August 16, 1982

''I had a concept,'' said Bill P. Jennings, ''Beep'' to his legions of admirers and friends in these parts, former chairman of the failed Penn Square Bank. Sitting alone in a small, sparsely furnished office in the handsome Suburban Plaza Hotel here last Friday, he said he could not speak with reporters on the advice of counsel. He is tall, thin, slightly stooped and unassuming. His hair was neatly combed flat against his baldish head, and two cigars stuck out from the pocket of his blue-and-white striped shirt. His collar was open, and he wore no tie. ''I had a concept,'' he said, politely.

Saudi Arabia is considering selling oil to companies outside the Aramco group, apparently because its four American partners have let Saudi output drop to the lowest level in a decade, the Middle East Economic Survey said today. The weekly magazine said that the Arabian American Oil Company partners found Saudi Arabia's crude oil to be overpriced, but that Riyadh was not contemplating any price cuts.

Lebanese and Palestine Liberation Organization officials reacted cautiously today to reports from Jerusalem that the Israeli Cabinet had softened its conditions on the withdrawal of the P.L.O. guerrillas from west Beirut. The special American envoy, Philip C. Habib, was expected back in Beirut Monday with the latest Israeli negotiating position, which reportedly involved concessions on previous demands that a list of the names of all guerrillas leaving be turned over before the evacuation and that a multinational peace force not be deployed until a week after the P.L.O. withdrawal begins. Israeli officials have expressed concern that once the multinational force was in place some guerrillas might try to slip underground and stay in west Beirut. Both Israeli demands were unacceptable to the Palestinian guerrillas and their Lebanese intermediaries.

Rich Gossage was pounded for four eighth-inning runs today to squander a two-run lead and send the Yankees to a 6-4 loss to the White Sox. The bruising inning began with a quirky situation that Gossage refused to blame for the beginning of his downfall. With Jerry Hairston pinch-hitting for Ron LeFlore, and the count at 0-1, the Yankee reliever thought the batter had stepped out the box and called time, and he released a pitch that floated high over the plate like an errant lob. Gossage subsequently walked Hairston and then Tony Bernazard, and the runners advanced on a passed ball by Rick Cerone.

Two years after Algeria abruptly cut off liquefied natural gas deliveries to its major American customer, the North African nation is prepared to start shipping again to the United States. This time, however, Algeria will be selling smaller quantities of gas to a different company, and few analysts believe that American utilities will be relying heavily on Algerian gas any time soon. Despite the fact that Algeria will get a good deal less for its gas than it had sought, the price is still high, angering some of the final consumers. Tied to Cost of Oil And the way the price has been calculated - by referring to the costs of crude oil - conflicts with United States Government policy. Thus there is a feeling that Federal regulators might quash the new deal with Algeria.