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To: BigBull who wrote (74798)	9/27/2000 9:26:43 AM
From: Wowzer	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 95453

From today's WSJ: September 27, 2000 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- International Energy Agency Calls For Board Meeting on Oil Shortage By BHUSHAN BAHREE Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL PARIS -- The International Energy Agency is calling for an emergency meeting of its governing board next week even as its members -- the industrial nations of the West -- start going their own way in trying to counter, through the release of strategic oil stocks, political pressures being generated by high petroleum prices. On Tuesday, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar met here with French President Jacques Chirac to press his case that members of the European Union should follow the U.S. example and release oil from stockpiles intended for use during supply disruptions. Mr. Chirac, whose country currently heads the EU's rotating presidency, agreed to back Mr. Aznar. But in a deft move, Mr. Chirac put off consideration of the Spanish initiative until the EU Council meets in the French resort town of Biarritz on Oct. 13 and 14. That would give the European Commission some time to prepare for a possibility that it has been discounting until now. According to Gilles Gantelet, the EU's spokesman on energy issues in Brussels, the current oil-price situation doesn't represent the kind of emergency that would justify the use of strategic oil reserves. "The Americans' arguments aren't necessarily appropriate to the situation in the EU," he said. Adding to Extra Supply Much might happen in oil markets between now and mid-October. Oil prices already have fallen this week under the weight of the 30 million barrels of oil that U.S. President Bill Clinton on Friday ordered released into the marketplace. This will add to the extra supply of 800,000 barrels a day that members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries have agreed to pump starting Oct. 1. Industry experts, bedeviled by unreliable supply-and-demand data, are uncertain whether these additional supplies mean there will be too much or too little crude oil. That is adding to the jitters in markets already made nervous by the thought that world output appears dangerously close to maximum production capacity. If major consuming nations start running down their strategic stocks, the cushion against supply shocks will be thinner still. "Basically, no one recommends releasing stocks ... I don't think that is a sensible option," says Tatsuo Masuda, head of the IEA's markets division and emergency preparedness. The IEA has proposed that its governing board -- comprising representatives of its 24 member countries in North America, Europe, Asia and the Pacific -- meet here Nov. 4 to jointly review the rapidly evolving oil-market situation. The agency expects to know Wednesday whether all its members agree to the proposed conclave. 'Jumping the Gun' The IEA meeting isn't expected either to seek or endorse any joint action by its members. Indeed, the IEA may be seeking to calm governments made nervous by the sudden and surprisingly strong consumer reaction, particularly in Europe, to high prices for petroleum products. "It would be jumping the gun to do more" right now, an IEA official said. For the EU, doing more might be difficult anyway. The EU's members are divided on whether to release strategic oil stocks simply to ease the political pain being caused by high prices. Britain, a major exporter of oil, is among European countries opposed to using emergency stocks simply to force down the price. Moreover, only a few European countries -- notably Germany and the Netherlands -- have stocks that significantly exceed the minimum levels required by the EU and the IEA, which was set up in the aftermath of the first oil shock in 1973 to coordinate an orderly release of stocks in case of a major supply disruption. Overall, EU member nations have stocks amounting to some 110 days of use, or about 20 days more than the 90-day supply required by both the EU and the IEA. But the surplus isn't evenly spread; some European countries are short even of the required minimum. Even countries at the minimum level would need a consensus at the IEA for authority to release some of stocks. -- Carlta Vitzthum in Madrid and Brandon Mitchener in Brussels contributed to this article. Write to Bhushan Bahree at bhushan.bahree@wsj.com

To: BigBull who wrote (74798)	9/27/2000 9:29:56 AM
From: Big Dog	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 95453

Morning All, Thanks for all the kind comments! I have rcvd a few editing suggestions from JimL and others that I will weave into the press release this morning. I talked to my PR firm last night and they have agreed to have a look at it from a 'professional' view (as if we ain't professional <VBG>) and send it out to the PR circuit that I choose. Thanks to JimL for the $$$ support. To send this out properly to a wide media audience will cost $400 - $500. I'll be glad to front it, but donations are welcome. Please make payable to Mike Simmons and mail to me at: Mayor Mike Camp Verde, TX 78010 (yes, that's all the address you need.) Thanks to all...and be nice to the new visitors that come by...put on your Sunday best. I'll let you all know when the release goes out. Also, I got a PM from Dave Zgodzinski with SI who does the Cool Post section...he seemed surprised that we would do such a thing. Watch the main page of SI for some coverage... big