|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
BP boss warns U.S. on Iraqi oil
LONDON, England -- The head of BP, Europe's biggest company, has warned the United States not to hand Iraqi oil operations over to American companies after a possible war in the Gulf. John Browne says European companies should be given the same opportunities as their U.S. counterparts, such as ExxonMobil, to operate in Iraq if Saddam Hussein is removed as leader, The Guardian reported on Wednesday. "We have let it be known that the thing we would like to make sure, if Iraq changes regime, is that there should be a level playing field for the selection of oil companies to go in there if they're needed to do the work there," Browne, BP's chief executive, told the newspaper. Browne said BP should be allowed to operate in a post-Saddam Iraq because it was responsible for discovering much of the country's oil reserves before being thrown out in the 1970s. Browne's comments are likely to carry weight with the UK government because of BP's close ties to Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labour Party. But BP, which makes 80 percent of its profit from oil and gas production, has seen its profits come under pressure this year amid the worst refining slump in a decade. In the past year, it has been hit along with other major oil and gas companies -- such as rivals Exxon and Royal Dutch/Shell Group -- by falling prices as U.S. demand weakens. On Tuesday, BP cut its forecast for oil and gas production for the third time this year. It blamed tropical storms and other technical problems for reducing already weakened output. It lowered its growth projection for 2002 to 3 percent from its last projection of between 4.5 and 5.0 percent growth. The company also said third-quarter profit declined 13 percent to $2.29 billion from $2.65 billion a year earlier.
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||