www.news-journal.com H. JOSEF HEBERT Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP)--Gasoline prices are expected to continue their upward climb and reach a record national average of $1.76 a gallon in April, the Energy Department forecast Thursday.

It predicted gas prices will average about $1.70 a gallon for regular brands through the summer driving season.

Gasoline prices have soared during the past month because of high crude oil costs, heavy demand for heating oil and tight inventories of crude as well as most petroleum products.

Already many parts of the country have been paying $2 or more at the pump. This week prices soared on the West Coast, where refining problems added to the price spike.

Gasoline prices increased to an average of $1.68 a gallon nationally this week, a hike of nearly 3 cents from last week and 54 cents higher than a year ago. Prices on the West Coast took the biggest jump, increasing by 8.5 cents to $1.93 a gallon, according to the Energy Information Administration.

``With the driving season beginning next month, pump prices are expected to continue to rise,'' said the EIA in a short-term energy forecast released Thursday.

The EIA said gasoline inventories remained tight, close to the lower end of the five-year average. This ``is one of the reasons current pump prices are high,'' said the EIA, the department's statistical agency.

The $1.76 a gallon forecast for April would be a nickel more per gallon than the record high of $1.71 set in May 2001, said the agency.

These prices would still be somewhat of a bargain compared to gasoline costs in 1981 if inflation were taken into account, the EIA noted. Using today's dollar, motorists were paying the equivalent of $2.90 a gallon in March 1981, said the EIA.

The EIA said crude oil prices in February ``moved higher than expected pushed by fears of war in Iraq, lower inventories (and) slow recovery of Venezuela's exports.'' The price of West Texas Intermediary, a benchmark crude, averaged $36 a barrel, a level not seen since October 1990, just months before the start of the Gulf War, the agency said.

On the Net:

Energy Information Administration: www.eia.doe.gov

www.napanews.com Thursday, March 6, 2003 From The Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO -- San Francisco Bay area gas prices are breaking records and irritating motorists, and the price is not much lower in Southern California.

In San Francisco, regular unleaded fuel now costs an average of $2.19 a gallon, according to a survey by AAA of Northern California. In Oakland, gas averages $2.09 a gallon, and in San Jose it has hit $2.08.

Statewide, the average price is $2.04, beating the previous record of $2.03 set in May 2001.

The average price was a bit under $2.01 per gallon in the Los Angeles area and about a penny higher in Orange County. San Diego drivers were paying an average of nearly $2.04 per gallon.

Over the past year, the price for self-serve regular gas has jumped an average of 67.8 cents in California.

"It's ridiculous," said Sandra Cerrigan, who paid $2.23 for gas for her Land Rover at a San Francisco Chevron Station. "We're getting gouged."

Prices could rise even further for the summer driving season, which begins in March, said Sean Comey, AAA spokesman. He said gas prices are typically lower in winter.

California usually has higher gas prices than most other states because the state has higher fuel taxes and requires a special blend of lower-smog fuel. Nationally, gas prices averaged $1.68 Tuesday, according to AAA. The record is $1.72, set on May 15, 2001.

A spokeswoman for the American Petroleum Institute said the higher prices are determined by crude oil prices and other factors.

The price for crude oil almost reached a 12-year high last week at $36.70 a barrel. A potential war in Iraq, cold weather on the East Coast and a strike in Venezuela are blamed for pushing the price of a barrel that high.

"California gasoline prices have been rising steadily for the past nine and a half weeks and increases are likely to continue," Carol Thorp, spokeswoman for the Automobile Club of Southern California, said in a written statement. "The slow march to a possible war with Iraq has been the major factor in pushing up prices. Gas price reductions may be unlikely until the Iraq situation is resolved."

When taking into account inflation, current gas prices still are not as high as they were two decades ago, when they hit a peak after President Reagan deregulated gas prices.

"We have an open investigation, constantly, on gasoline prices and we have no evidence of there being illegal activities," state Attorney General Bill Lockyer said during a news conference Wednesday in Los Angeles.

He said the hikes appeared to be largely due to rising crude oil prices, war anxiety and an ongoing reduction of inventories by oil companies.

"The companies are holding less and less, and so that means they buy more expensive oil when they have to and it's driving up the price," he said.

Lockyer also said the oil market needs more competition.

"We don't see illegal manipulation. We do see the continuation of six companies that control 92 percent of the market," he said.

news.bbc.co.uk

Almost 1,500 Colombian farmers have returned to their villages after a three-month military training programme.

The state is trying to enlist male members of isolated villages to help fight leftist guerrillas, and to protect their homes and families from the fierce territorial fighting between the rebels and government and paramilitary forces.

Meanwhile, the war of words intensified as President Alvaro Uribe promised to pursue guerrillas across national borders.

The threat followed a Thursday morning blast at a shopping centre near the Venezuelan border blamed on a smaller rebel group.

'A wonderful mission'

Soldier-farmers returning to villages in the south of Colombia on Wednesday said they had volunteered for combat training to provide their villages with security.

"I have to make things safe, so peasants can return to their fields," one told national television.

Fear of getting caught up in the conflict has prompted hundreds of thousands of Colombians to flee their homes in recent years.

