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Strategies & Market Trends : Joe Copia's daytrades/investments and thoughts -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Joe Copia who wrote (21912)	3/21/2000 11:47:00 AM
From: Gator	Respond to of 25711

Monster news regarding PAPO hit Bloomberg, not on other newswires yet: quote.bloomberg.com Unocal Hopes Clinton Visit Will Prompt Bangladesh to Export Gas By Rajat Bhattacharya Dhaka, Bangladesh, March 21 (Bloomberg) -- Unocal Corp., the largest foreign investor in Bangladesh, said it hopes the recent visit of U.S. President Bill Clinton will encourage the country to rethink its policy on energy exports. "The only way to improve the economy is to produce and export energy and other resources for hard currency,' said David Watkins, vice president of Unocal's Bangladesh unit. A visit by the U.S. President ``should spur business and help the economic outlook for Bangladesh's energy industry," he added. Unocal, Royal Dutch Shell Group and other foreign energy companies exploring for gas in Bangladesh want the country to begin exporting gas to India, which faces an acute energy shortage. That idea outrages some political parties in the country, who have termed any sale of the nation's energy resources as a "sell-out." Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed said yesterday her country needs gas reserves sufficient to fuel its own needs for at least 50 years before it exports any energy. Estimates of Bangladesh's gas reserves vary from 10 to 100 trillion cubic feet, Watkins said. Three fields the company has explored hold an estimated 7 trillion cubic feet, about 70 percent of Bangladesh's official estimate of 10.2 trillion cubic feet - equivalent to 30 years of consumption by the country. The Bangladesh government awarded a second set of rights two years ago to explore potential gas reserves off the southern coast of the South Asian nation, though the companies can't begin exploring until they have contracts to drill and sell the gas. Unocal and Pangea Petroleum Corp. planned to sign contracts with Bangladesh's state-owned oil company during Clinton's one-day visit to Dhaka yesterday. That plan got shelved because of Clinton's tight schedule, said Watkins. Unocal now expects to sign contracts next week to explore and sell gas from a fourth field in the country. ``Unocal and Pangea are ready with the documents' required by Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration Co., which will buy the gas, said Watkins. Shell and a group consisting of Chevron Corp., Texaco Inc. and Tullow Oil Plc probably need a few more days to complete their paperwork. Watkins estimates Bangladesh's reserves could be much greater than the current official estimates. ``We've invested very heavily in Bangladesh and will probably be more heavily invested in the future. We feel the future is pretty bright.' Unocal in February started producing 80 to 120 million cubic feet of gas per day at its Jalalabad field; the company has yet to exploit gas fields in Bibiyana and Moulabi Bazar because of lack of demand within the country. Unocal and Shell have each invested almost $300 million in exploring and drilling gas fields awarded in an initial round of bids in 1995. For Unocal, drilling at a fourth field awarded in the second round could mean investing as much as $30 million, said Watkins. Disclaimer: I am anticipating receipt of 10,000 shares of restricted PAPO stock and options to purchase an additional 10,000 shares of PAPO stock in exchange for providing various consulting services to the company.