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To: Les H who wrote (54095)	6/14/2000 4:53:00 PM
From: Les H	Respond to of 99985

OPEC won't up production to cut oil price Claudia Cattaneo Financial Post CALGARY - Rilwanu Lukman, the secretary-general of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, said yesterday his group won't increase production to halt escalating oil prices prices if those prices are being held high by speculators. "If it's a freak [and] prices have shot up for speculative reasons, we wouldn't jump and start pouring oil into the market" Mr. Lukman said in Calgary, where he addressed the World Petroleum Congress. But if it turns out prices are rising on a "sustained basis" for fundamental reasons, then OPEC will take some action, particularly if they are exceeding a price band set by OPEC at their last meeting in March for a prolonged period, he said. Crude oil rose to a three-month high of US$32.73 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange yesterday on expectations that OPEC will keep output levels unchanged when it meets next week in Vienna. That sentiment was underlined yesterday by Iran's oil minister, Bijan Namdar Zangeneh, who reiterated that his country is opposed to a production increase. "It is not really necessary to increase production until the price-band mechanism is evaluated," Mr. Zangeneh said. "Any increase in [OPEC] production will intensify stockpiling, and that will jeopardize oil prices and oil market conditions in the future." While Mr. Lukman was careful not to offer conclusions about what OPEC will do next, he stressed his group, which produces 40% of the world's oil and controls 70% of the world's oil reserves, does not regard current oil prices as being too high. The Clinton administration is among those who disagree and is applying diplomatic pressure on OPEC to step up production to lower prices at U.S. gas pumps. "The prices have gone to a level that are too high," White House spokesman Joe Lockhart said in Washington. "At these levels, you run the risk of reducing the demand so that it could potentially be too high for consuming countries and also producing countries." Oil markets expected OPEC to increase supply by 500,000 barrels a day last week -- as ministers agreed at their last meeting if the average 20-day price of OPEC oil topped $28 a barrel. Mr. Lukman said there appears to be misunderstanding about what OPEC decided, and "people talking about a trigger point being reached and surpassed, they are interpreting our agreement in their own way." In his speech, Mr. Lukman said consumers upset about high gasoline prices should direct their ire at the real culprits -- their governments, for charging taxes that can be three times as high as the cost of crude oil. He also warned that OPEC members will seek compensation if the governments of oil consuming nations further increase taxation on gasoline as an excuse to reduce consumption of fossil fuels. "Taxes in some areas already comprise a large portion of the price of oil products. Add to this the threat of further taxes, and you will have double taxation on oil, this time applied in the name of a cleaner environment," he said. "Legislators justify this move as caring for the planet. But most of the taxes proposed are clearly designed to simply increase fiscal revenues and are in no way intended to help care for the planet we inhabit." Mr. Lukman said OPEC is also concerned that under the Kyoto protocol to reduce greenhouse gases oil producers whose economies are heavily reliant on oil exports stand to lose billions.

To: Les H who wrote (54095)	6/14/2000 5:02:00 PM
From: Haim R. Branisteanu	Respond to of 99985

Les, this whole earnings game will stop by a very simple rule. Income reported to the IRS should be the income reported to the shareholders - Period! This will truly reflect the actual state of financial affairs of a company. ....... but then again, we have the Democrats running this country ........... Microsoft said it was impossible to predict what its tax bill would be in 2000 since the year is not yet over. The company confirmed that its options-related tax deduction exceeded its taxable income as reported to shareholders so far this year, but it said that there were many different elements that go into figuring the company's taxes that are not available to the public. Microsoft declined to make its tax returns available. Haim