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Gold/Mining/Energy : Strictly: Drilling and oil-field services -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: SargeK who wrote (40461)	3/20/1999 10:45:00 AM
From: Gary Burton	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 95453

Sarge--What do you think the odds are of UFAB merging with GIFI or FGI in a share swap to increase the float and drive up the post-merger price?

To: SargeK who wrote (40461)	3/20/1999 11:03:00 AM
From: Box-By-The-Riviera™	Respond to of 95453

Saturday March 20 10:43 AM ET Gulf Arabs Back Hague Oil Output Cut By Edmund Blair ABU DHABI (Reuters) - Gulf Arab oil ministers said Saturday they fully backed a deal reached last week in the Netherlands to cut about two million barrels of oil per day from the market in a bid to shore up prices. Representatives of five Arab states in the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), who met for one-day of talks in the United Arab Emirates capital of Abu Dhabi, said in a final statement they ''unanimously endorse steps taken at the Hague meeting.'' Under the Hague pact, OPEC members will cut their output by 1.7 million barrels per day (bpd), while non-OPEC producers will shave off 287,000 bpd. ''...The ministers stressed the urgent needs for continued cooperation among producing nations, from within and outside OPEC, to reverse the direction of falling oil prices in order to achieve a more reasonable price for a barrel of oil,'' the statement said. The Gulf Arab states, including OPEC states Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE, were meeting ahead of OPEC talks in Vienna on March 23, when the Hague pact is expected to be approved. Tiny oil producer and non-OPEC member Bahrain also attended the Abu Dhabi talks. Another GCC state, Oman, which does not belong to OPEC but which is participating in the Hague round of cuts, was not present. The statement said GCC states represented at the Vienna talks ''will work together to support the (Hague) agreement during the upcoming OPEC conference.'' Two rounds of oil cuts last year failed to lift prices, which have plumbed to a 2-year lows in real terms. Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi told reporters that the Hague deal would probably succeed better than earlier deals because it was ''suggested and backed and directed by the highest authority in every government that has participated in the decision process.'' Naimi, whose country is the world's largest oil producer and exporter, would not forecast where prices would go, although he repeated a desired target of $18-20 a barrel for benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI). WTI was hovering around $15.25 Friday. Naimi confirmed Saudi Arabia would cut its production by 585,000 bpd, adding that the reduction has ''already been communicated to the customers.'' The UAE Oil Minister Obaid bin Saif al-Nasseri said his country's cuts would be ''close'' to 157,000 bpd, but did not give an exact figure. The cuts are due to take effect from the April 1. Qatari Oil Minister Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah said compliance with the agreed cuts was the key to boosting prices. ''We should learn the lesson and be realistic, compliance is more important than the agreement to cut output,'' he told the UAE's official agency WAM before the Abu Dhabi talks. The oil-dependent Gulf economies have been hit hard by weak oil prices.