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To: terry richardson who wrote (57048)	12/16/1999 2:21:00 PM
From: BigBull	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 95453

terry, what was I thinking!? I do stand corrected. WOW! A faux pas of SLIDERESQUE proportions. I think I need to take a vacation for a few weeks. A little too much work, trading, family, and Christmas. But then you probably knew that. <g> Apologies to all. PTEN did acquire some rigs from Padre earlier in the year.

To: terry richardson who wrote (57048)	1/4/2000 4:08:00 PM
From: terry richardson	Respond to of 95453

China Is Forecast To Import Large Amounts Of Petroleum, Petrochemicals In 2000 (12/30/1999) China's production of petroleum and petrochemicals, as well as its chemical industry itself, lag considerably behind those of developed countries. China?s petroleum and petrochemical sector thus needs timely improvements in terms of its scale of production, processing operations, product quality and its variety of processed products, the December 29 Zhongguo Huagong Bao (China Chemical News) reported. Currently, with the globalization of the world economy, petroleum and petroleum products available on the world market often are less expensive than those produced in China. As a result, China imports more petroleum and petroleum products than it exports, and it will continue to increase its imports of petrochemicals and high-value-added industrial chemicals. According to a forecast of imports by China?s petrochemical sector in 2000, China?s low-value-added petroleum products, its chemical industry?s raw materials and its finished petrochemical products will remain important in terms of exports and generating foreign currency. This pattern of exports and imports will not change in the short term. >>more chinaonline.com *********************************** From Todays Financial Times Oil boom risks running out of gas Opec officials face dilemma over managing prices, writes Robert Corzine At the start of last year, the oil industry seemed like a rabbit mesmerised by the headlights of a speeding car. To some industry observers, average prices had not just fallen temporarily from their long-term range of $15-$20 or so a barrel. They were heading towards a new single-digit band. Sure enough, last February the psychological barrier of $10 a barrel was breached. Yet brent crude has entered this year at more than $24 a barrel, and some pundits are warning of the possibility of real oil shortages this winter. Within the industry, the past year's dramatic price swing has helped push up oil company profits and replenish the depleted state coffers of the main oil exporters. But it has also generated its own instability, and a considerable speculative element has been built into prices. Some of the more thoughtful Opec officials are aware that a further upward surge could prompt political tensions between the producers and the US in a presidential election year. Their dilemma for the new year will be how to shift prices to a more sustainable range of $17-$21 a barrel without over-shooting on the downside. The micro-management of world oil markets has always proved tricky for Opec, which several years ago moved from quarterly to half-yearly meetings. This was partly because adjusting its production strategy to such short timeframes proved impossible. Divisions remain within the exporters' group over the timing of any increase in output, with some governments apparently keen to put off any rise until as late as June next year. One of their arguments is that, although oil prices have risen dramatically this year, average prices for the year and annual oil export revenues in real terms are still relatively modest. Opec's price hawks argue that member states need to recoup as much of last year's lost revenues as possible. Others counter that the longer the production cuts are extended, the harder it will be to avoid further, politically contentious, price spikes - which might trigger a response from the US - and the more difficult it will be to agree ways to increase overall Opec production. To defuse the situation, it is possible that those producers most concerned about high current prices, such as Saudi Arabia, could "leak" more oil into the market. The aim would be to reassure the markets that adequate supplies will be available and that prices do not have to rise further in response to fears of a shortage. If prices do settle back, 1999 will be seen as a classic case study of the sheer price volatility of the world's most valuable traded commodity. It started with a relentless fall in prices, the result of a growing global surplus of crude oil exacerbated by the return of Iraqi oil in ever greater volumes, under the United Nations administered oil-for-food programme. In private, senior officials from the main oil producing countries spoke of the possibility of an all-out price war if Venezuela, one of the leading suppliers to the critical US market, continued to flaunt the production quota set for it by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Political developments proved critical in reversing the downward plunge in prices. Once Hugo Ch…vez was elected president of Venezuela, he reined in Petroleos de Venezuela, the state-owned oil company. This opened the way for a political rapprochement with Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil producer and exporter. The kingdom had also reached a political accommodation with Iran, lowering tensions in the Gulf. Mexico was the final political piece in the jigsaw. Although not a member of Opec, it is one of the biggest suppliers to the US, along with Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. Once the three leading suppliers of oil to the US - the world's largest oil market - had reached agreement on ways to cut output, the stage was set for a more comprehensive plan involving the remaining Opec states and other non- Opec producers. As soon as those agreements were seen as credible, prices pushed steadily upwards to more than $25 a barrel, a level last seen around the time of the 1990-91 Gulf War. ft.com