Posted on 10/01/2006 7:14:02 PM PDT by neverdem
· BP and Shell face bids, says energy expert · New UN body may be needed to police markets
A former government adviser has warned it is "only a matter of time" before BP or Shell faces a bid from a Russian state-owned group such as Gazprom which could threaten western oil supplies.
Professor Peter Odell, an energy economist, says ExxonMobil is also vulnerable to a Chinese takeover as the large UK and American stock-listed oil groups lose their influence in global markets.
"A Chinese bid for Exxon and/or Chevron and/or a Russian bid for Shell and/or BP, backed by funds provided by the wealthy member countries of Opec seem likely to be only a matter of time.
"With the 'majors' gone there will be concern in the main OECD countries for the future security of supplies," he said in an unpublished speech to Opec ministers in Vienna last month.
Professor Odell, who was an adviser to Tony Benn, the UK energy minister in the late 1970s and has since worked for a host of different foreign governments, said he was not being alarmist or deliberately controversial. "Latest figures show the western oil majors are losing their leadership of the global oil system and now have only 9% or 10% of the world's reserves. They appear unable to win new production rights except as minority partners in state-run systems," Mr Odell says.
The Russian gas group Gazprom is keen to expand its sphere of influence outside its home country and told the Guardian earlier this year it would like to buy a British energy company.
The treatment by Russian officials of Shell at Sakhalin-2 and BP on the Siberian Kovykta field has also been interpreted as the Kremlin manoeuvring in the energy sector for political ends.
Alexander Ryazanov, chief executive...
(Excerpt) Read more at business.guardian.co.uk ...
I can't believe I'm reading these words. Is this some sort of joke? Do the morons at the Guardian really thing the world is that stupid? Hello! Oil-for-food, anyone?
Yeah, but this would be Oil for Money. And that would better. Because ... uh ... because there wouldn't be as much chance for corruption. Because France would be in charge. And Kofi Annan's son's role would be smaller this time.
Read "The Ezekiel Option"
Nope. This time, the UN wouldn't abuse its power.
It's right up there with the "Communism would have worked if only LeninMaoStalinOrtegaCastro hadn't gotten it wrong." The only difference is that the Guardian doesn't even take a defensive stance on the issue.
Put the UN in charge of something. That will fix it. Just ask the Rawandans. (The ones who survived.)
Well, this story appears in the Guardian, which is as leftist as you can get.
And the warning comes from "Professor Odell, who was an adviser to Tony Benn."
Anthony Wedgewood Benn was one of the kookiest kooks the British Labour Party ever produced.
Yes, I think there are threats out there against our control of oil supplies, but I don't give this story much credit.
This is hyperbole. The United States would protect it's sources of strategic resources irregardless of who owned what. We do need new sources, though. China and Russia still have to sell oil if they want to remain players. If they used this influence against the West, they would hurt themselves in the long run.
Bid to strike fear into oil speculators and drive the price back up artificially, thereby causing the price of gas in the U.S. to rise, thereby giving the Dems one of their bogus platforms back? Yeah, I know this is a UK paper, but they hate Bush, too.
Just a thought. Probably wrong, but just a thought.
BP, Shell and ExxonMobil are producers as well. They bring oil from the ground and bring it to refineries. In 2005 BP produced 4 million BPD. Shell produced 3.5 million BPD and ExxonMobil produced 2.5 million BPD. Together these three produced nearly twice the oil produced in the US.
Nearly 80% of ExxonMobil's reserves are not in the US. And their US reserves could be purchased by a foreign company, no differently than when BP bought ARCO's fields on the Alaskan North Slope.
Even more urgency to shift to oil and gas from coal, cellulosic ethanol and biodiesel - and tell the baboons where to go and what to do once there.
Lukoil
Not going to happen. The US will block any take over of Exxon,Chevron, or Texaco by russia or china. They blocked china from taking over the much smaller unocal which cheveron later took over. The US will not allow it.
The people who publish the Guardian are economic morons. Actually they are morons on everything. You can always count on them to publish lies, absurdity, and stupidity.
The US government did not block this. It was discussed but CNOOC Ltd withdrew their bid.
Ok. They were going to block it and will block others in the future.
It might be interesting to watch Exxon under Chinese management. My guess is that the stock would be bid up enormously and I'd make my profit. Then, the human capital would very soon flee the company, leaving them with a limping marketing arm, substantial reserves and no talent to discover more reserves.
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