January 1 British Petroleum Company and Amoco Corporation complete their $53 billion merger. Chicago-based Amoco is the United States' fifth-largest oil company with roughly 9,300 gasoline stations. London-based British Petroleum, the world's third largest oil company, sells its products through a network of about 17,900 stations. (DJ)

January 3 The Honduran government announces plans to sell off the state-owned electrical company and the country's four international airports in 1999. The National Electrical Energy Company, a 740-megawatt power supplier, could bring $500 million in the privatization sale. (DJ)

January 4 Iraq and Jordan renew an agreement that will provide Jordan with Iraqi crude oil and refined petroleum products. Jordan's 1998 imports of Iraqi crude oil and refined petroleum products, including fuel oil and diesel, were estimated to have averaged about 100,000 barrels per day. This figure is expected to increase by 5 to 7 percent in 1999. (DJ)

January 5 Azerbaijan's state oil company SOCAR reports that it just exceeded its oil production target for 1998, while registering a shortfall in planned natural gas output. According to SOCAR, oil output in 1998 was about 180,000 barrels per day. Gas output reached nearly 198 billion cubic feet, 21 billion cubic feet below the planned figure. (DJ)

January 6 Turkmenistan and Ukraine sign an agreement in Moscow that will allow the transit of about 705 billion cubic feet of Turkmen gas to Ukraine in 1999. (DJ)

January 7 Several of Kuwait's opposition legislators demand that any future oil contracts with foreign companies conform to the country's constitution. The legislators are not opposed to the recent proposals to allow foreign investment in the operational aspect of Kuwait's upstream oil sector, but they want to make sure there is no violation of Kuwait's constitution, which bans the foreign ownership of national resources. (DJ)

January 8 A new pipeline carrying crude oil from Azerbaijan's Caspian Sea fields across Georgia to the Black Sea port of Supsa begins operations. The new pipeline is expected to carry 50,000 barrels per day of oil in 1999 and marks another key development for the Caspian fields, which hold large reserves but have lacked an adequate pipeline system for exports. (DJ)

January 9 Russia's Khabarovsk regional administration grants Exxon Neftegaz Limited the rights to construct a natural gas pipeline from the Sakhalin region in Siberia through Khabarovsk and on to China, according to Russia's Itar-Tass news agency. (DJ)

January 11 Iraq rejects a proposal by Saudi Arabia to ease United Nations trade sanctions imposed on Iraq for its 1990 invasion of Kuwait. The initiative would recommend that Iraq be allowed to buy and sell all goods, except military equipment or materials that could be used for military purposes. (DJ)

January 11 The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) releases figures showing that the December 1998 average price for the reference basket of seven crude oils used by OPEC as a gauge of world oil prices was the second lowest since July 1986. The December average was $9.69 per barrel, down from $11.19 per barrel in November 1998, and just a few cents above the July 1986 record low of $9.04 per barrel. (DJ)

January 12 A coal mine explosion kills 16 workers and injures eight others, three seriously, in the northern province of Quang Ninh in Vietnam. Quang Ninh is Vietnam's main coal-producing area, yielding fuel both for domestic consumption and exports. Several deadly mine collapses have been reported in the province, mostly at private operations where support systems were poorly equipped. (DJ)

January 13 As many oil-producing countries try to cut excess global production, Iraq announces plans to raise its oil output to 3 million barrels per day from its current 2.5 million barrels per day, and then to 3.5 million barrels per day within two years. Faleh al-Khayat, the Iraqi Oil Ministry's Director-General of Planning, says that the increases are contingent upon receiving spare parts for the country's ailing oil industry, which has been under United Nations trade sanctions for more than eight years. (WT)

January 13 A British oil worker kidnaped by Yemeni tribesmen is released unharmed. John Brooke was kidnapped by armed men from the Daham tribe who were demanding the release of a tribe member arrested three months ago on a murder charge. Brooke was taken at an oilfield run by the American Halliburton oil company in the Marib province, 105 miles southeast of the Yemeni capital of Sanaa. (DJ)

January 14 Santa Fe Energy agrees to acquire Snyder Oil for about $450 million in stock in a deal combining the two mid-size independent oil companies into what would be called Santa Fe Snyder Corporation. The new company will have one-third of its oil and natural gas reserves overseas and two-thirds in the United States. Oil will represent about 60 percent of the total reserves. (DJ)

January 15 The United States proposes allowing Iraq to sell unlimited amounts of oil - but only if the proceeds go to buy food and other humanitarian supplies for the Iraqi people. The United Nations Security Council barred Iraq from freely exporting oil, its most valuable commodity, after its invasion of Kuwait in 1990. Concerned that sanctions were creating devastating hardships for Iraq's 22 million people, the Council agreed in 1995 to let Iraq sell limited amounts of oil to pay for humanitarian supplies. (USA)

