BRIEFCASE RELIANCE STEEL DEAL COMPLETED.

Byline: - From staff and wire reports

Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. said Tuesday that it has finalized the previously announced acquisition of the business and net assets of Central Plains Steel Co., headquartered in Kansas City, Kan.

Terms were not disclosed.

As a result of the acquisition, Central Plains Steel Co., a privately held, full-line carbon steel service center company, will be a wholly owned subsidiary of Reliance Steel & Aluminum.

Jacobs winds up 2-for-1 stock split

PASADENA - Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. has completed its two-for-one stock split, paid in the form of a stock dividend, to shareholders of record on March 1.

Shareholders received one additional share of Jacobs common stock for each share owned on the record date. The total number of shares of common stock outstanding after the split is about 54.3 million.

The stock split was first announced by Jacobs on Feb. 12.

Jacobs Engineering is one of the world's largest providers of technical professional services, with more than 21,000 home office employees serving industrial, commercial and government clients.

Also Tuesday, Jacobs Engineering announced that a subsidiary company won a project management, engineering, design and construction management services contract for the expansion of a GlaxoSmithKline facility in Singapore. Officials did not disclose the contract value.

Earth Tech gets big BART contract

LONG BEACH - Earth Tech, a business unit of Tyco International Ltd., was awarded a construction management contract, valued at $15 million over five years, from the Bay Area Rapid Transit District, the company said Tuesday.

As part of the contract, Long Beach-based Earth Tech will provide ongoing engineering support services for BART's $1.1 billion systemwide renovation and seismic retrofit program.

Work under the contract will begin in late spring.

Tetra Tech signs for EPA program

PASADENA - Tetra Tech said Tuesday that it was awarded a $14 million, five-year, cost-plus-fee type contract to support the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Resource Conservation Recovery Act program.

The RCRA program covers 22 western states, tribal lands and U.S. territories.

This is Pasadena-based Tetra Tech's third consecutive win of the RCRA contract, and marks its 18th year supporting the EPA program, which governs the management of solid and hazardous waste and underground storage tanks.

Price of crude oil hits 6-month high

The price of crude oil climbed to the highest level in six months Tuesday, nearly $28 a barrel, stoked by fears that the worsening violence in the Middle East could lead to a disruption of oil supplies.

But many industry analysts discounted the chances of an embargo by oil-producing countries or a terrorist attack against their oil operations. They pointed out that Tuesday's rise in commodity prices was building on a gradual but substantial run-up in oil prices that started at the beginning of the year, mainly because of reductions in output that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries began in 2001.

The more expensive crude oil has pushed up retail gasoline prices by about 20 percent over the past month. The average price of a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline is now $1.37 nationwide, compared with $1.14 on March 4, based on data from the Energy Information Administration, the analysis arm of the Energy Department. Industry analysts warned that the greater demand for gasoline that usually arrives with warmer weather could raise prices further in coming months.

American Airlines names president

FORT WORTH, Texas - American Airlines on Tuesday named Gerard J. Arpey as president and chief operating officer and said he will oversee the carrier's operating units.

Donald J. Carty, chairman and chief executive, had also held the president's title.

``This will free Mr. Carty to spend a lot more time on employee issues and other important things that it's hard to do when he's got all these responsibilities himself,'' said Al Becker, a spokesman for the Fort Worth-based carrier.

Arpey, 43, had spent the past two years as an executive vice president, running the major operating units of the airline, including flights, maintenance, the American Eagle commuter line and cargo.