Us Federal Trade Commission News

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission will vote next week on whether it will study if supply chain disruptions have affected competition, the agency said in a statement describing the agenda as tentative.The meeting will be held on November 18, the statement said.Faced with long delays in getting goods into U.S.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission said on Friday it would challenge in court the Norwegian company Wilhelmsen Maritime Services' plan to buy smaller U.S. rival Drew Marine Group. The FTC said the $400 million proposed deal would reduce competition in the market for marine water treatment chemicals, used in a ship's boiler water and engine cooling water systems. If Wilhelmsen closed the deal with New Jersey's Drew Marine, the FTC said the company would have 60 percent of the market for marine water treatment chemicals, while its closest competitor would have 5 percent. "We disagree with the FTC's evaluation and will continue to work towards a positive outcome," Wilhelmsen spokeswoman Benedicte Teigen Gude told Reuters.

Enterprise Products Partners LP said on Wednesday that companies using its crude oil storage facility in the Houston Ship Channel must pay extra for dock services, brushing off complaints from client BP Plc . "We believe if you want a service, you pay for it," Enterprise Chief Operating Officer Jim Teague told analysts when asked about concerns, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, that the company's strong position in Gulf Coast storage gives it too much pricing power. Britain's BP has reportedly told the U.S. Federal Trade Commission that Enterprise, a major midstream company, has started charging $1 a barrel in dock fees for crude it handles at the Houston site, on top of storage fees. Since Houston is the top U.S. petrochemicals port, the dock fees could add up to big revenue.

Global Marine Inc. reported net income for the quarter ended September 30, 2001 was $62.1 million, or $0.34 per diluted share, on revenues of $314 million. For the corresponding 2000 quarter, the company reported net income of $32.3 million, or $0.18 per diluted share, on revenues of $272 million. $1.03 per diluted share, on revenues of $965 million. million, or $0.12 per diluted share, on the second quarter 2001 sale of a special-purpose rig. This compares to net income of $73.0 million, or $0.41 per diluted share, on revenues of $707 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2000. Bob Rose, Global Marine Chairman, President and CEO, said, "Global Marine's financial and operating performance was strong.

ConocoPhillips has completed the merger of Conoco Inc. and Phillips Petroleum Company, following clearance by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission earlier today. Shareholders of both companies and all U.S. and foreign regulatory authorities cleared the merger earlier this year. ConocoPhillips is the third-largest integrated U.S. energy company. On a global basis, it is the sixth-largest publicly held energy company based on hydrocarbon reserves and production, and it is the fifth-largest global refiner. ConocoPhillips has net proved reserves of 8.7 billion barrels of oil equivalent (BOE), daily oil and natural gas production of 1.7 million BOE, and a refining capacity of 2.6 million barrels per day, and has assets of $75 billion.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a Press Release

A contract for the construction of a deepwater construction vessel was signed by Bender Shipbuilding & Repair Co., Inc., and Torch, Inc. The Guido Perla & Associates-designed 340 x 85 x 31 ft. M/V Midnight Warrior is a current generation construction vessel, equipped to provide offshore flowline installation, offshore umbilical installation and subsea construction and is capable of worldwide operations. Midnight Warrior is to be ABS-classed, Maltese Cross A1, Maltese Cross AMS, DP-2 Circle E for unlimited international service. The 15,000 hp vessel will be diesel electric, SCR, with three 3,000 hp azimuthing thrusters on the stern and two 2,000 hp tunnel thrusters in the bow. The U.S.

Giant oil companies are going to be the sole survivors in an increasingly competitive market, the chairman of Atlantic Richfield told stockholders Aug. 30 as they approved a takeover bid. Shareholders of Los Angeles-based ARCO, the seventh- largest U.S. oil company, agreed to a sale of the company to BP Amoco Plc, in a $29 billion stock swap that creates the largest private-sector oil producer in the world. Chairman and Chief Executive Mike Bowlin told a crowd of more than 400 shareholders, mostly retirees of ARCO, that tighter competition and volatile industry conditions spurred the proposed sale. "Two events in 1998 caused the board to reevaluate the future of the company and that was the consolidation of the market and crude oil prices at their lowest levels in...years," he said.

BP Amoco and Atlantic Richfield Co (ARCO) said they intend to take the next formal step towards closing the combination of the two companies. They accordingly propose to re-start the required 20-day notice, suspended on November 2, 1999, to the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The FTC has to date expressed concerns about the combination - concerns not shared by the companies. While the companies firmly believe the combination would enlarge, rather than adversely affect, competition, they have offered, but failed to get FTC acceptance for, a range of measures designed to meet the FTC's expressed concerns. BP Amoco and ARCO's proposed $26.8 billion combination was announced on April 1, 1999, with synergies and cost-savings estimated at $1 billion a year.

Following the decision of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to oppose the proposed combination of BP Amoco and ARCO, the two companies reaffirmed their intention to pursue the issue in court. The companies said in a joint statement: "We are surprised and disappointed the FTC has rejected all efforts for a positive resolution. We have consistently been open to improvement of our original proposal. We have addressed the concerns of the State of Alaska. We have been, and remain, willing to discuss any reasonable options that might lead to a negotiated settlement. The statement added: "Any suggestion there is a special West Coast market for Alaskan crude oil that functions independently of world crude prices is without foundation.