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

To: Kerm Yerman who wrote (9607)	2/22/2003 11:03:13 AM
From: Kerm Yerman	Respond to of 24925

In The News / Gasoline Prices & The Oil Patch Don't blame gas prices on oil patch: EnCana chief CEO of Canada's largest energy producer says Commons committee 'grandstanding' Globe & Mail LILY NGUYEN Friday, February 21, 2003 CALGARY -- The head of Canada's largest energy producer yesterday lambasted a parliamentary committee that blamed petroleum companies for high gasoline prices. Gwyn Morgan, the chief executive officer of EnCana Corp., said members of a House of Commons committee that plans to call oil executives on the carpet for high prices are indulging in "grandstanding" to appeal to voters. "What really happens in this country every time we have a runup in external prices is a very strong push from people to say, 'Well, why is the price of gasoline going up?' " Mr. Morgan said in a conference call yesterday to discuss the company's fourth-quarter and year-end results. "It seems like a good thing to do from a grandstanding political point of view, but it's not going to change the fact that it's an international commodity at a time of crisis in the world," he continued, stressing the fact that oil prices are set on a world market and the price of gasoline, a refined oil product, will fluctuate with crude prices. Mr. Morgan, a vocal critic of the federal government on such issues as the Kyoto climate change treaty and Canadian competitiveness issues, said Ottawa typically paints high energy prices as a bad thing for the country, even as it benefits from them. "It isn't all downside when energy prices rise," he said. "The biggest single contributor to export revenue for this government and this country, the biggest single supporter of the dollar these days, is energy revenue." Mr. Morgan, who said he was speaking "in support of [his] integrated colleagues" -- that is, companies that combine petroleum production with gasoline retail -- said he does not expect to be called before the committee since EnCana has no retail gas outlets. Calgary-based analysts in the heart of the oil patch lined up behind Mr. Morgan on the matter, pointing out that Ottawa has a history of misunderstanding the petroleum market. "I think he's entirely accurate in what he's saying," said Martin Molyneaux, an analyst with FirstEnergy Capital Corp. "We've had consistent accusations of collusion. It's easy to do from a political point of view," said Brian Prokop, an analyst with Peters & Co. Mr. Prokop said dryly that Canadian politicians jump on the issue every time gasoline hits 80 cents a litre, while the trigger point for U.S. politicians seems to be $2 (U.S.) a gallon. High commodity prices proved a big benefit for EnCana, as it reported well over $1-billion (Canadian) in profit last year, its first year of existence following its creation from the merger of PanCanadian Energy Corp. and Alberta Energy Co. Ltd. in the spring. In the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31 alone, Calgary-based EnCana posted a profit of $429-million or 88 cents a share. Quarterly earnings appeared to miss consensus expectations of 95 cents a share, according to five analysts polled by Thomson Financial/First Call, but analysts dismissed the shortfall as a result of a variety of writedowns and one-time items related to the merger. Revenue for the quarter was $3.4-billion and cash flow was $1.5-billion or $3.03 a share. Profit for 2002 -- provided on a pro forma basis since EnCana did not exist until the second quarter -- was $1.25-billion or $2.59.