More.. By Connie Cartmell, ccartmell@mariettatimes.com

Good news at the gas pumps this week is a direct result of good news in the southern deserts of Iraq as U.S. troops keep oil well fires at a minimum. Only about seven wells, of Iraq's reported 1,400 wells are burning.

"What has gone well in this war, so far, is that he (Saddam Hussein) has not done more damage to the oil fields than he has," said Robert Chase, chairman and professor of the petroleum engineering department at Marietta College. "That's why our gasoline prices have gone down."

Chase attributes the reduction to the same reason prices shot to $1.75.9 only a few weeks ago. It is the old adage, "Buy the rumor, sell the fact."

"This is exactly what the market has done," Chase said. "People thought that he would destroy the fields and disrupt supply. The fact is, it didn't happen and when it doesn't happen, the prices go down."

People also think most of American oil supplies come from the Middle East. Chase said this is also somewhat false in that most of U.S. oil is from Mexico, Canada, and Venezuela.

"We were buying some of their oil, I think to ensure money was going in went to the food program, to humanitarian needs, instead of to the military," he said.

Coalition troops secured most oil fields and wells in southern Iraq early on, likely quicker and more deliberately than Iraqi leadership anticipated. Chase even suspects special operations forces may have been on the scene even before war broke out to further ensure the wells were safe.

"I expect part of the reason Saddam wanted to blow up the oil fields was to go out in grand style," Chase said. "I know the people of Kuwait, and you would never see that happen in Kuwait. In fact, I don't think there's another person in the region, or world, would allow his own people to suffer so much, for his own gain."

Chase believes a "primitive mentality" is behind the brutality and mindset of Iraq's leadership.

Work will begin soon to put out the fires. Today's technology is making a major difference. Last time after Desert Storm there were 400 oil well fires in Iraq.

"We were ready for it this time," said Kean Weaver, president of Triad Resources Inc., of Reno. "The U.S. government anticipated this. Also, last time, because of the type of well heads, the large number of fires, and lack of technology, it was more difficult."

A graduate of Marietta College's petroleum engineering program in 1984, Weaver had visited the Middle East (Bahrain) and has an understanding of what it takes to put out a well fire. His company does oil and gas exploration and development in the region.

Both are confident the oil fields are under control.

"Clearly, Saddam Hussein is a detriment to the whole region," Weaver said. "If we want to maintain the lifestyle we enjoy today ... the oil supply must be defended."

Read more By Andrew Caffrey, Boston Globe

Regardless of what happens in Iraq, American drivers could see another bout of high pump prices this summer because of political tensions elsewhere in the world.

Political violence in Nigeria has cut production of high-grade crude oil used for gasoline in the United States by 40 percent, forcing refineries on the East Coast in particular to scramble for replacement stocks and bid up prices.

Meantime, Venezuela's state-owned petroleum industry, which still hasn't fully recovered from the civil strife begun last December, is in such poor condition that some analysts warn it might see a drop in output.

These developments come when stocks in the United States are so low that the U.S. Energy Information Administration yesterday said "it will likely take many more weeks, or months, before U.S. petroleum inventories return to normal levels."

Despite a recent surge of imports, the agency said gasoline stocks are declining when suppliers should be reloading ahead of the peak summer driving season. Future prices for gasoline for April delivery rose 4 cents a gallon, or 4.44 percent, to 92.4 cents yesterday after the government released its report. Analysts say the system is so tightly stretched that even small, unanticipated developments could push prices up further.

"It doesn't look like we're going to have a lot of relief on the gasoline prices," said Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy & Economics Research Inc., a Massachusetts consulting firm.

Another looming worry: disquiet among oil workers in Colombia that could lead to a strike. If Colombia "went down, clearly we would be looking at a very tight situation for the U.S. Gulf for gasoline production," said David Fyfe, an oil analyst for the International Energy Agency in Paris.

The near-term global outlook for oil supply and prices continues to see-saw. Prices had plummeted to $26 a barrel, from $38, when it looked like the U.S.-led military coalition was heading to swift victory in Iraq. That had begun to pull down retail gasoline prices. But now, oil prices have been creeping back up as those forces encounter stiffer resistance from Iraqi fighters, in addition to concerns about the situation in Nigeria. Yesterday, oil futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 66 cents, to $28.63 a barrel.

One big factor in the earlier drop is increased output from Saudi Arabia and other producers to keep spiraling prices from harming the U.S. economy, and to compensate for lost Venezuelan and Iraqi suppliers. Indeed, some analysts are now predicting that the Saudis and other producers may soon cut back output to prevent a glut that could collapse prices.

But the rosy macro outlook doesn't necessarily filter down equally to local energy markets.

Saudi Arabia's oil, for example, is high in sulphur, and so most of it is sent to refineries in the U.S. Gulf region that are equipped to process it into gasoline. East Coast refineries, meantime, got about 26 percent of crude oil supplies from Nigeria and Venezuela last year, while Venezuela provided about 10 percent of the region's stocks of finished gasoline, leaving the region vulnerable to problems in those countries.

