Inside Report (5)

Consumers aren't alone in worrying about the effects of oil-price decontrol. There is more than a little concern in the oil industry itself -- by small refiners.

With the scheduled decontrol of domestic oil prices next October, a timetable that may be shortened under President-elect Reagan, federal entitlements and mandatory crude allocation programs also will expire. These programs help small refiners, which usually have no oil production of heir own, get access to crude.

Small refiners claim that without some form of continued federal protection, the major oil companies will squeeze them out of existence. That could cause shortages, particularly in rural areas where small refiners often are the only local source of petroleum products.m