January 18 More than 300 oil company officials attend a presentation by Brazilian petroleum regulators discussing the first oil and natural gas exploration blocks to be opened to foreign investors. Brazil is in the process of opening up to 92 percent of its sedimentary basins to companies other than Petrobras, the country's state-owned oil company. Twenty-seven blocks will be part of the first round of competitive bidding, which is to occur in 1999. (DJ)

January 20 The United Nations (U.N.) releases more than $81 million to Iraq to buy equipment to increase its supply of electricity. Iraq, which suffers frequent power shortages, as power plants fail and electrical demand rises, applied to buy the necessary generating equipment in 1998, when the oil-for-food program was expanded to allow Iraq to begin rebuilding its crumbling public services. U.N. trade sanctions and a more limited oil sales program had earlier prevented the Iraqis from replacing the old equipment. (NYT)

January 25 Jordan's King Hussein appoints his eldest son, Abdullah, as his future successor. Hussein, who is suffering from cancer, passed over his brother Hassan, who had been Crown Prince for more than three decades. Abdullah, 36, is a career army officer. (DJ)

January 25 Iranian President Mohammad Khatami approves a plan to restructure Iran's Oil Ministry. The plan focuses on decentralization of control by separating policy making from executive affairs, according to the official Islamic Republic News Agency. (DJ)

January 31 Rebels fighting to oust the President of the Republic of the Congo abduct seven European forestry workers and cut electricity to the country's major seaport, Pointe-Noire. (DJ)

January 31 According to U.S. officials, over the month of January, a series of almost daily U.S. missile air strikes on Iraq's air defenses has had a "grave impact" on President Saddam Hussein's ability to challenge allied enforcement of the no-fly zones over northern and southern Iraq. (DJ)

February 1 In southern Nigeria, a clash between Nigerian youths demanding work at a Shell oil terminal and Nigerian soldiers trying to break up the protest results in approximately 19 casualties. Shell temporarily shuts down the oil terminal as a result. The terminal handles more than 40 percent of Nigeria's crude oil exports. Protests against Shell were first reported in the early 1990s. Nigerians have demanded employment in oil industry projects and development projects in their villages, and also compensation for use of their land, oil spills and other environmental damage. The number of protests has increased in recent years due to greater awareness of and discontent with the unequal distribution of wealth in the oil-based economy. (DJ)

February 2 Arco Oriente Inc., a unit of U.S. Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO) in Ecuador, temporarily halts operations in the Pastaza province, after about 1,200 residents in the area seize the company's oil installation. After several hours, the residents are forced to leave the company's compound by the Ecuadorian Army. The residents seized the installation in an effort to disburse around $4 million to finish construction of a road linking the cities of Puyo and Banos in Pastaza. The remote eastern jungle region contains about 200 million barrels of oil reserves. (DJ)

February 3 A senior Iraqi oil minister says Iraq boosted its oil exports via its pipeline through Turkey by 107 percent in 1998. The pipeline links northern Iraqi oil fields like Kirkuk with the Turkish terminal of Ceyhan on the Mediterranean. Under the U.N.-approved "oil-for-food" program, which allows Iraq to sell up to $5.2 billion of oil every six months, Iraq must pump the largest portion of its exports through Turkey. (DJ)

February 4 Italy's ENI SpA and Russia's RAO Gazprom, the world's largest natural gas producer, agree to build a natural gas pipeline from Russia to Turkey at a cost of nearly $3 billion. Each project partner will hold a 50 percent stake in the project. The proposed pipeline, called the Blue Stream project, is expensive by industry standards partly because it would run at great depth under the waters of the Black Sea. (Asian WSJ)

February 7 Jordan's King Hussein dies at the age of 63 from non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Hussein, who served as served as King of Jordan since May 2, 1953, had only a few days earlier appointed his eldest son, Abdullah, as his successor. Abdullah, 36, is a career army officer. Although containing almost no oil or gas resources of its own, Jordan is important to world oil markets because of its strategic location bordering Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Israel and Syria. Jordan also is an important trading partner of Iraq. (DJ)

February 10 U.S. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson visits Saudi Arabia to discuss potential U.S. investment in the Kingdom's oil and gas sectors. Following his visit, Richardson says the Saudis are primarily interested in foreign investment in the natural gas sector and in the oil refining and marketing sectors, rather than in the upstream crude oil sector. Secretary Richardson's visit comes several months after a September 1998 meeting between several U.S. oil companies, Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah and Saudi Oil Minister Ali Naimi, in which Abdullah requested proposals from the companies on the development of Saudi oil reserves. (DJ), (USA), (WSJ)

