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Gold/Mining/Energy : Strictly: Drilling and oil-field services -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tomas who wrote (63810)	4/4/2000 10:11:00 PM
From: Tomas	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 95453

Oil Industry Looks For Pricing 'Comfort Zone' - The Daily Oklahoman, April 4 TULSA, Okla.--Somewhere between the oil well and the gasoline pump is a "comfort zone" that everyone can live with. That's the opinion of speakers at a three-day symposium on Improved Oil Recovery that began here Monday. "No one truly benefits from market volatility," said Robert W. Gee, assistant secretary for fossil fuels with the Energy Department. In the past 18 months, prices have ranged from $9 a barrel to $34 per barrel of crude oil, he said. "It's been quite a whipsaw not only in the oil patch, but in Washington, D.C. and other capitals, as well," Gee said. The event, sponsored by the Society of Petroleum Engineers and the energy department, is being attended by about 600 people from 23 nations, including Norway, Canada, Argentina and Saudi Arabia. Venezuela's Gustavo J. Inciarte, former president of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, said the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is working toward some pre-agreed band in which production and price will be considered to lessen the swings. Dewey F. Bartlett Jr., president of the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association, likes the price range between $25 and $30 a barrel because it's acceptable to both consumers and producers. Bartlett said his oil company has not drilled a well in three years, but plans to drill three this year. A tax abatement provided Oklahoma producers last year saved his company $35,000 and one employee's job. But Bob Tippee, editor of the Oil & Gas Journal, said he sees the comfort zone as being a bit lower -- in the $17 to $25 per barrel range. At the $17 level, U.S. producers begin to go broke. As prices rise above $25 to $30, consumption drops, Tippee said. And at the higher prices, "politicians mess things up," he said. Tippee said OPEC needs a better handle on demand, but the Persian Gulf nations, which make up a significant portion of the organization, "are very distrustful of the futures market." ...