Petroleum

ATLANTA -- The mythology of the Old West is replete with tales of dry land and drought, of parched landscapes and prayers for rain. Hollywood has told many a story of rainmakers - men, and occasionally women, who wandered the prairie with promises of a magic that could cause the heavens to open up and pour water down upon the earth. Suddenly, the desperation that drove such claims doesn't seem so far-fetched in the Southeastern United States, where severe drought is drying up wells and emptying reservoirs.

A headline in yesterday's Business Digest said a merger offer would be on the agenda at Crown Central Petroleum Corp.'s annual meeting Dec. 14. In fact, the proposal on the agenda calls for shareholders to direct the board to cause a merger or sale; shareholders are not being asked to vote on a specific merger proposal.

Amoco Corp., which became part of the largest oil acquisition yesterday, has its roots in Baltimore, where petroleum pioneer and Baltimorean Louis Blaustein established American Oil Co. in 1910 and laid the foundation for an industry.More than 88 years later, British Petroleum Co. said yesterday that it will buy Amoco for $53 billion in stock and assumed debt in a deal that would create an oil colossus with $108 billion in annual revenue.The takeover would be the largest of a U.S. company by a company overseas, eclipsing the buyout of Chrysler Corp.

Southern States Cooperative Inc. plans to ask the Mount Airy planning commission tonight for permission to build a bulk fuel storage site on industrial land on East Ridgeville Boulevard.The proposed storage area for 200,000 gallons of petroleum and 30,000 gallons of propane is allowed as a special exception under the town's zoning law.Southern States has an option for a 38.9-acre site.Preliminary plans to create industrial lots on the property are on the planning commission's agenda for tonight.

Hardwood dried for six months to a year is recommended as the cleanest-burning fuel for fireplaces. Yet faux logs made with petroleum-based wax have been popular for decades. This season, you'll be able to pile manufactured logs in the cart with a clearer conscience: Duraflame is going greener. Duraflame abandoned all use of increasingly expensive petroleum-based waxes this year. The company sells 100 million logs a year, and its new ones are all made with renewable vegetable-based waxes.

SAFANIYA BASE CAMP, Saudi Arabia -- Oil from slicks in the Persian Gulf began lapping ashore yesterday near a critical Saudi petroleum processing plant, threatening to shut down the world's largest offshore oil field.Three separate slicks, one of them the largest ever recorded, were once again moving south in the gulf after being held back by southerly winds last week. The slicks were also reportedly threatening fishing grounds and water desalting plants.

Union National Bank has named three more community leaders to sit on the board of its new Eldersburg branch.Dann Finch of Westminster is the manager of sales, service, parts and rental at Finch services in Eldersburg. Michelle Fleming of Eldersburg is secretary/treasurer for Fleming Petroleum Service Inc. Brian Haight of Finksburg is a partner in the family owned and operated Haight Funeral Home in Sykesville.Pub Date: 8/18/96

The Strategic Petroleum Reserve was never intended to fix gasoline prices. Sorry. A Cuban pilot stole a plane to flee to Florida and ditched while heading west toward Yucatan. Give him asylum but no pilot's license. How about an independent counsel to investigate the independent counsel? A N.J. 10th grader will pay $285,000 in fines for rigging stock prices by Net, and recoup from college scholarship offers.

The price of oil climbed to nearly $61 a barrel yesterday, setting yet another recent high amid fears that producing countries cannot pump enough crude to meet demand. The rising cost of petroleum, up more than 60 percent in the past year, has focused new attention on China and its bid to secure long-term supplies. Using government money, a Chinese firm is trying to buy California-based Unocal Corp. Oil for August delivery rose 70 cents a barrel, to $60.54, on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after trading as high as $60.95.

WASHINGTON -- Breaking with other oil industry leaders, a senior British Petroleum executive has acknowledged that scientists have reached a consensus about global warming and that to ignore concerns over climate change "would be unwise and potentially dangerous."John Browne, group chief executive of the British oil company, said that in tackling the controversial issue of global warming, about which the oil industry has long expressed skepticism, it is time "for change and for a rethinking of corporate responsibility."