Business briefs

The federal government has concluded that last summer's surge in gas prices was no accident. Nor was it illegal. Three unnamed oil companies, including possibly Marathon Ashland Petroleum LLC, made independent business decisions to limit the supply of reformulated gasoline to some Midwest markets last year in order to keep prices high and reap more profits, the Federal Trade Commission said. A spokesman for the FTC would neither confirm nor deny that Marathon is one of the companies cited in the investigation, but Marathon spokesman Chuck Rice said the Findlay, Ohio, refiner was involved in the investigation. ''Marathon Ashland Petroleum supplied the market and priced products responsibly,'' Rice said. Marathon Ashland Petroleum is a joint venture between Lexington, Ky.-based Ashland Inc. and Marathon Oil Co., a unit of Pittsburgh-based USX Corp.

U.S. Department of Energy

U.S. retail gasoline prices fell 3.2 cents in the week ended Monday to an average $1.647 a gallon, the U.S. Department of Energy said. Pump prices for regular gasoline are up 1.6 cents from this time last year, according to DOE's weekly survey of about 800 filling stations. Gasoline reached a record $1.713 a gallon during the week ended May 14.

H.J. Heinz Co

H.J. Heinz Co. said it is extending its tuna product line, StarKist 'tuna in a pouch,' introduced last September, and is bringing Charlie the Tuna out of retirement for TV commercials to improve lagging StarKist sales. Trouble in its tuna and pet foods divisions have been cited for sluggish growth and in recent debt downgrades. Heinz is introducing a single-serve three-ounce version of its tuna-in-a-pouch product, to be followed in September by a StarKist Lunch To-Go kit that includes a three-ounce tuna pouch, six crackers, relish and mayonnaise. Barry Shepard, vice president of marketing for StarKist, said improving raw tuna prices, a restructuring and new products will help turn around the brand. Tuna prices are now $600-$800 a ton, above $300-$500 in previous months.

Calgon Carbon Corp.

Hourly workers at Calgon Carbon Corp.'s Big Sandy Plant near Catlettsburg, Ky. Sunday rejected a proposed three-year contract. A total of 174 of the 181 workers represented by United Steelworkers Local 7047 voted against the offer, said Carl Hall, a USW staff representative. The company had called the deal its ''last, best and final offer,'' Hall said. Workers at the plant will remain on the job under an old five-year contract, which expires Wednesday night, while talks continue. The plant, which employs about 200, is Calgon Carbon's largest producer.

Warnaco Group Inc.

Warnaco Group Inc., the once white-hot maker of Calvin Klein jeans, Olga bras and Speedo swimsuits, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday, citing a general economic downturn, a weak retail environment and mounting debt obligations. The $2.25 billion apparel giant, which has been struggling with declining sales and profit losses, listed $2.37 billion in assets against $3.08 billion in liabilities, in a voluntary filing Monday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

Weirton Steel Corp.

Weirton Steel Corp. Monday said it will idle one of its two blast furnaces for 10 to 12 weeks beginning Thursday. The temporary shutdown affects 215 employees. The company cited weak market conditions for idling its No. 4 furnace, which produces 3,000 tons of molten iron per day. The No. 1 furnace, which will continue to operate, produces nearly 4,000 tons daily. Weirton idled both furnaces for one week late last year because of declining orders.

Mellon Financial Corp.

Mellon Financial Corp. completed a deal to sell its two Mellon Leasing Corp. units to GE Capital's Commercial Equipment Financing unit. Terms of the agreement, announced on May 3, were not disclosed. Separately, Mellon Financial was named among Computerworld magazine's 100 best information technology companies to work for. Mellon took 58th place on the annual IT employers list and ranked first among Pittsburgh-area companies.

Verizon Communications Inc.

Verizon Communications Inc., the No. 1 U.S. local-phone company, will cut an unspecified number of jobs in addition to the 10,000 positions announced in February, said Co-Chief Executive Charles Lee. The company is cutting the positions this year ''to eliminate costs in areas that aren't growing as fast'' as Verizon's long-distance phone, data and fast-Internet units, a spokesman said, declined to say how many jobs would be eliminated.

EchoStar Communications Corp.

EchoStar Communications Corp., the second-biggest satellite-television broadcaster, said it added 1 million customers in seven months for a total of 6 million. EchoStar has been signing up more customers to its DISH Network than Hughes Electronics Corp.'s DirecTV, the No. 1 satellite-TV provider with 9.8 million customers, through a free installation program and other promotions.

MediaSite Inc.

MediaSite Inc., a Pittsburgh-based provider of software to manage digital media content, said Monday it has been awarded a technology leadership award for Digital Media Management Systems from Frost & Sullivan international marketing consulting firm.

AT&T Corp.

AT&T Corp. has set July 9 as the official date for the spinoff of its wireless business as an independent company, the first stage in management's plan to dismantle the ailing telephone and cable TV empire.

Bloomberg Pittsburgh Index

Pittsburgh-area stocks fell on Monday. The Bloomberg Pittsburgh Index, a price weighted list of companies with operations in the region, declined 1.46 to 193.21.

AeA

A new report shows that Pennsylvania created 48,600 high-tech jobs between 1994 and 2000. The report, entitled Cyberstates 2001, was compiled by AeA, the former American Electronics Association, and is based on federal data. Among its findings, the report showed that Pennsylvania rose to third from fourth in the nation in the number of people employed in consumer electronics manufacturing (7,900 workers); maintained its rank as fifth in the number of people employed in electronic components and accessories manufacturing (18,209 workers); and ranked 13th in venture capital investments, with $2.1 billion last year, compared with $566 million in 1999.

Treasury Department

Interest rates on short-term Treasury securities fell in Monday's auction to the lowest point in seven years. The Treasury Department sold $12.5 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 3.510 percent, down from 3.590 percent last week. An additional $11.5 billion was sold in six-month bills at a rate of 3.510 percent, down from 3.520 percent. The three-month rate was the lowest since March 28, 1994, when the bills sold for 3.50 percent. The six-month rate was the lowest since Feb. 14, 1994, when the rate was 3.43 percent.

QVC Inc.

QVC Inc., which sells about $3.6 billion of electronics, fine jewelry and other products a year on television and over the Internet, said it now reaches about 80 million households in the U.S.

From staff reports, The Associated Press, Dow Jones, Knight-Ridder, Reuters and Bloomberg News.