http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/000120/bar.html

Thursday January 20, 2:04 pm Eastern Time Note: this article has a followup with more information.

Alert: Sunoco Says Had Unplanned Shutdown of 85,000 Bpd Crude Unit at Marcus Hook (NYSE:SUN)

(This is a headline-only alert, although it will likely be followed by an article soon)

More Quotes and News: Sunoco Inc (NYSE:SUN - news) Related News Categories: US Market News

-- Homer Beanfang (Bats@inbellfry.com), January 20, 2000

Answers

Heating oil up %8.5 today:

CRB Futures

-- Homer Beanfang (Bats@inbellfry.com), January 20, 2000.

Clearly not a Y2K problem. Why not? Because Y2K IS OVER!!!!!!! (According to some nitwits, anyway).

-- Steve Heller (stheller@koyote.com), January 20, 2000.

http://biz .yahoo.com/prnews/000120/pa_sunoco__2.html

Sunoco Marcus Hook Crude Unit Down 1-2 Weeks

PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Sunoco, Inc. (NYSE: SUN - news) said today that there was an unplanned shutdown of an 85 thousand barrels-per-day crude unit at the Marcus Hook refinery as the result of a problem in the crude heater. The shutdown is expected to be 7-14 days. The company is buying product in the market and expects to meet the needs of its customers. (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19981105/PHTH006 )

The remainder of the 505,000 barrels per day in the Northeast Refining system is operating at rated capacity.

SOURCE: Sunoco, Inc.

More Quotes and News: Sunoco Inc (NYSE:SUN - news) Related News Categories: oil/energy

-- Homer Beanfang (Bats@inbellfry.com), January 20, 2000.

Clearly people who trade the oil market and watch this industry closely must be able to tell if all these refinery problems are normal. With such a limited amount of plants in the world it would seem to be straight forward to know if this is abnormal. It would seem to me an experienced oil commodity trader or an oil industry empolyee would instantly know if this is a very big deal or not; these people live and breath oil! Then why is all this news so inconclusive?

-- Frank (...@....com), January 20, 2000.

http://biz.ya hoo.com/apf/000120/airlines_s_1.html

Thursday January 20, 2:16 pm Eastern Time

Airlines Add $20 Surcharge

HOUSTON (AP) -- The nation top airlines are adding a $20 surcharge to round-trip tickets, matching a move by No. 5 Continental Airlines.

Continental on Tuesday announced it is imposing the fuel fee on travel beginning Feb. 1. On Wednesday, United Airlines, the country's biggest carrier, and No. 2 American Airlines added similar surcharges; Northwest Airlines followed suit today.

The surcharge of $10 one-way and $20 roundtrip applies to all domestic flights. It doesn't apply to international flights.

The charge appears on tickets and will be included in advertised fares, said Karla Villalon, a spokeswoman for Houston-based Continental.

``They're doing it without announcing it,'' said Terry Trippler of 1travel.com, an online seller of discount travel tickets. ``The only way to know for sure is to book a trip. Is this the new wave of price increases? I hope not.''

Airline officials and Wall Street analysts said the surcharge was warranted. Continental said its jet fuel costs in the fourth quarter reached $259 million, 50 percent higher than in the same period a year before.

Increased fuel costs are a direct result of the highest oil prices in nearly a decade, spawned by production cutbacks by foreign oil powers. The price of the benchmark U.S. crude oil climbed above $29 a barrel on Wednesday, reaching the highest level since the Gulf War and more than double its level of about a year ago.

``When you have a cost double on a year-over-year basis, you have to cover it,'' said Candace Browning, an airlines analyst with Merrill Lynch. She said, however, that the surcharge will fail if other major carriers refuse to match it.

By late Wednesday, Delta, TWA and US Airways had not adopted the surcharge. Spokesmen at TWA said they were studying the increase, Delta said it had yet to decide and a US Airways spokesman declined to comment.

-- Homer Beanfang (Bats@inbellfry.com), January 20, 2000.

>phew< was afraid we might get through thw whole day wihtout another refinery down. Now I know I'm not dreaming.

-- >"< (nuts@upina.cellrelaytower), January 20, 2000.