Oil Monopoly News

Petrobras has registered two consecutive profit records, set a deep water record for equipment installation, moved up to 12th position in the PIW ranking of the biggest oil companies in the world and is preparing the highest CAPEX budget in its history. Speaking at his first Press Conference at the OTC, Francisco Gros, the new president of Petrobras told the reporters specialized in petroleum, that Brazil’s National Oil company is doing well without its recently lost (1998) oil monopoly and is ready for competition. Gros announced that this year’s Capex Budget will be the biggest in the company’s 49- year history. He also pointed out that in the last two years Petrobras profits were also record high, surpassing the $4 billion figure in both 2001 and 2000.

Mexican state oil monopoly Petroleos Mexicanos expects to invest $36 billion during the current six-year administration, up 76 percent from the prior term. The company said its 2001 investment program will total 59.4 billion pesos, about $6.1 billion at current exchange rates. Two-thirds of the sum, the largest investment amount in 19 years, will go toward the Cantarell, Burgos and Delta del Grijalva projects. Construction spending by the company this year is billed at 16.8 billion pesos, up 58 percent over 2000, Pemex said in a statement. Of the construction spending, 56 percent will go toward offshore platforms, 23 percent to pipelines and 19 percent to hydrocarbon separation plants and 2 percent to storage and other infrastructure projects.

According to reports, U.S. and Mexican oil and natural gas producers evacuated some offshore Gulf of Mexico platforms and rigs, curtailing output as Hurricane Dean whipped past Jamaica heading towards the Yucatan Peninsula. Six of the 834 manned oil and natural-gas platforms along the U.S. Gulf Coast have been evacuated, the U.S. Interior Department's Minerals Management Service said Sunday in a statement. That's shut about 1.8 percent of the Gulf's 1.3 million barrels of daily oil production and 0.7 percent of the region's natural gas. Royal Dutch Shell Plc evacuated 380 workers Saturday, the company said in a statement. Shell has shut production in the Gulf by 23,000 barrels of oil and 47.5 million cubic feet of natural gas per day.

SK Corp. bought a 25 percent stake in an offshore oil development project in Vietnam to better tap the fast-growing energy demand in Southeast Asia. According to the Korea Herald newspaper, SK took over the shares in the 15-1/05 oil field from Vietnam Oil and Gas Corp., or Petrovietnam, the Southeast Asian country's state-run oil monopoly. The purchase is SK's second energy investment in Vietnam. The Korea's largest refinery currently holds a 9 percent stake in the neighboring 15-1 reserve, which has secured about 300m barrels of crude oil and over 3 trillion cubic feet of gas. SK also plans to set up a branch in Hanoi in a further effort to expand its overseas exploration businesses.

Tropical Storm Chantal slowed to a stop and dumped torrential rain on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula on Tuesday after leaving two fishermen missing at sea and forcing 2,500 evacuations from the low-lying coastline. "At 5 a.m. EDT, Chantal was in a near stationary position 15 miles south of Chetumal," said Stacy Stewart of the U.S. National Hurricane Center. "The storm is carrying torrential rains, up to 15 to 20 in.," Stewart, a hurricane specialist, said. Winds remained at 65 miles per hour (104 kph). Chantal made landfall with winds of 70 miles per hour, around 8 p.m. High winds churned up Caribbean waters and left two fishermen missing. The men ignored warnings to avoid open seas during the storm, said Jose Nemesio Medina, director of the state's civil protection services.