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Gold/Mining/Energy : Canadian Oil & Gas Companies -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: CIMA who wrote (8128)	4/13/2001 11:39:10 PM
From: LARRY LARSON	Respond to of 24927

U.S. says Sudan must end terrorist sanctuary before U.N. sanctions are lifted By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press Writer UNITED NATIONS, April 13, 2001 (AP) -- Sudan must demonstrate that it is no longer providing sanctuary to terrorist groups that are killing Americans before the United States will recommend lifting U.N. sanctions against the African nation, a U.S. State Department official said Friday. The United States has persuaded Sudan, which is on the U.S. list of nations sponsoring terrorism, to delay its call for Security Council action to lift limited U.N. sanctions until August, U.S. and Sudanese officials said. The sanctions, imposed in 1996 to force Sudan to hand over the gunmen who tried to assassinate Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak while he was visiting Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on June 26, 1995, were never actively enforced, but they nevertheless remain on the books. The suspects were believed to have fled to Sudan. Sudan has been trying to convince the United States that it no longer supports terrorism. It says it has repaired its relationship with both Ethiopia and Egypt, and was helping both countries investigate the assassination attempt. The Non-Aligned Movement of developing countries introduced a draft resolution in the Security Council last June to lift the sanctions, which required U.N. members to reduce Sudan's diplomatic presence in their countries and to restrict the movement of its officials. Subsequent sanctions banned Sudanese planes from U.N. member states. Since then, U.S. and Sudanese officials have engaged in an on-and-off dialogue on counterterrorism. "The dialogue is making progress," the State Department official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "It is being conducted in a positive, workmanlike atmosphere." "If Sudan is willing to satisfy the U.N. requirements, especially demonstrating that it no longer provides sanctuary to terrorist groups, then we would be in a position to recommend that the United Nations lift U.N. sanctions," the official said. The Security Council was supposed to take up the resolution to lift sanctions in November, but the United States successfully persuaded Sudan to wait until a new U.S. administration was in place. The two sides settled on April 17 as the new date, but Sudan's deputy U.N. ambassador, Mubarak Hussein Rahmtalla, said Thursday that Washington again requested a delay until August "and my government agreed." "This was within the context of the ongoing contacts between Washington and Khartoum," he said. Council members from the Non-Aligned Movement informed the council this week that discussion on the draft resolution to lift sanctions had been postponed until Aug. 6. "We sincerely hope that by that time we can recommend to Secretary of State Colin Powell and President (George W.) Bush that they agree to lift U.N. sanctions," the State Department official said. He cautioned, however, that lifting U.N. sanctions against Sudan would not mean the country would be removed from the U.S. list of states that sponsor terrorism. "There are additional steps that we would need ... for that to happen," the U.S. official said, without elaborating. Sudan's efforts to repair its relationship with Washington suffered a setback last year when it defied a U.S. request to drop its bid for a permanent Security Council seat - a contest it eventually lost to Mauritius. Richard Holbrooke, then U.S. ambassador, said at the time of the Mauritius victory that Sudan's decision to "fight tenaciously" for the seat would certainly affect its bid to have sanctions lifted. Last month, Sudan's Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail was quoted by the London-based Arabic daily Azzaman as saying the United States should lift sanctions against Sudan and drop the country from the list of nations sponsoring terrorism before it can play a role in ending the country's 18-year civil war. Powell said in early March that ending the war in Sudan "will be a priority" for U.S. foreign policy.

To: CIMA who wrote (8128)	4/15/2001 7:17:22 PM
From: Richard Saunders	Respond to of 24927

Oilpatch general - source Calgary Herald Saturday 14 April 2001. I've added some boldings below. Interesting and worthwhile comments mentioned too re: tax bills & production growth....... OILPATCH HITS A PROFITS GUSHER First-quarter results expected to be breathtaking Chris Varcoe While Canada's battered high-tech sector issues profit warnings on almost a daily basis, the oilpatch is preparing for an earnings avalanche. Petroleum producers hauled away a record $20 billion in earnings last year as after-tax cash flow doubled to $36.1 billion, said Ed Peplinski of energy consultancy ARC Financial Corp. in Calgary. With oil prices still strong and natural gas rates soaring to unprecedented heights, Peplinski predicted the sector should pocket a staggering $21.5 billion in profits this year -- more than triple 1999 levels -- on after-tax cash flow of $38.9 billion. Energy stocks are struggling to gain attention on financial markets, but they have accomplished something many Internet stocks haven't done lately: make money. "The drudges of the old economy are looking pretty good," said Peplinski. "It's just such a fabulous commodity price environment we're in." Next week, Canadian oil companies will begin to release first-quarter results and analysts expect the numbers will be breathtaking. Investment firm FirstEnergy Capital Corp. forecasts AEC will see profits (per share) more than triple, while Canadian Hunter Exploration Ltd. should report earnings up more than five-fold from a year ago. Integrated producers with exploration, production, refining and marketing operations will also see a healthy bump in earnings due to improved refining margins, said analyst Martin Molyneaux of FirstEnergy. "It will be by far the best quarter we've ever seen," he said. "You should see the profitability up, overall, by somewhere between 80 and 100 per cent." Industry players agree the first three months of 2001 were the best-ever for an oilpatch that struggled with crude prices below $11 a barrel in December 1998. "There will be record first-quarter results, right across the board," said Brian Prokop of Peters & Co. "We're going to see companies do exceedingly well, especially if they have any gas component to their production. "And the more gassy they are, the more they will exceed expectations," Prokop said. While last year's first-quarter results were fuelled by rising crude oil prices, gas will generate the big profits for many producers in 2001. For the first three months of the year, West Texas Intermediate crude averaged $28.67 US per barrel, down about 10 per cent from the fourth quarter but almost identical to year-earlier prices. During the quarter, heavy oil prices were squeezed by a wider discount to light oil prices. The Alberta spot price for gas averaged $8.48 per thousand cubic feet (mcf) during the first quarter, more than double the $3.18 per mcf in 2000. "You wonder if it's going to continue very much longer," said George Fink, president of Comstate Resources Ltd. "The strength has been sustained for such a long time, yet investors really still question whether (oil and gas) can maintain the momentum." The mountain of cash flow from high prices also presents a problem for the sector -- what to do with all that money. "It's a new type of thinking and problem -- to have more money than projects.," said Raymond Chan, chief financial officer of mid-sized Baytex Energy Ltd. "It's a stressful time, that's for sure, because you have to try to distinguish yourself . . . and make some pretty major decisions. Baytex, for example, has joined the list of companies taking advantage of the good times to consolidate the sector, making two friendly takeovers in the past month. ******Amid all of the sector's wealth, two trends are worth watching.***** With the sector flush with earnings, many petroleum producers have eaten through their tax credits and will pay a big tax bill this year. FirstEnergy predicts the sector faces a whopping $9.5-billion tax bite in 2001, compared to $2.6 billion last year and only $320 million in 1999. The other indicator of success will come in production growth** after the sector ramped up exploration work during the winter. "What will separate the men from the boys is . . . who's been able to add natural gas volumes and who hasn't," Molyneaux added. "Once you get past the oohing and ahhing of the per-share numbers for both cash flow and earnings, then you go back to the volume growth."