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Strategies & Market Trends : Cents and Sensibility - Kimberly and Friends' Consortium -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: lightfoot who wrote (87362)	3/20/2000 6:41:00 PM
From: vagabond	Respond to of 108040

Finally a story specifically about HIPC, re today's news... ================= (COMTEX) High Plains shares jump on US plan to cut fuel additive MTBE Kansas City--Mar 20--The usually thinly traded shares of ethanol producer High Plains Corp. climbed to their highest level for more than three years Monday as U.S. officials said it plans to encourage the use of renewable fuels under a plan to phase out use of the gasoline additive MTBE. Shares of one of the nation's largest ethanol makers closed up $1.50, or 50 percent, at $4.50 after the Environment Protection Agency called on Congress to "significantly reduce or eliminate" the use of Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether. Congress required reformulated gasoline as part of the Clean Air Act in 1990 but since then, MTBE--one of the additives used to make gas meet the oxygenation requirement--has been found to present an environmental problem. If it is spilled or leaks from gasoline tanks, MTBE finds its way into ground water. A group of Northeast states last year said low levels of MTBE were found in 15 percent of the drinking water tested in the region. Speaking at a news conference, Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman said the government's plan would result in "a dramatic increase" in the amount of ethanol used in U.S. fuel. Chris Standlee, vice-president of Wichita, Kan.-based High Plains called the news "clearly a positive step." "Certainly a good day for the entire ethanol industry and High Plains as a corporation," he said. Standlee said the announcement comes with demand for ethanol perking up as a result of higher fossil fuel prices. High oil prices "make ethanol a lot more attractive," he said. Also enjoying some investor interest was Midwest Grain Products Inc., which makes a variety of alcohol products, including fuel. The stock gained $13.56, or $8.375, to close at $8.375.