to make money, you have to drive in runs. You have to hit for power.' "

Mora hit 19 home runs last season, which was quite a spike, considering he had never hit more than eight in any of his previous 10 professional seasons.

Something else changed, too. After entering the season as a .259 career hitter, his average dropped to .233. Mora thrust himself into the Orioles' everyday leadoff role and was one of the team's top players for three months, but after the All-Star break, he hit .195.

He had 18 home runs entering September, and using an upper-cut swing, he looked as if he were on a mission to reach 20 for the season. With the team in a tailspin down the stretch, Mora hit .137 over the final month.

"Melvin's not a power hitter," Orioles manager Mike Hargrove said. "He had 19 home runs last year; in today's game, that's not a power hitter. Twenty years ago it was, but today it's not. Melvin's game is using the whole field, getting on base any way he can, bunting the ball, and scoring runs.

"In talking to him, he was saying his approach was to try to hit the ball out of the ballpark - a lot, especially the second half of the season. I think that the results were obvious to everybody."

Still, there was a payoff for Mora.

After making $350,000 last season, Mora was eligible for arbitration for the first time, and his salary for this season rose to $1.73 million.

Fans might cringe when a modern-day athlete talks about the need to make more money, but Mora's is a special case. He has six children now, including a set of quintuplets, and the medical bills are high. He also gives money back to his family in Venezuela.

Orioles hitting coach Terry Crowley, a former bench player himself, probably understands Mora's situation as well as anybody. But Crowley said he wants all of his hitters to place a greater emphasis on team-based fundamentals this season: bunting and situational hitting.

"I'm not trying to say Melvin didn't do that last year," Crowley said, "but we will be better."

In 2001, Mora led the Orioles with 17 bunt hits.

Last year, he had one.

"In his defense - and I'm always going to defend my hitters - the first baseman and third baseman were breathing down his neck," Crowley said. "The opportunities to bunt were not great."

Mora has spent extra time this spring on his bunting and said he plans to make it a bigger part of his repertoire. In yesterday's 11-1 loss to the Minnesota Twins, Mora went 0-for-2, popping out to shortstop and flying out to left field. For the spring, he's still batting .364.

Hargrove has said that, ideally, with the rest of the lineup healthy, Mora would start about two or three times a week this season. The Orioles have talked about trading Mora this spring, but teams have told them he's too expensive at his current salary. The Orioles know he'll still be a hot trade commodity at the waiver deadline, especially for National League contenders.

Mora said that's out of his control, just like the everyday lineup decisions.

"I know Mike Hargrove has a tough job," Mora said. "There are a lot of good players here. I'm just going to do what I can do, and we'll see what happens."