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

To: upanddown who wrote (65023)	4/19/2000 8:00:00 PM
From: James Oyer	Read Replies (5) \| Respond to of 95453

Drillers vs E&P An article I ran across with comments added by someone who lived in SA for several years. May be of interest, but is thought provoking. <DUBAI, April 18 (Reuters) - The head of U.S. oil major Chevron held talks on Tuesday with top Saudi officials hoping to capitalize on the kingdom's call for investment in its vast energy industry.> If the Sauds are truly going to control world oil production (and prices), they need outside help. Sleepy ARAMCO is incapable of doing it alone. <The kingdom's newly-formed Supreme Council for Petroleum and Mineral Affairs.> New name...but same old faces...:) Saudis are fond of pompous-sounding govenment agencies. I once ran the National Supreme Committee for Expatriate Chemical Distillation and Morale-Enhancing Byproducts for Foreign Workers...:) <The television quoted O'Reilly as saying the ``meeting was useful and the committee provided useful information.ïï> That`s Chevronspeak for; "They are dragging their feet, I hate these bastards...but the money is too good to quit now"...:) <Saudi Arabia is trying to keep a tight lid on information about the talks, oil executives said.> Saudi Arabia keeps a tight lid on ANY kind of information...oil or otherwise. This oil deal will be vigorously opposed by fundamentalists as a sell-out to the US. They will be offered two options: 1.Accept huge sums of money and be given control of the populace or, 2. Be shot...:) <Saudi Arabia is expecting about $100 billion in oil and gas investments to ease unemployment in a country where hundreds of thousands of youths seek to find "jobs" every year.> Desks and phones will be imported by the ton...for the new "jobs" created by vast new oil revenues. <Western oil majors, who have been frustrated by the slow pace of the initial investment review process, are hoping the current meetings will inject some momentum into the talks.> Maybe another visit from Uncle Saddam could speed things up perhaps? <Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah, the driving force behind Saudi Arabia's economic reforms> Abdullah is 70+ and despises anything Western. His name is being used by others here to promote reform. Just my opinion, but I cannot imagine Abdullah as a reformer. <Saudi Arabia has made it clear that the heart of its energy business -- upstream oil -- would remain off limits to foreigners but is open to discussion on investment in gas exploration and production.> Isn`t this a contradiction in terms? I believe upstream oil and E&P are the same...correct me if I`m wrong. The following is a `Who`s Who` in the oil business. They are lining up at the honey pot now...:) When this is all settled and signed...there will be a very different oil market paradigm, indeed...:) <The heads of Phillips Petroleum (NYSE:P - news) and Royal Dutch/Shell (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: SHEL.L) held talks in Saudi Arabia this week. Similar meetings are expected to be held between Saudi officials and ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM - news), Texaco (NYSE:TX - news), Conoco (NYSE:COCa - news), BP Amoco (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: BPA.L), Eni , Marathon (NYSE:MRO - news) and TotalFinaElf this month.> It`s interesting that these OS stocks have soared; but not their earnings. This is blamed on the big majors reluctance to invest heavily into new production even with soaring prices. Then notice;these same majors are lined up outside King Fahd`s palace door...:) If I were you , I would be shorting these guys to death. Who wants to spend big money on a 13,000 deepwater rig, when you can just poke a hole in the Empty Quarter and produce much more? No, these folks won`t die off just yet, but their future is in the hands of the new Saud/Big Oil Cartel now...:) Other oil producers, OPEC or not; are you listening?? Any comments?? jo