February 11 Bangladesh and the United States sign three agreements aimed at helping Bangladesh reorganize its energy sector to avoid power shortages and to improve the extraction and sale of natural gas. The two sides will work together to assess Bangladesh's energy resources and to prepare a comprehensive energy policy. The United States and Bangladesh also will examine U.S. foreign investment options in Bangladesh's energy sector. (WP)

February 12 The U.S. government announces plans to purchase 28 million barrels of crude oil for placement in the federal Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). The government announcement is aimed at helping small U.S. oil companies, which have been hurt due to the low oil price environment since late 1997. (DJ), (USA)

February 15 Turkmenistan awards a $2.4 billion natural gas pipeline project to an American consortium including Amoco Corporation, and a new pipeline joint venture called PSG International, which is owned by affiliates of Bechtel Enterprises Inc. and General Electric Company's GE Capital Corporation. The consortium will construct a natural gas pipeline from fields in eastern Turkmenistan across the Caspian Sea through Azerbaijan and Georgia to the Erzurum in eastern Turkey. Issues the pipeline consortium will face include Turkmenistan's territorial dispute with Azerbaijan, and a determination by littoral states (those states touching the Caspian's shore) namely--Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Iran-- on whether the Caspian Sea is a sea or a lake. The outcome of these issues will impact conflicting territorial claims, including the ownership of oil fields and fishing rights. (WSJ)

February 18 Iraq announces that its section of a joint oil pipeline with Syria is almost ready. The pipeline links Iraqi oil fields located near the northern city of Kirkuk to Syria's Mediterrranean terminal at Banias. A spur off of the main pipeline leads to the Lebanese port at Tripoli. In August 1998, Iraq and Syria signed an agreement to reopen the pipeline, which has been closed for more than 16 years. The pipeline was originally designed to handle 1.4 million barrels per day, but Iraqi oil officials believe that a lack of storage capacity and pumps will enable Iraq to reach an initial export rate of only around 400,000 barrels per day. Under existing sanctions, Iraq needs to obtain special permission from the United Nations to export oil through Syria. (DJ)

February 22 Kuwait Petroleum Corporation confirms a new find of sweet (i.e. low sulfur) oil in the Kra al-Marow oilfield, located northwest of Kuwait City. According to KPC, preliminary results from the new field indicate a test production rate of 1,800 barrels per day. Kra al-Marow, according to KPC, could be as large as Burgan, Kuwait's largest oil field. (DJ)

February 22 Colombia's Cano Limon oil pipeline returns to normal operations after being shut down in a terrorist attack the previous week. The Cano Limon, with capacity to pump 175,000 barrels of oil per day, is a frequent target of leftist rebels who oppose foreign investment in the country's mineral resources. This marks the fourteenth such attack in 1999. (DJ)

February 28 Turkish officials report that a U.S. bombing attack on Iraq damages communications at an oil-pumping facility in northern Iraq. Crude oil flows are temporarily disrupted on the line, which runs from Kirkuk in Iraq to Ceyhan in Turkey. (DJ), (NYT)

March 4 Alliance Pipeline L.P., a consortium of Canadian and U.S. pipeline companies, starts construction of a high-pressure natural gas pipeline system that will stretch from northeastern British Columbia and northwestern Alberta across Saskatchewan to the Chicago area. The pipeline will be approximately 1,445 miles long, 42 inches in diameter, and have a natural gas capacity of 1.3 billion cubic feet per day. The pipeline is expected to begin service in the second half of 2000. The consortium includes affiliates of Coastal Corporation, Duke Energy, Enbridge, Fort Chicago Energy Partners L.P., Williams Companies, Unocal, and Westcoast Energy. (DJ)

March 6 Sheik Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, Emir of Bahrain since 1961, passes away unexpectedly, and his son, Sheik Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, is named as successor. Upon taking office, Sheikh Hamad pledges to follow his late father's pro-Western policies. Although Bahrain has minimal oil and natural gas reserves, it is strategically located in the heart of the Persian Gulf. (DJ)

March 6 U.S. Secretary of Defense William Cohen and Saudi Arabia's King Fahd meet and reiterate their countries' commitments to maintaining friendly relations. Saudi Arabia, with one-quarter of the world's proven oil reserves, is an important source of crude oil imports for the United States, supplying 1.4 million barrels per day, or nearly 16 percent, of U.S. crude oil imports in the first 10 months of 1998. Secretary Cohen also holds talks with Saudi officials regarding the continuing U.S.-Iraqi air battle in the no-fly zone over Iraq. (DJ)

