THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, September 18, 1995 TAG: 9509160191
SECTION: BUSINESS WEEKLY PAGE: 05 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Talk of the Town
LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines
Energy analysts note fuel oil prices aren't shooting up like you'd expect near autumn's eve.
``The market is flat,'' said Washington energy trader Elaine Levin of Dean Witter Reynolds Inc.
Heating oil futures for October delivery recently traded at 52.2 cents a gallon, up from August's 46-cent low. Levin said the narrow spread suggests oil marketers aren't building inventory.
``God forbid that we have any kind of an oil shortage with nothing committed or in the tank,'' Levin said. ``Everyone would have to go to the market at the same time, and prices would spike.''
However, Connecticut oil distributor Tom Santa said prices aren't soaring for good reason: October oil futures already are overpriced.
``Even though inventories are dramatically less than last year, they are comparable to historical levels,'' Santa said. ``Heating oil should not be commanding the premium it is right now, based on inventories.''
Horse race: Which will arrive first, horse racing at Colonial Downs or 1997?
Crews have cleared 300,000 trees near New Kent for Virginia's first pari-mutuel racetrack. Fences are up and work on the inside rail is about to begin.
In all, Colonial Downs - a partnership of Ohio track owner Arnold Stansley and Maryland track owner Joe De Francis - has spent more than $4 million on the the 345-acre project. And it's secured a $10 million investment from Ohio businessman Jeffrey Jacobs.
But investors won't buy the $40 million worth of bonds needed to finance the grandstands.
Bond sales are on hold awaiting the resolution of a lawsuit, pending in the state Court of Appeals, filed by the Virginia Jockey Club, one of the losing applicants for the track license. The lawsuit may not be settled until early '96.
``Nobody will invest with that kind of uncertainty,'' said Colonial Downs general manager Gil Short. ``This is not the way we wanted to start,''
The horse track, between Richmond and Tidewater, must open for live racing within 12 months after a license is awarded for off-track betting facilities.
The first of those OTB facilities, to be located in Chesapeake, was approved by the Virginia Racing Commission last month. A Hampton site is under consideration.
Port of call: Hundreds of container ships enter Hampton Roads each year. Most dock at Norfolk International Terminal. So it's nothing to see four ships on one day - unless they happen to be docked at Newport News Marine Terminal, as they were last week. ``This really is a significant day,'' said NNMT cargo supervisor Gregg Kubu.
Mediterranean Shipping Co. Inc. of Switzerland recently began calling on NNMT, lured by discounts on the cost of moving cargo to Norfolk railroads.
Virginia International Terminals Inc. offers the cut rates on behalf of the Virginia Port Authority. VIT earmarks $800,000 a year for subsidies to container shippers.
Port of ports: Arguably the world's premier port years ago, New York City's maritime luster has faded.
Big Apple marine terminals have been sliced up by competitors in New Jersey, to say nothing of Tidewater, port of call for about 2,600 ships a year, making Hampton Roads the East Coast's second-largest port.
Now a NYC plan department study asserts: Why spend $40 million a year subsidizing New York port losses when the valuable waterfront could be better used for factories, offices and recreation?
The report appears as efforts begin to dredge channels and modernize container ship facilities for the Howland Hook terminal.
Banana boats: Speaking of ports, the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority wants back in as a fruit port. PRPA agreed to spend $250,000 to upgrade the ammonia refrigeration system and controls and the ventilation system at a pier used by Penn Trucking & Warehousing Inc.
``We want to get those bananas into the port,'' said port official William McLaughlin.
Hampton Roads happenings: Eastern Telecom Corp., a Newport News company that specializes in providing long-distance phone services to small and medium-size businesses, said it has opened an additional sales office in Piscataway, N.J.
The office, Eastern Telecom's eighth, will serve northern New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania.
Hank Michalski, James and Karen Dougherty, and Deborah Hammond have taken over R.F. Slaughter Lumber Corp. in Hampton and renamed it Slaughter's Lumber & Hardware.
The new owners fixed up the yard, which was damaged substantially by fire in April. Michalski and James Dougherty are the former yard managers. by CNB