Oil chiefs reportedly to meet for world summit
Copyright c 1998 Nando.net
Copyright c 1998 The Associated Press
LONDON (September 23, 1998 00:55 a.m. EDT nandotimes.com) -- Heads of some of the world's biggest oil companies plan to meet in Europe next week to discuss such topics as the slump in crude prices and the growing global economic uncertainty, the Financial Times reported Wednesday.
The summit of about 20 companies is thought to be the first time in recent years that oil industry chief executives have assembled informally for talks on the future of the sector, the newspaper said.
The Financial Times report did not specify where in Europe the talks would be held. According to an unnamed organizer of the event, a senior U.S. energy lawyer has been invited to the summit to head off any suspicion that the oil giants intend to carve up markets or engage in price-fixing.
The high-level talks follow British Petroleum's announcement last month that it will take over oil giant Amoco Corp in a $53.9 billion deal that would be the biggest industrial merger in U.S. history. The proposed marriage is currently being scrutinized by the U.S. government for its implications for competition in the marketplace.
Companies expected to participate in next week's summit include some of the biggest oil groups, including the Royal Dutch/Shell Group, BP, Chevron Corp., Elf Aquitaine Inc., Total SA and ENI.
Several of the largest state oil and gas groups, such as Saudi Aramco, the world's biggest oil producer and exporter, and Statoil of Norway, also plan to take part, along with the chief executives of several leading independent oil companies, the newspaper added.
Russia will be represented by Gazprom, the country's biggest company and its largest single source of hard currency.
The Financial Times quoted an unnamed senior European oil industry executive as predicting that more big deals could result from the gathering. "Everybody is on the prowl," he said.
Royal Dutch-Shell offered a gloomy assessment of the oil business last week, predicting depressed oil prices won't recover any time soon, with the market glutted even as the ripple effects of the Asian economic crisis.
Crude oil prices have plunged this year to levels unseen in a decade.
The collapse started in the winter, when OPEC started pumping more oil just as the effects of the Asian economic crisis began choking off demand.
OPEC has since said it would cut back production but its various members have not lived up to their commitments -- leaving all producers stuck with low prices.
Besides discussing crude prices and the global economy, the oil industry chiefs are expected to debate a wide range of other issues, including growing environmental pressures and the impact of new technology, such as fuel cells, the Financial Times reported.
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