March 10 Reliant Energy, a large international energy services company based in Houston, agrees to spend $2.4 billion over the next seven years to acquire approximately 60 percent of NV Energieproductiebedrijf UNA, one of the biggest power companies in the Netherlands. The transaction still must receive Dutch regulatory approval. The Netherlands, along with the rest of the European Community, is scheduled to begin opening up its electricity market to competition in 2007. The decision marks Reliant's first entry into the European electricity market. (WSJ)

March 15 Consortium members of Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG), including Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, Shell Gas BV, Elf Cleag Limited, and Agip International BV, confirm that a third liquefied natural gas (LNG) production train with a capacity of 2.9 million metric tons per year will be built, increasing NLNG's overall LNG processing capacity to 4.3 million metric tons per year. The third train is scheduled for completion by 2003, and more than 70 percent of the LNG already has been sold under a long-term (21-year) contract to Spanish gas supply company Enagas. NLNG's first two LNG trains are expected to come on line in the summer of 1999. (DJ)

March 16 El Paso Energy agrees to buy rival Sonat, for $3.9 billion in stock and $1.9 billion in assumed debt, creating the largest interstate natural gas pipeline company in the United States. The new company will be responsible for almost 25 percent of all natural gas transportation in the United States. (NYT), (WP)

March 17 DaimlerChrysler AG, the world's fifth largest automaker, and Ford Motor Company, the second largest, unveil plans to introduce hydrogen-fuel-cell cars to the mass market by 2004. Fuel-cell cars are run on electricity as a result of an electrochemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen. (WP)

March 20 After three years of negotiations, Enron Corporation, one of the world's largest energy companies, and the Qatari government cancel plans to build a $4 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility. Enron originally intended to ship about two million metric tons per year of Qatari LNG to India to fuel the Dabhol power plant and to sell the facility's remaining annual production to India and the Middle East. According to an Enron spokesman, the company has lined up other fuel suppliers for the Dabhol power plant, making the Qatar project less critical. Also, other suppliers have begun selling LNG in the Middle East and to India, making it more difficult for Enron to sell excess gas from the Qatar plant. (NYT)

March 23 In an effort to raise oil prices, which fell sharply in late 1997 and stayed low through 1998 and into early 1999, OPEC and non-OPEC countries agree to cut oil output by a combined 2.104 million barrels per day, effective April 1, 1999, for one year. OPEC members have pledged to cut 1.716 million barrels per day, while several non-OPEC countries have pledged total reductions of 388,000 barrels per day. During 1998, due mainly to low oil prices, OPEC crude oil export revenues fell 30 percent (to $100 billion) from the previous year. (DJ, NYT)

March 24 Scientists at the Atlantic Richfield Company (Arco) announce the development of a new transportation fuel that emits less pollution than regular diesel fuel. In preliminary testing, the new fuel, called EC Diesel, emitted 15 percent less particulates and 5 percent less nitrogen oxide without reducing fuel economy, according to Arco. Further testing of the new fuel is to take place in California during the month of April. Arco began testing the new fuel in anticipation of additional regulatory policies in California requiring further reduction in fuel emissions. (LAT), (NYT)

March 31 Arco agrees to be acquired by BP Amoco PLC for $26.6 billion in stock. If approved, the merger will create the largest oil producer in the United States and one of the largest energy companies in the world. The deal marks the fourth largest oil company merger since the onset of low oil prices in late 1997. (DJ), (WSJ)

April 1 Chile begins rationing its electricity across most of the country due to a severe drought in 1998 that nearly dried up reservoirs at several hydroelectric dams. Santiago, the Chilean capital, key copper mining zones in the northern part of the country, and parts of the central region of the country,have so far been spared cuts in electricity. (WP, NYT)

April 3 The Iraqi port of Mina al-Bakr, export terminal for roughly half of all Iraqi oil exports under the United Nations oil-for-food program, is reopened, following allied air strikes on Basra, in southern Iraq, the previous day. The attacks struck a communications facility and a radio relay station, which is used, in part, as one of three relay stations controlling the flow of crude oil from Iraq's southern oil fields to the port of Mina al-Bakr. (DJ)

April 5 Following the arrival in the Netherlands of two Libyan suspects in the 1988 bombing of Pan American Flight 103 that killed 270 people, United Nations sanctions against Libya are suspended. The sanctions, imposed on March 31, 1992, initially included a ban on the sale of equipment for refining and transporting oil, but excluded oil production equipment. Sanctions were then expanded on November 11, 1993, to include a freeze on Libya's overseas assets, excluding revenue from oil, natural gas, or agricultural products. (DJ)

