Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Gold/Mining/Energy : KERM'S KORNER -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Kerm Yerman who wrote (14177)	12/10/1998 8:19:00 AM
From: Kerm Yerman	Respond to of 15196

IN THE NEWS / U.S. Cautious On Latest Iraqi Intransigence WASHINGTON, Dec 9 - The United States made clear on Wednesday it would not respond with force to isolated acts of defiance by Iraq to U.N. inspectors but would await a report on Iraq's cooperation "across a broad spectrum." At the same time, U.S. officials said lack of cooperation did not bode well for the prospects of easing Iraqi sanctions and said Washington remained "prepared to act" militarily if needed. In Baghdad, Oil Minister Amir Muhammad Rasheed insisted Iraq was right to deny access to some U.N. Special Commission (UNSCOM) inspectors who tried to inspect President Saddam Hussein's ruling Baath Party headquarters in the Iraqi capital on Wednesday. He said weapons inspectors had broken an agreement on visiting sited deemed "sensitive" by Baghdad and added the incident showed the inspectors were determined to create another showdown. But, commenting on the incident, White House spokesman David Leavy said, "We expect full cooperation." He added, "that's what Iraq agreed to." He said Washington was awaiting a report by Richard Butler, head of the U.N. Special Commission that is conducting the inspections. "If UNSCOM cannot do its job effectively, we remain prepared to act," Leavy said. The United States began making louder noises about the need for a new government in Baghdad. The State Department said that in line with the just-approved Iraqi Liberation Act, it will tell Congress by mid-January which Iraqi opposition groups deserve U.S. military equipment. National Security Adviser Sandy Berger, in a speech at Stanford University on Tuesday, emphasized the ultimate U.S. goal. "Our policy toward Iraq today is to contain Saddam, but also to oppose him," Berger said. He added: "What we can and will do is to strengthen the Iraqi opposition and support the Iraqi people, to work with them step by step, in a practical and effective way, to delegitimize Saddam, and then, when the time is right, to help them achieve a new leadership in Iraq," Berger said. At the United Nations in New York, Butler said Iraq's decision to block a U.N. arms team trying to carry out an inspection was "very serious." "Iraqi claims that this (inspection) was illegitimate are simply unacceptable, against the law -- that is, the resolutions of the Security Council," he told Reuters. "So we were blocked and that is very serious." In Paris, U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright took a tough line, saying the time for diplomacy was over. She said only by cooperating with UNSCOM could Iraq win a comprehensive review by the U.N. Security Council of its disarmament, which Baghdad hopes could lead to an easing or lifting of U.N. trade sanctions. "There will be no comprehensive review if they are not cooperating with UNSCOM, and if they are not...the use of force is an option that is on the table and I think that needs to be made very clear," she said. State Department spokesman James Foley made clear the United States, which has painstakingly sought to build up a united stance among major powers that Baghdad must comply fully with its U.N. obligations, would not respond to individual incidents. "UNSCOM has a variety of activities under way and we expect Iraqi cooperation across the full spectrum -- from documents to inspections to interviews with relevant officials and whatever else UNSCOM feels it needs in order to pursue and complete its mandate," he told a regular news briefing. "We will want to hear from chairman Butler about the results of these activities in his assessment of Iraqi cooperation. At that point, as we've indicated earlier in this week, we will make a judgment." He added: "Certainly, any incident -- whether it involves the lack of cooperation on the provision of documents or whether it involves a lack of cooperation on providing access to sites -- does not bode well for Iraqi compliance with Iraqi obligations under the relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions."

To: Kerm Yerman who wrote (14177)	12/10/1998 8:22:00 AM
From: Kerm Yerman	Respond to of 15196

IN THE NEWS / U.S. November Crude Oil Production Lowest Since 1954, DOE Says WASHINGTON, Dec 9 - U.S. crude oil production during November averaged 6.4 million barrels per day (bpd), the lowest level since 1954, the Department of Energy said on Wednesday. Cheaper crude from foreign markets continues to make it more affordable to import oil than produce it domestically. Based on preliminary estimates from the DOE's Energy Information Administration, U.S. crude imports in November averaged 8.6 million bpd, a record high for the month. Crude stocks at the end of November, excluding what was held in the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve, totaled 335 million barrels, the highest November level since 1994. The DOE also said U.S. petroleum demand last month averaged 18.6 million barrels per day, the highest November level since 1978. Demand for finished motor gasoline reached a new November record high of 8.1 million bpd. Gasoline production averaged 8.2 million bpd, also a record high for the month, the DOE said. End-of-the month gasoline stocks stood at 163 million barrels, the highest closing stocks for November since 1994. Distillate fuel oil demand averaged 3.4 million bpd during November, while production reached 3.5 million bpd - 100,000 bpd less than last year. At the end of the month, distillate fuel stocks totaled 149 million barrels -- 8.3 million barrels higher than November 1997. Total jet fuel demand averaged 1.6 million bpd last month, and production averaged 1.6 million bpd. Jet fuel stocks stood at 45 million barrels at the end of November, down 1.3 million barrels from a year earlier. Demand for residual fuel oil averaged 851,000 bpd in November, the highest for the month in four years. Production of residual oil averaged 900,000 bpd in November, down 100,000 bpd from last year. Residual stocks at the end of the month totaled 40 million barrels, up 2.4 million barrels from a year earlier.

To: Kerm Yerman who wrote (14177)	12/10/1998 8:26:00 AM
From: Kerm Yerman	Respond to of 15196

IN THE NEWS / UPR Says U.S. Needs Fewer Independent Oil & Gas companies HOUSTON, Dec 9 - The U.S. independent oil and gas sector is too fragmented and needs more consolidation, the president of a leading U.S. independent energy exploration and production company said on Wednesday. "There are still probably too many independents today," said George Lindahl, president and chief operating officer of Union Pacific Resources Group Inc.<UPR.N>. The oil and gas company, based in Fort Worth, Texas, is a spinoff of railroad giant Union Pacific Corp.<UNP.N> Lindahl, addressing the Arthur Andersen Energy Symposium in Houston, said there are 47 U.S. independent energy producers, with market values ranging from $100 million to $3 billion. Many independents are pursuing operations in too many areas instead of concentrating on areas where they could reap economies of scale and be among the top three producers, he said. "If you're a small independent, scattered, with lots of plays, I think over time that's not a winning scenario," he said. "I think consolidation is going to take place in order to get the cost structure where it needs to be." Lindahl said the special expertise that Union Pacific Resources had developed in the Austin Chalk formation in Texas had given it a leading position in that area and to date had generated an after-tax return of 21 percent on an investment of $2.4 billion over nine years. "This is a great example of UPR taking a technology, horizontal drilling in fractured reservoirs, and becoming the best in the world," he said. Union Pacific Resources has played an active role in the industry's consolidation, buying Canadian company Norcen this year after a hostile bid for Pennzoil Co. <PZL.N> was thwarted last year. Lindahl said natural gas projects could be profitably developed in North America at a price of $2.00 per million British thermal units, but that most oil projects would have to be shelved at current prices of less than $12 per barrel. Lindahl predicted a further international expansion of the U.S. independent oil and gas producers. "I think you'll see more and more of us taking cash flow from our North American operations and investing it overseas," he said. On Wednesday, Union Pacific Resources' stock rose 1/16 to 9-11/16 a share in composite New York Stock Exchange trading.