We are all replaceable. Except Uribe (above)

Unnamed finance ministry official

The soldier-farmers receive the same pay as regular army recruits - 50,000 pesos ($17) a month - and must serve for a minimum of two years. This is the second phase of the programme; the first attracted 5,000 volunteers, reported the newspaper El Espectador.

"The peasant soldiers have a wonderful mission, protecting their friends, families, neighbours and associates, because they will be doing their military service in their own towns, where everybody knows, respects and values them," said the head of recruitment General Gilberto Rocha.

But by recruiting civilians, the Colombian Government may risk drawing them into the firing line.

Cross-border crackdown

President Uribe continued with the crackdown on Wednesday as he announced government forces would not baulk at crossing national borders to track down the "terrorists", as it terms them.

The explosion on Wednesday occurred at Cucuta, a village close to the Venezuelan border, apparently in retaliation for a government campaign to eradicate coca crops, which it says finance the rebel movement.

"We know that terrorists have fooled the people and the government of Venezuela, where they pass themselves off as good citizens," said Mr Uribe.

"They hide out on the other side of the border and come to carry out their terrorist attacks in Cucuta."

And he vowed the government would "eradicate until the last coca plant is gone".

Venezuelan denial

Inside Venezuela, the issue has sparked a row between supporters and opponents of President Hugo Chavez, with opponents suggesting Caracas is sympathetic to the main rebel group.

According to recent reports in Venezuelan, Colombian and US newspapers, Farc leader Manuel "Sureshot" Marulanda left Colombia in February and has been hiding out in south-western Venezuela.

Uribe escaped an attempt on his life while on the campaign trail

But Calixta Ortega, a lawmaker with Chavez's Fifth Republic Movement, protested that guerrillas did not maintain a "routine presence" in Venezuela, where 20,000 troops have been deployed to secure the border, "costing the government a fortune".

"If they know in Colombia that guerrillas are present [here], I don't understand why the Colombian Government or army doesn't go to those places," he said, speaking to news agency Efe.

Uribe tracked by satellite

The threat faced by Mr Uribe as he wages the bitter campaign to corner the rebels has been highlighted by the disclosure that the US Government tracks his movements by satellite.

He has survived several assassination attempts, including a car bomb and a mortar attack on the presidential palace during his swearing-in ceremony.

Reuters news agency spoke to a top intelligence official, who said "The US is working very closely with Colombia on the security and protection of [the president]. We are using all types of equipment," including satellite tracking.

A finance ministry official, confirming the security arrangements, said: "We are all replaceable. Except Uribe."

www.alertnet.org 06 Mar 2003 23:52

WASHINGTON, March 6 (Reuters) - The United States said on Thursday it would bar some shrimp imports from Honduras and Venezuela, apparently because their fishermen may be drowning sea turtles in their nets.

The State Department said U.S. law bans imports of shrimp harvested in a way that harms turtles unless a country has a "sea turtle protection program" like United States or has a fishing environment "that does not pose a threat" to turtles.

The key element of the U.S. sea turtle conservation program is that commercial shrimp boats must use sea turtle "excluder devices" to prevent the accidental drowning of sea turtles in shrimp trawls, the department said.

Such devices direct turtles to an opening in the trawl -- a large bag-like net dragged by a boat -- so they are not trapped and drowned.

The department said it determined on Jan. 29 that Venezuela and Honduras were not meeting the U.S. requirements, triggering the suspension of imports of shrimp harvested with commercial fishing technology that may hurt the turtles. Shrimp harvested by "artisanal" and other methods may still be imported.

The State Department said it hoped the suspension would be brief and it may send teams of experts to the two countries to assess what they are doing to protect sea turtles.

www.thestar.com Mar. 6, 2003. 09:43 PM

MONTREAL (CP) — Air travellers, already swamped by various extra fees, got more bad news today when Air Canada announced plans to add another $10 fuel charge on each one-way domestic flight.

The move, which takes effect next Tuesday, will bring the fuel surcharge to $25, or $50 for a return trip.

One-way flights under 480 kilometres are exempt from the latest increase, said Air Canada spokeswoman Renee Smith-Valade.

"We're certainly cognizant that there's already a significant negative impact from fees and charges on the short-haul markets."

The latest hike is a temporary measure, Air Canada said.

The airline first introduced the fuel surcharge in 2000 at $15. It was cut in half in November 2001, only to go back to $15 in April 2002.

Air Canada (TSX: AC) said near-record oil and jet-fuel costs caused by geopolitical uncertainties over a war in Iraq and the strike in Venezuela were to blame for the latest surcharge.

"It's unfortunate that we have no option but to raise the fuel surcharge, although the impact of near record-high fuel prices is something all consumers can relate to," Smith-Valade said.

The airline says about 45 per cent of its fuel purchases are hedged against market increases in the current first quarter, and about 10 per cent for the three subsequent quarters.

Air Canada estimates that a $1 (U.S.) per barrel increase in the price of crude oil increases the airline's annual fuel costs by $30 million Cdn. Fuel is the second-largest expense for an airline, after personnel.

Canada's dominant airline is trying to negotiate cost-cutting measures with its unions after losing $428 million in 2002.