April 9 Saga Petroleum SA, a Norwegian company, announces that its oil interests in Angola are up for sale. A Saga spokesman said that the company will concentrate on developing low-cost oil reserves in Libya and possibly Iran, as opposed to more expensive deepwater acreage off Angola. (DJ)

April 12 The U.S. Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations, Peter Burleigh, becomes the first U.S. official to publicly reject a proposal that would allow direct foreign investment in Iraq's oil sector. The proposal was an attempt to allow Iraq to generate oil revenues closer to the target of $5.26 billion every 180 days under the United Nations oil-for-food program. So far, Iraq has not come close to the target ceiling since it was raised last year. However, Burleigh says that, if recent oil price increases of $5 to $6 per barrel are sustained, Iraq could "get to the $5.2 billion level for 6 months" by the end of the year. This would eliminate the need to enact "deep structural" changes in the oil-for-food program, according to Burleigh. (DJ)

April 15 A consortium of British Gas and Royal Dutch/Shell bought a controlling 53 percent stake in Cia. De Gas de Sao Paulo (Comgas), Brazil's largest natural gas distributor, for $1 billion, more than double the Brazilian government's minimum asking price. The British Gas - Royal Dutch/Shell consortium beat out a rival bid from a consortium led by Enron Corporation and Italy's Agip. The privatization of Comgas is the first state asset sale since Brazil devalued its currency in January. (WSJ)

April 15 The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announces that it will begin taking oil deliveries within the next few days under its plan to add 28 million barrels of oil to the U.S. Government's Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) from federal oil royalty payments. In Phase 1 of the plan, the SPR is expected to acquire about 43,000 barrels per day over the next 3 months from oil companies operating in the Gulf of Mexico. Although about 50 percent of the oil supplied in Phase 1 will be imported, domestic producers would still benefit from the entire acquisition since the oil market is international and fungible, according to a DOE official. Under Phase 2 of the program, the DOE expects to acquire about 100,000 barrels per day of royalty oil over a 6-month period. (DJ)

April 17 An oil pipeline that transports oil from Baku, Azerbaijan, to Suspa, Georgia, is officially opened. This is the second pipeline dedicated to exporting Caspian Sea oil, but the first built since the Soviet Union disbanded in 1991. The other Caspian Sea oil pipeline, which runs through the Russian breakaway republic of Chechnya to the Russian port of Novorossisk, is often shut down. The new pipeline to Georgia has a capacity of 100,000 barrels per day. (DJ)

April 20 The European Union follows the United Nations in suspending sanctions against Libya that prevented the supply of certain oil export and aviation-related goods and services (see April 5 item above). (DJ)

April 23 The United Nations temporarily waives the requirement under the Iraq oil-for-food program that more than half of Iraqi oil exports must go through the pipeline to Turkey. As Iraq's oil production has increased, capacity through the Iraq/Turkey pipeline has not kept pace. Designed to handle up to 1.1 million barrels per day, the pipeline's capacity is now only about 900,000 barrels per day due to needed repair work. It is currently unclear as to when repair work on the second Iraqi oil pipeline into Turkey might allow it to become operational. So far, only about 45 percent of Iraqi oil exports are going through the pipeline into Turkey. (DJ)

April 24 The chief executive officer of Total, a major French oil company, meets with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia to discuss the possibility of future oil investments in Saudi Arabia. This follows separate meetings between either the Crown Prince or the Saudi Arabian oil minister with the chief executives of Exxon, Mobil, Marathon, and Conoco earlier in the month. All of these meetings are a result of an invitation last September by the Crown Prince for oil executives to submit proposals on areas of investment in the Saudi oil and natural gas sectors. However, Saudi Arabia has stated that it is mainly interested in downstream oil and gas joint ventures, ruling out upstream oil development at this time, since Saudi Arabia feels it is self-sufficient in this aspect of the industry. (DJ)

April 24 The Kuwaiti oil minster announces that within the next 2 months, Kuwait is expecting to invite foreign oil companies to submit proposals for developing its northern oil fields. This would mark the first opening of the upstream sector in Kuwait since its oil industry was nationalized in the 1960s. However, the Kuwaiti oil minister made it clear that any foreign participation would be carried out in accordance with Kuwait's constitution, which bars foreign ownership of Kuwaiti natural resources. Total reserves of the fields being opened for development amount to 16 billion barrels. Kuwait hopes to increase production capacity from these fields to 1.3 million barrels per day from the current level of 590,000 barrels per day. (DJ)

