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Show f A I "1 r j , Stock drops after story company be allowed to protect the wells, pending outcome of by Milt Policzer Enterprise Staff Writer the dispute. Dont panic! All you widows and orphans out there with Ameri- The article, in turn, claims American president Richard L. Christensen prompted a lot of people into can Resources Management stock don't really have to sell. The company isn't in trouble. d . - ihrv i wouldn't otherwise have made: selling American stock. The stock, which li.ul been selling ai around 4 dropped half a point after the Really. An article in the Enterprise last week reported the 1 a making White River Dome field (Blair Mesa Unit) in Rio Blanco County, Colorado. American has been the unit developer of the field, which means that it coordinates the exploration for all the lease and fee holders. 30,000-acr- e 15,000 undrilled and unproven acres are in dispute, ame out last however, which are owned by the federal government. The U.S. Geological Survey terminated the lease on them to Christensen, the dispute has no effect on the companys proven reserves or ownership of proven wells. Neither does it affect because no wells capable of producing hydrocarbons in commercial quanitics and yet been produced in accordance with a contract. According to Christensen, the government 3-1- Department of Interior had terminated American's lease on property in Colorado and prevented it from protecting four oil wells there. That led to the filing of a lawsuit, alleging the termination was wrongful and asked that the the entire Enterprise week. According officials terminated the lease a day earlier than they should have under their contract (midnight Aug. 31 instead of Sept. 1). If the government had waited one more day, American would have had drilling rigs on the property which would have led to producing w'ells, he said. The company then appealed within the agency but was prevented from protecting its four wells from damage. That led to the federal district court suit seeking to prevent some $570,500 worth of potential damage if the wells arc unprotected winter. USGS allow the company to come back on the land for the purpose of providing protection for the work already done engineer, asserted the agreement had no effect on the merits of Americans appeal. It was a status quo situation" which would allow withdrawal or continuation of activity depending on the outcome of the appeal. Guynn said. He wouldn't comment on American's argument that the USGS had terminated the lease a day too soon. American already has nine producing wells in the White River Dome field, but none have been jeopardized by the dispute, Christensen noted. American, Trend Exploration, and Michigan-Wis-consi- n Pipeline Co. are the largest leaseholders on the area. According to Christensen, the company has over 80 billion cubic feet of proven natural gas reserves and other companies with similar reserves have stock selling at a much higher rate. Sign il ' i u sew1 v.w '' 'W: i j. - v'1 , Mtfl 4 jrj is t i X il r r I. squabble i"8 aortonMBSwi - y.- .r- - SWjwyleareJf SSliSSs ii s week the representatives agreed to ) tr Last during on the field. Ed Guynn, USGS district 4( IT Continued Irani pope Id revenue could be realized. Keene also pointed out that the average visitor stay in Utah is about half a day less than the national average. Randy Horiuchi, speaking for a number of chambers of commerce throughout the state, asserted a review of some 875 studies on U.S. billboards since 1955 revealed most travelers base their decisions on where to stay on billboard information. Some two of three travelers dont make advance room reservations and eight of ten dont carry information on places to stay, Horiuchi said. Signs arc also needed for restaurants, service stations, and tourist attractions off the freeway, he said. Horiuchi recommended ideal placement for signs would be at least an hour (60 miles) aw'ay from motels and attractions off the freeway to give motorists time to make a decision on whether to patronize them, and more signs closer in to provide information. Dan Gallagher, market research administrative man- ager for 3Ms National Adver- tising Co., presented the commission with a study on the economic impact of sign removal on Cedar City to the importance of the advertising. The report showed 50 percent of travelers interviewed at six Cedar City businesscss were influenced by billboards in coming there. 63 percent read the signs. Other speakers supporting liberalization of sign rules included representatives of chambers of commerce, sign companies, hotels and motels, campgrounds, the Utah Campground Owners Association, and the Utah Business Advertising Association. Interested parties w'crc given an extra ten days to submit recommendations before the commission adopts its final set of rules. dem-onstratra- tc |