"Lel Bruce Peto" Oil sector 90's chronology informing..1998

"Lel Bruce Peto" Oil sector 90's chronology informing..1998.
Oil & Gas Chronology :  The 1990’s


1998


January 7 

Due to the continuing Asian economic crisis, South Korea's refiners have 
reportedly cut operations to around 80 percent of capacity. The refiners 
have also had difficulty securing crude oil supplies for delivery in late 
January or February, which could cut operations to as low as 70 percent-75 
percent of capacity.

January 15 

Environmentalists hail the implementation of a 50-year moratorium on 
mining and oil exploration in the Antarctic. A protocol for the protection 
of the Antarctic was adopted by twenty-six countries in 1991, but it could 
not be implemented until Japan's ratification cleared the way last month. 
Antarctica contains 70 percent of the world's fresh water, and the 
moratorium attempts to preserve the world's least polluted continent.

February 5 

Following a ruling by a federal judge denying a request from 
environmentalists and Native Americans seeking to block the sale of the 
Elk Hills Naval Petroleum Reserve, the U.S. Department of Energy formally 
transfers ownership of the reserve to Occidental Petroleum Corporation. 
Occidental purchased a 78 percent interest in the field for $3.65 billion. 
Chevron Corporation currently holds the remaining 22 percent. Elk Hills 
contains 450 million barrels of proven oil reserves; however, officials 
from Occidental believe the reserve may contain one billion barrels of 
recoverable reserves.

February 20 

The United Nations (U.N.) Security Council votes unanimously to more than 
double the amount of oil Iraq can export under the U.N. oil-for-food 
program. The Security Council's vote increases the amount Iraq can export 
from $2.14 billion to $5.26 billion over six months. Iraq maintains that 
it only has the capability to export up to $4 billion over a six-month 
period.

March 31 

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) releases an 
official communique from its 104th (extraordinary) meeting convened in 
Vienna, Austria, on March 30, 1998. The communique states that member 
countries have agreed to voluntary cuts from each country's current 
production levels in an attempt to boost oil prices. OPEC has agreed to 
cuts totaling 1.245 million barrels per day effective April 1, 1998. The 
cuts, in barrels per day, break down as follows: Algeria 50,000; Indonesia 
70,000; Iran 140,000; Kuwait 125, 000; Libya 80,000; Nigeria 125,000; 
Qatar 30,000; Saudi Arabia 300,000; United Arab Emirates 125,000; and 
Venezuela 200,000. In addition, non-OPEC oil-producing countries Mexico, 
Oman, and Yemen have agreed to cut production by 100,000, 30,000, and 
20,000 barrels per day, respectively. Moreover, a third non-OPEC country, 
Norway, the world's third largest oil exporter, has pledged to reduce its 
oil production by 3 percent, or approximately 100,000 barrels per day. 
However, Norway's cuts will not take effect until mid-April 1998. (Cuts 
are from February production based on secondary sources.

May 4 

The Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO) announces that it will acquire Union 
Texas Petroleum Holdings Incorporated, an independent oil company based in 
Houston, Texas, for $2.47 billion. The acquisition will add 140,000 
barrels per day to ARCO's oil and natural gas production and increase 
ARCO's total oil and gas reserves by 14 percent. The deal also helps ARCO 
enter the Caspian Sea region, with ARCO gaining a 12.5 percent interest in 
the Caspian Pipeline Consortium and a 5 percent interest in Kazakhstan's 
Tengiz oil filed. ARCO also will gain additional interests in projects 
located in the United Kingdom, Indonesia, Alaska, and Venezuela.

May 11 

India announces that it has conducted three underground nuclear tests, the 
country's first since 1974. The tests were conducted simultaneously 330 
miles southwest of New Delhi, near the Pakistani border. The Indian 
government indicates that the three tests included a thermonuclear device, 
commonly known as a hydrogen bomb. Two days later, on May 13, 1998, India 
announces that it has conducted two more underground nuclear tests in the 
same desert range.

June 19 

The United Nations (U.N.) Security Council unanimously approves a 
resolution allowing Iraq to spend $300 million on spare parts for its oil 
industry. The funding is intended to help Iraq increase oil exports under 
the fourth phase of the U.N.'s oil-for-food program. The spare parts are 
expected to expand Iraq's oil export capacity from 1.6 million barrels per 
day to 1.8 million or 1.9 million barrels per day.

June 24 

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) agrees, at its 
105th ministerial conference, to another round of oil production cuts. In 
recent weeks oil prices have fallen to their lowest levels in more than a 
decade. OPEC members have agreed to cut production by 1.355 million 
barrels per day, effective July 1, 1998, bringing the group's total 
reductions since March 1998 to 2.6 million barrels per day. Together with 
promises from non-OPEC nations such as Russia, Oman, and Mexico, world oil 
producers have pledged to cut world-wide production by approximately 3.1 
million barrels per day.

August 11 

British Petroleum announces that it will acquire Amoco for $48.2 billion 
in stock. If the merger is approved by regulators and shareholders of both 
companies, it will be the largest oil industry merger and the largest 
foreign take-over of a U.S. company to date. The company will be known as 
BP Amoco, and it will be the world's third-largest multinational oil 
company in terms of net income behind Exxon and Royal Dutch/Shell Group.

October 1 

South Korea's oil refining sector fully deregulates, allowing for 100 
percent foreign investment. Originally, South Korea had expected to fully 
deregulate its refining industry by January 1999, but it decided to move 
up the date in order to help reform its economy.

October 7 

European Union (EU) nations approve an accord in which European car makers 
will voluntarily agree to cut carbon dioxide emissions 25 percent by 2008. 
EU officials say they will seek similar deals with automakers in Asia and 
North America.

October 28 

Japan's Nippon Oil Company, the country's second largest petroleum 
distributor and Mitsubishi Oil Company, the sixth-ranking company in the 
industry, agree to merge as of April 1, 1999. The combined company will be 
the largest oil distributor in Japan.

December 2 

Exxon Corporation agrees to buy Mobil Corporation for approximately $75.4 
billion, which will make the company the largest corporation in the U.S. 
The companies say they expect to cut about 9,000 jobs from their combined 
worldwide workforce of 122,700 and to close offices, saving $730 million. 
The merger comes in the context of low oil prices, which have hurt profits 
at many oil companies.

December 23 

The Colombian government says it will allow gasoline and diesel prices to 
float with international oil prices starting January 1, 1999. The move 
will end a system of artificial price fixing which has cost the government 
more than $3.2 billion in subsidies over the past five years.

Received on Saturday, 15 February 2003 18:27:25 UTC