April 26 The European Union passes a ban of fuel shipments from its member countries to Yugoslavia as a means of putting economic pressure on Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. The ban on shipments of crude oil and refined petroleum products is to begin on May 1. It does not include a blockade on shipments from non-European Union members, an issue that is under study by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. (DJ)

April 27 Azerbaijan's state-owned oil company Socar, signs 3 oil and natural gas production sharing agreements totaling an estimated $10 billion with Exxon, Mobil, and privately-held Moncrief Oil International. Exxon's agreement with Socar to develop the offshore Zafar/Mashal exploration block will amount to a total investment of $5 billion. Mobil's agreement to develop an offshore exploration block containing the Savalan, Dalga, Lerik-Deniz, and Janub prospects is worth about $4.5 billion. The agreement between Socar and Texas-based Moncrief is for an onshore block in the Lower Kura River Valley and accounts for the remainder of the investment. (DJ)

April 28 The U.S. Department of Treasury's Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC), notifies Mobil that it has turned down Mobil's request for a license to swap crude oil it produces in Turkmenistan in exchange for Iranian oil. Mobil had hoped to be allowed to ship oil produced in Turkmenistan to northern Iranian oil refineries, while Iran, in turn, would provide Iranian oil from Iran's Persian Gulf export terminals to Mobil for shipment to global markets as payment. OFAC is responsible for enforcing U.S. unilateral sanctions against foreign countries. As a result of OFAC's denial of a swap arrangement with Iran, Mobil will have to continue exporting its Turkmenistan oil production across the Caspian Sea by barge to Azerbaijan, where it is then carried by rail or pipeline to Black Sea ports. (DJ, WP)

April 29 Spain's Repsol announces a bid to acquire the 85.01 percent of Argentina's YPF that it does not already own. If the deal goes through, it would create the world's eighth largest energy group, with annual revenues of more than $26 billion. Repsol is offering a 25.4 percent premium over YPF's closing price, which would amount to about $13.44 billion if all of YPF's shareholders take the offer. Repsol said the deal would only go through if it could obtain at least a controlling share (more than 50 percent) of the company. In January, Repsol paid the Argentine government $2.01 billion for a 14.99 percent share of YPF. Repsol is prepared to pay in cash, a requirement under YPF's company statutes for any buyer of 15 percent of more of YPF. (DJ)

April 30 Under new rules instituted by Ecuador's government, state-run Petroecuador will be allowed to have private partners, either foreign or domestic, in order to increase oil production. The rules state that the partnership contracts will have 20-year terms and be awarded to the companies or consortiums that offer the most participation for Petroecuador. As a result of the new rules, Ecuador is expecting investments of between $1 billion and $2 billion over the next four years. (DJ)

May 1 A European Union (EU) ban on oil shipments to Yugoslavia takes effect in an effort to deny Yugoslav forces access to fuel. The ban calls on EU member nations to cease shipping oil to Yugoslavia. In addition, U.S. President Clinton signs an executive order imposing a U.S. embargo on trade with Serbia, that exempts the Yugoslav republic of Montenegro. A broader blockade of Yugoslavia by NATO is still being discussed. (DJ)

May 1 U.S. President Clinton unveils a plan to apply the same standard for tailpipe emissions to cars, light-duty trucks, and most sport utility vehicles (SUVs). Based on current nitrogen oxides (NO_x) emission levels, the proposed plan would result in a 77 percent reduction for cars and a 95 percent reduction for light-duty trucks and SUVs. The new standards would be phased in from the 2004 to 2007 model years. At the same time, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposes a rule that would require refiners to reduce gasoline sulfur content from a current average of nearly 330 parts per million (ppm) to 30 ppm. The new sulfur standard is being proposed in conjunction with the new tailpipe emission proposal since sulfur impedes catalytic converter efficiency, thus making it more difficult to reduce tailpipe emissions without reducing sulfur content in gasoline. Oil industry representatives have vowed to protest the proposed rule, claiming that it will cost refiners $3 billion to $6 billion. The EPA estimates that the cost of compliance for both the automobile and oil industries will be between $3.4 billion and $4.4 billion. (DJ)

May 4 Japan signs a contract to lend $1 billion to the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO), which is building two light-water nuclear reactors in North Korea as part of a 1994 agreement between the United States and North Korea. The money was delayed for several months as Japan was considering whether to continue funding some of the project after North Korea fired a missile through Japanese air space in 1998. (WP)

