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Gold/Mining/Energy : Lundin Oil (LOILY, LOILB Sweden) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tomas who wrote (2039)	2/15/2001 12:13:34 PM
From: Tomas	Respond to of 2742

U.K. Minister Indicates Levy on Oil Profits Unlikely (Update1) By Alex Lawler London, Feb. 15 (Bloomberg) -- A U.K. minister signaled the government won't impose a special tax on North Sea oil producers, even as BP Amoco Plc posted Britain's highest-ever corporate profit because of high oil prices, a Treasury spokesman said. The Treasury's Financial Secretary, Stephen Timms, yesterday told a Parliamentary committee hearing on fuel prices that the government would not make short-term decisions based on short-term factors such as high oil prices, the spokesman said. Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown presents his budget for the financial year starting in April on March 7. Soaring profits at BP and Royal Dutch/Shell Group brought renewed criticism from fuel consumers who accused companies of profiteering. U.K. gasoline prices are among Europe's highest, though fuel taxes represent some three-quarters of the cost. Oil companies argue that while earnings from pumping oil rose, their U.K. fuel sales are barely profitable. Shell in 2000 broke even from selling fuel in Britain, having made a loss in the five preceding years. Companies point out that excluding taxes, U.K. gasoline prices are among the lowest in Europe. BP reported fourth-quarter profit of $4.1 billion this week, the third-highest corporate profit ever, while Shell posted record earnings of $3.58 billion, mainly because of crude oil prices that soared to more than $30 a barrel. Shell and BP are the two largest oil producers in the U.K. North Sea, where companies pump more than 2 million barrels of oil daily, earning the government 2.5 billion pounds ($3.6 billion) in revenue in the 1998-99 financial year. Oil companies fought off a move by the government to impose a windfall tax on oil production from the North Sea after oil prices slumped to $10 a barrel in 1998, saying it would damage investment and jobs. An industry group, the U.K. Offshore Operators' Association, has said it would be surprised if the government imposed a windfall levy, since both parties have been working together on initiatives to reduce costs and keep production rates steady. Timms's remark ``demonstrates there is a greater understanding of the issues facing the industry in maintaining investment,'' said Trisha O'Reilly, a UKOOA spokeswoman.

To: Tomas who wrote (2039)	2/15/2001 12:15:20 PM
From: Tomas	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2742

US Urged to Rethink Iranian Sanctions LONDON, Feb 14 (energy24.com) - An international conference on the Middle East has heard that the start of a new presidency in the US could be the catalyst for normalising relations between Washington and Tehran. A US international law specialist, Beverly Rudy, told the Development of Middle East Energy conference in London that there were some positive signals that the unilateral sanctions maybe eased, while extraterritorial legislation, ILSA, aimed against foreign firms investing in Iran's oil development, was not expected to be renewed. The ILSA is due to expire from the statute book in August this year, yet it has done little to prevent the estimated $10 billion in contracts signed since 1997. Rudy said the time was now ripe for President Bush to send clear messages that the US was serious about improved economic relations. Initially, US firms should be allowed to prepare for the end of the sanctions by being free to discuss upcoming contracts with the Iranians. Rudy suggested that secondly, the White House could reverse the former Administration's policy and permit licences for American companies to engage in swap deals with Iran for the export of Caspian oil. Geoffrey Kemp, director of regional strategic programs at the Nixon Center in Washington said there were many in the Bush Administration, particularly Vice-President Cheney, who are opposed to the continuation of the Iranian sanctions. He suggested that US support for the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline, aimed at excluding Iranian and Russian routes for Caspian oil, had been counterproductive. ‘Continuing this two-pronged exclusionary effort is likely to drive Moscow and Tehran into even closer cooperation,’ Kemp said, adding that it had also weakened states in the region that could benefit from other routes.