Venezuelan oil production has bounced backed markedly since the strikes petered out, with analysts saying oil production is now around 2.4 million barrels a day. But they add that it will be weeks before the state-owned petroleum company will be exporting gasoline from its refineries in significant amounts.

Moreover, the Venezuelan system is in poor shape after the strike, and even in the best of times production from existing wells declines so quickly that analysts say the system requires billions in ongoing investment and warn that production might fall further.

Meanwhile, the situation in Nigeria remains highly volatile since the violence that erupted in the West Niger delta March 12 prompted three major oil companies to shut or curtail facilities and evacuate workers, cutting the nation's oil output by 800,000 barrels a day. Producers elsewhere in Nigeria are believed to be increasing output, which may partially offset current declines. But analysts said the intensity of the current fighting has them worried that the instability in the West Niger delta could last for months.

The war with Iraq is the wild card in all of this global turmoil. If the war does indeed go quickly, then crude prices could fall further, pulling down gasoline prices. Already the decline in crude prices from the March highs has been "so profound" that gas prices should be in the $1.50 to $1.60 a gallon range by summer, down from the $1.69 a gallon national average, Energy Security Analysis Inc., a Wakefield energy consultancy, said yesterday.

Read By John Branch The Fresno Bee (Published Thursday, March 27, 2003, 11:59 AM)

Andres Galarraga has become a clubhouse sage as he nears his 42nd birthday, but the veteran first baseman will make San Francisco's roster for more than that. "He still has some juice left in his bat," Giants manager Felipe Alou says. (Mark Crosse / The Fresno Bee)This has to be No. 7, at least. Maybe eight.

But the Big Cat, Andres Galarraga, will live at least one more life with the San Francisco Giants.

When the Giants on Wednesday relegated first baseman Damon Minor to Fresno to start the season, Galarraga -- signed to a minor-league contract in January -- was left with an apparent spot on San Francisco's Opening Day roster.

He'll serve as a backup first baseman, a big right-handed bat off the bench and -- most importantly, perhaps -- the feel-good vibe of the clubhouse.

Go ahead and root for Barry Bonds to finally win the World Series. Rationalize that he somehow deserves it.

Root harder for Andres Galarraga to simply play in one. He deserves it more.

There is a place for nice guys. And San Francisco is it, for now.

"I think a lot of people will remember me for being a nice guy," Galarraga says when asked about his likely legacy. "I like that."

No higher calling. Just "nice guy." If only every big-leaguer and professional athlete could aspire to such a lofty post-career epithet.

Maybe that's why Galarraga received the biggest ovation when the Giants (a disappointing number of them) came to Grizzlies Stadium for an exhibition with their Triple-A affiliate.

Galarraga is one of baseball's few true ambassadors, the kind of player who makes fans stand up and cheer for doing nothing but showing up. That's because everything he does -- hitting home runs, backhanding a hard grounder, chatting with fans or reporters -- is accompanied by the sport's biggest smile.

It's such a simple formula. Makes you wonder why more athletes don't try it.

"He is a lot of fun," says infielder Neifi Perez, who spent a couple of seasons with Galarraga in Colorado. "He's a great teammate. And if he stays like this, he'll play 'til he's 60."

Galarraga turns 42 in June. He's hoping for that elusive Series and another 14 home runs. That would make him the 35th player to reach 400. He'd pass -- ho-hum -- Johnny Bench, Graig Nettles, Joe Carter, Dale Murphy and Al Kaline along the way.

It's not just that he's one of those players who forever will sit at the Hall of Fame's doorstep, just outside immortality. And it's not just that he smiles through everything life has thrown him.

It's that he has been dismissed so many times. Every time he seems to disappear, he emerges again, filled with new life.

Galarraga was an overweight teenager from Caracas, Venezuela, signed by the Montreal Expos in 1979 on the advice of Felipe Alou, then a minor-league manager. Now Alou is San Francisco's manager and the man keeping Galarraga's career going nearly 25 years after the two first met.

"I knew he'd be a player," Alou says. "But I didn't know he would be a player for this long."

No one did. Galarraga spent nearly seven seasons in the minors. But he emerged as one of baseball's best hitters in the late 1980s, then fizzled hard in 1991.

The Expos gave up, traded him to St. Louis. That's where he found hitting coach Don Baylor, who revamped Galarraga's swing and drastically opened his stance.

In 1993, with Baylor managing the expansion Rockies and Galarraga signed as a free agent, Galarraga hit .370. He later led the league in home runs and RBI. He became the heart of Colorado's Blake Street Bombers, second only to John Elway in the Denver sports hierarchy.

Eventually, Colorado couldn't afford him. Galarraga signed with Atlanta in 1998, hitting .305 with 44 home runs and 121 RBI as if to prove he didn't need thin air to excel.

The next spring, he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

He somehow smiled through the announcement. He vowed to return. And then he disappeared to spend a summer receiving chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

"When I had the cancer, the doctors said they had medicine," Galarraga says. "I said I not only want to stay alive, I want to play baseball."

So he did. He hit .302 with 28 home runs and 100 RBI in 2000. He was the comeback player of the year.