May 5 General Abdulsalami Abubakar, Nigeria's current leader, signs a new constitution designed to ensure a smooth transition from military rule to civilian rule when President-elect Olusegun Obasanjo assumes office on May 29. Dow Jones reported that General Abubakar hinted that the constitution would encourage decentralization of the federal government. Nigeria has been governed by the military for all but 10 of the nearly 40 years since it became independent. (DJ)

May 6 South Korea's Ministry of Commerce, Industry, and Energy reports that the country's energy consumption in the first quarter of 1999 rose by 11.4 percent compared to the same period in 1998. Oil consumption rose 11.5 percent over the same period, averaging 2.17 million barrels per day. The Ministry reported that the increase in oil consumption was a result of improving consumer confidence in the South Korean economy. (DJ)

May 9 Elf Aquitaine, a major French oil company, submits a proposal to the Saudi Arabian government to set up a new natural gas and electricity project worth over $1 billion. Elf is proposing to develop a natural gas field in central Saudi Arabia, and then to use the gas to fuel a new 1,500-megawatt electric power plant to be located near the gas field. This is the first firm proposal submitted to the Saudi Arabian government since Saudi Crown Price Abdullah's recent invitation to major energy companies to invest in Saudi Arabia's oil and gas sectors. (DJ)

May 10 The Board of Argentine oil company YPF unanimously approved a $13.4 billion offer from Repsol, a Spanish company. Repsol, which already owns 14.99 percent of YPF, made an all cash offer to purchase the remaining 85.01 percent last month. The Board recommended to all shareholders to accept the Repsol offer. Two Argentine provinces, which own about five percent of YPF's shares, remain concerned about Repsol's intentions for their regions. (WSJ)

May 10 Norsk Hydro, one of Norway's state-owned oil companies, offers to buy out privately-owned Norwegian oil and gas exploration company Saga Petroleum for more than $2.2 billion. Saga's board of directors will consider the offer before making a recommendation to their shareholders. (WSJ, DJ)

May 11 The Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) votes to be "an interested party" to a petition before the U.S. International Trade Commission to investigate "dumping" of crude oil into the United States by Mexico, Venezuela, Iraq, and Kuwait. By being an "interested party", the IPAA will be able to file briefs in the case, without being the initiator of the petition, according to IPAA vice chairman Jerry Jordan. The petition will be filed on May 28 by a group called "Save Domestic Oil", which is led by Oklahoma Basic Energy Corporation and Continental Resources, another Oklahoma-based company. (USA, DJ)

May 12 The Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) begins construction of a 981-mile pipeline that will carry crude oil from the Caspian Sea to the Russian port of Novorossisk for export to foreign markets. The pipeline's planned capacity is about 1.3 million barrels per day, and the CPC is expecting to load the first tanker in mid-2001. (DJ)

May 13 Saudi Arabia notifies U.S. crude oil customers that state oil company Saudi Aramco will cut term-contracted volumes of crude delivered to them in June by 20 percent to 25 percent. Saudi Aramco had earlier notified European crude oil customers of cuts in volume averaging 35 percent, with cuts for Asian customers averaging 17 percent. (DJ)

May 13 The U.S. special envoy for Caspian Sea energy issues, Ambassador Richard Morningstar, delivers a U.S. proposal to President Niyazov of Turkmenistan on the sharing of Caspian energy resources between Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan. The proposal was developed by a panel of U.S. advisors to the Turkmen-Azerbaijani commission on determining the sea boundary delineation between the two states. The same proposal was delivered to the government of Azerbaijan on May 12. Contents of the U.S. proposal are not made public. (DJ)

May 17 The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) states that it will not change its "Tier Two Plan" to cut gasoline sulfur content and tailpipe emissions, in response to a recent appellate court ruling that the EPA had overstepped its mandate in implementing some provisions of the Clean Air Act. Beginning in 2004, the Tier Two Plan would require refiners to cut gasoline sulfur content to an average of 30 parts per million, down more than 90 percent from the current national average. (DJ)

May 18 Acting Russian Fuel and Energy Minister Sergei Generalov states that Russia plans to maintain cuts in oil exports made in the first quarter of 1999 in support of efforts by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to raise oil prices. Russia had cut exports by 100,000 barrels per day. (DJ)

May 18 Ecuador's Energy Minister, Rene Ortiz, announces plans to privatize all of Ecuador's downstream operations, including the sale of four refineries. State oil company Petroecuador currently operates the refineries. (DJ)

May 20 China announces it is speeding up plans for the construction of a crude oil pipeline linking oil deposits in Kazakhstan to refineries in north and central China. The pipeline is now planned for completion in 2007. China National Petroleum Corporation has a stake in Kazakhstan's Uzen oilfield near the Caspian Sea. (DJ)

