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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tom Clarke who wrote (39436)	9/23/2000 9:48:12 PM
From: puborectalis	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 769667

BP CEO Sees Oil Release Lowering Prices By Timna Tanners LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - BP Amoco Plc (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: BP.L; NYSE:BP - news) Chief Executive John Browne, a key oil company executive, says the White House's decision to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) would likely cool off overheated markets and lead to lower prices. ``This may well take the heat out of the market. It may well reduce prices,'' Browne, head of one of the world's largest energy companies, told a news conference here. His comments followed the U.S. decision Friday to remove 30 million barrels of oil from the SPR in October, which was announced by Energy Secretary Bill Richardson after trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) ended. The release would be the first since the Gulf War, when 17.5 million barrels of crude was taken out of the reserve. Before the announcement NYMEX oil prices fell from 10-year highs of more that $37 a barrel earlier this week to $32.65 a barrel for U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) as market talk of the SPR decision helped ease oil prices. Browne declined to say whether he thought the decision was wise or not. ``(Higher prices) have probably induced more oil and gas business but this will take time,'' Browne said. ``This all has to equilibrate in the long term.'' The White House decision to tap the nation's 571 million-barrel emergency oil reserve came amid expert predictions of heating oil supply disruptions this winter, after high prices of the crucial U.S. Northeast fuel last year. Amid global protests over high fuel prices, Browne noted that different countries' taxes and global supply and demand for oil determine prices. ``Competition is intense everywhere in the world. In certain countries my company is losing money. So therefore I think it is inappropriate to say we are profiteering,'' he said. Vice President Al Gore, the Democratic presidential candidate, on Thursday accused oil companies of ``profiteering,'' and of ``disregard for the public interest.'' Browne acknowledged that crude oil stocks were low. ``But they do exist. We are not in a crisis in terms of supply,'' he said. Last week U.S. inventory reports indicated a sharp drop in crude oil stocks of more than 2 million barrels to 286.6 million barrels, 22.1 million fewer than a year ago.