He's a lot grayer and a little heavier now, not as agile as he was when former Expos player Bob Bailey dubbed him the Big Cat nearly 20 years ago. The past two years have taken him to Texas and San Francisco and Montreal and back, now, to San Francisco. The years have turned him into a backup and a clubhouse leader.

"He still has some juice left in his bat," Alou says.

The Big Cat is unsure how many baseball lives he has left. He doesn't think about it.

"I just want to help my teammates stay up," he says. "That's why I'm smiling all the time -- to tell my teammates that this is a special game."

It's special because of people like him. Root for him.

The columnist can be reached at jbranch@fresnobee.com or 441-6217.

URL Vienna, March 27, IRNA -- The price of the OPEC Basket of seven crude stood at 25.54 dollars a barrel on Wednesday, compared with 26.84 dollars the previous day, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations here, Thursday.
Thu 13 Feb : 31.91
Fri 14 Feb : 32.33
Mon 17 Feb : 31.90
Tue 18 Feb : 31.85
Wed 19 Feb : 31.95
Thu 20 Feb : 31.48
Fri 21 Feb : 31.84
Mon 24 Feb : 32.44
Tue 25 Feb : 32.73
Wed 26 Feb : 32.49
Thu 27 Feb : 32.48
Fri 28 Feb : 32.63
Mon 03 March : 31.63
Tue 04 March : 32.12
Wed 05 March : 32.29
Thu 06 March : 32.50
Fri 07 March : 33.79
Mon 10 March : 33.11
Tue 11 March : 32.54
Wed 12 March : 32.74
Thu 13 March : 32.42
Fri 14 March : 30.98
Mon 17 March : 29.80
Tue 18 March : 27.69
Wed 19 March : 27.12
Thu 20 March : 26.51
Fri 21 March : 24.81
Mon 24 March : 25.70
Tue 25 March : 26.84
For the first quarter of 2002, the basket price averaged dlrs
19.83 a barrel as opposed to dlrs 18.38 in the fourth quarter of 2001. For 2001 as a whole, the price of the basket averaged dlrs 23.12 a barrel, compared with dlrs 27.60 in 2000, dlrs 17.47 in 1999 and dlrs 12.28 in 1998.
The OPEC basket comprises Algeria's Saharan Blend, Indonesia's Minas, Nigeria's Bonny Light, Saudi Arabian Light, Dubai of the United Arab Emirates, Venezuela's Tia Juana and Mexico's Isthmus Crude.
MN/AH
End

<a href=www.businesswire.com

Read Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

    FORT WORTH, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 27, 2003--21st Century Technologies, Inc. (OTCBB:TFCT) announced today that its wholly-owned subsidiary Innovative Weaponry, Inc. has completed a sale of up to 10,000 units of its PT Night Sights(TM) for Glock handguns to various arms-bearing departments of the country of Ecuador, primarily the National Police of Ecuador. Night sights provide gun users with a more accurate aim at the object they are attempting to shoot.     PT Night Sights(TM) have already become extremely popular among U.S. law enforcement agencies. Numerous agencies at the state and local level utilize PT Night Sights, including major police departments such as the Los Angeles Police Department. Innovative Weaponry's client base consists of several bodies of the U.S. military establishment as well as the Navy Seal Teams, Delta Force, the Customs Service and the DEA.     "This single agreement alone could increase Innovative Weaponry's annual revenues by 25% or $400,000. More importantly, however, we believe this sale will open the door for us in Latin America. The potential in Ecuador is measured in millions of dollars and the overall market in Latin America could be as high as $100 million. We are also making significant progress in other foreign markets, with orders from Norway, Trinidad, the Philippines, Singapore and Venezuela. And, we already work with all major gun manufacturers in the world, including Smith & Wesson (AMEX:SWB), Colt, Glock and Remington," says Arland Dunn, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of 21st Century Technologies, Inc.     Innovative Weaponry's products feature tritium sights with the front sight designed to be brighter than the rear sight, which enhances low light sighting. Available in a variety of colors, the product consists of night sights in dot, bar or combination configurations using the radioactive isotope tritium encapsulated in phosphor-lined glass. Beta particles emitted by the tritium excite the phosphors and cause a substantial glow, thus providing sight pictures in low light and no light situations. Innovative Weaponry has also designed and manufactured some prototype sights using fiber optic material, utilizing ultra-violet rays that transmit them through the glass fibers, giving the shooter a phenomenal daytime-like sight picture.

    Safe Harbor Statement

    The statements made by 21st Century Technologies, Inc. (the Company) may be forward-looking in nature and are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and involve a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. Actual results could differ materially from those projected due to risks such as changes in interest rates, market competition, our ability to generate orders and various other business factors.

--30--MJR/da*

CONTACT: FOCUS Partners LLC
         Investor Contact
         David Zazoff, 212/752-9445
         TFCT@focuspartners.com
             or
         21st Century Technologies, Inc.
         Larry B. Bach, 818/707-9466

KEYWORD: TEXAS INTERNATIONAL LATIN AMERICA
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: GOVERNMENT AEROSPACE/DEFENSE MARKETING

AGREEMENTS SOURCE: 21st Century Technologies, Inc.