Business briefs

At the day's low in early afternoon trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude futures had fallen nearly $1 to $36.33 a barrel before recouping some of those losses by the close. April crude oil futures fell 55 cents to close at $36.72 a barrel.

April heating oil fell 5.55 cents to close at $1.032 a gallon on warmer weather forecasts, while April gasoline futures dropped 2.95 cents to $1.09 a gallon.

At the International Petroleum Exchange in London, April Brent fell 39 cents to close at $33.30 a barrel.

United asks for more time to reorganize

CHICAGO -- United Airlines is asking a bankruptcy judge for up to six more months to file a reorganization plan, citing the size and complexity of its case.

Under federal law, the airline is required to file detailed plans with the bankruptcy court by the four-month mark of its Chapter 11 filing, which would be April 8.

But United said in a court filing made available Tuesday that the transformation plan at the core of its reorganization, which calls for a low-cost carrier that its employees oppose, "remains a work in progress." It asked that the deadline be moved to Oct. 6.

ImClone founder agrees to pay fine

NEW YORK -- Samuel Waksal, the ImClone Systems founder at the center of an insider-trading scandal, has agreed to an $800,000 fine and a lifetime ban on leading a public company.

The deal announced Tuesday is a partial settlement of civil charges filed against Waksal by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which said it is still investigating the former biotechnology executive.

Waksal still faces jail time and fines from criminal charges -- from his guilty plea to securities fraud charge involving ImClone stock trading and his admission to dodging $1.2 million in sales tax on fine art. His criminal sentencing is May 29.<