To: BigBull who wrote (65520 ) 4/30/2000 10:39:00 PM From: Razorbak Respond to of 95453
"French Co. To Invest in Saudi Gas"Sunday April 30, 4:26 pm Eastern Time RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) -- France's Total Fina Elf SA is planning to invest around $8 billion in Saudi Arabia's natural gas sector, company chairman Thierry Desmarest was quoted as saying Sunday. Desmarest was speaking at a meeting in the Saudi port city of Jiddah with the kingdom's oil committee, which is headed by Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal and includes Oil Minister Ali Noaimi, the official Saudi Press Agency reported. The talks with Total Fina Elf are the last in a series of meetings the Saudi committee has conducted with 12 international oil companies since April 15. The other companies are Royal Dutch/Shell Group, Phillips Petroleum Co., Chevron Corp. (NYSE:CHV - news), Exxon Mobil Corp. [NYSE:XOM - news], Texaco, Conoco (COC - news), Enron (NYSE:ENE - news), Occidental Petroleum Corp., BP Amoco, Eni and Marathon. Most of these companies have welcomed the Saudi initiative and submitted plans for projects, but few details have emerged from the talks. Specific projects are not expected to materialize soon. The Saudis have said they are seeking investment in the natural gas and petrochemicals but not in upstream oil development. Elsewhere in the Middle East, Iran's state-owned National Iranian Oil Co. signed a 25-year agreement with a consortium of international oil companies for studying the country's natural gas reserves. Keyhan Karbasi, director of U.K.-based Lasmo PLC for Iran, said the agreement calls for identifying gas reserves, estimating the volumes, assessing domestic consumption and prospects of gas exports, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported Sunday. The companies participating in the project include Lasmo, BP Amoco, Royal Dutch/Shell Group, BHP Australia, Petronas of Malaysia, and Total Fina Elf, the agency said. "The benefits of the study for the international companies include further familiarity with gas reserves in Iran", Karbasi was quoted as saying. Iran's gas reserves are second only to those of Russia. biz.yahoo.com