May 21 The United Nations Security Council, in a unanimous vote, extends the "oil-for-food" program, under which Iraqi oil sales finance imports of food and medicine, for another six-month period. The resolution renews the program under its current terms, but promises a review of the program's $5.26 billion cap on exports if Iraq reaches the ceiling. (DJ)

May 21 Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez states that a sharp increase in oil prices is not desirable. "If the price of a Venezuelan oil basket hovers around $13 to $14 per barrel, I will be happy," Chavez says. (DJ)

May 24 Iraqi oil officials state that, despite a lack of spare parts, Iraq is capable of boosting output from its northern oil fields to 1.2 million barrels per day during the proposed sixth phase of the "oil-for-food" deal with the United Nations, from around 0.8 million barrels per day in the fifth phase. (DJ)

May 25 Russian Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin signs a government decree doubling the tariff on oil exports to 5 euros (EUR) per metric ton. Earlier this year, the Russian government set out a schedule of tariffs based on export prices for Russian oil. The EUR 5 per ton tariff takes effect when the price of Russian oil rises above $12 a barrel. (DJ)

May 27 Exxon and Mobil shareholders approve an $81.2 billion merger, in which Exxon will issue 1.32 shares for each share of Mobil's approximately 780.2 million shares outstanding. The merger still must receive regulatory approval from the U.S. government and the European Union. The chairmen of both companies state that they expect regulatory approvals to be obtained by the end of the third quarter of 1999. (DJ)

June 1 Sudan starts pumping oil through its pipeline linking the Heglig oil field in Western Kordofan province to Port Sudan on the Red Sea. The pipeline has a capacity of 250,000 barrels per day, and was financed by a consortium of Chinese, Malaysian, Canadian, and Sudanese firms. (DJ)

June 2 Texaco terminates negotiations on the potential acquisition of the company by Chevron. Texaco states that Chevron's final proposal is "unacceptable" for reasons of complexity, feasibility, risk, and price. The talks had taken place as part of an overall trend toward consolidation among the major oil companies. (WSJ)

June 6 China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) announces plans to lay off 75,000 workers at five of its major refineries in northern China, reducing employment by 30 percent overall and 50 percent among managerial and administrative staff. The layoffs are part of CNPC's plan to make the refineries profitable by the end of 1999. (DJ)

June 7 Indonesia holds its first-ever free elections. While there were minor irregularities, foreign election observers considered the elections generally free and fair. Forty-eight parties fielded candidates for the Parliament. Early returns show that no party will have a majority, so a coalition government will have to be formed. (DJ)

June 9 A team of United Nations experts visits Iraq for talks with Iraqi Oil Ministry officials on purchases of equipment and supplies to repair Iraq's oil infrastructure. Iraq is allowed to spend up to $300 million on oil infrastructure repairs under the "oil-for-food" program's current six- month cycle. (DJ)

June 10 BP Amoco announces its intention to sell several of its Canadian oilfields, accounting for about 30 percent of the company's overall production in Canada. The sales are to be completed in the third and fourth quarters of 1999, and resulted from a strategic review by the company of its properties worldwide to prioritize the demand for investment capital. (DJ)

June 12 Security forces in Chechnya, a breakaway province of Russia, take control of the main oil pipeline from Baku, Azerbaijan, to the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. The action follows attacks on the pipeline by renegade Chechen fighters. (DJ)

June 14 The main Venezuelan oil workers union, Fedepetrol, states that it will not strike in the immediate future, as talks continue with Petroleos de Venezuela on its demands for wage increases. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez had intervened in the negotiations, offering merit- based raises of between 3 percent and 6 percent to workers. (DJ)

June 16 Brazil begins a two-day auction of 27 oil exploration blocks. The auction effectively ends the monopoly of the state-owned oil firm Petrobras over exploration and production in Brazil. Most of the blocks offered are deepwater offshore blocks, for which Brazil needs to raise foreign capital to speed development. (WSJ)

June 18 Texaco shuts down six oil platforms off the coast of Nigeria, cutting off a total of 50,000 barrels per day of production. Two of the platforms had been boarded by protesters in boats. Shell also is experiencing disruptions in Nigeria as a result of widespread civil unrest in the Niger Delta region. (DJ)

June 24 Spain's Repsol announces the success of its buyout offer for YPF of Argentina. Repsol paid $13.5 billion for the outstanding 85 percent of YPF shares. (DJ)

June 24 Citing a lack of funds, the Jordanian government announces that it has shelved plans for construction of an oil pipeline from Iraq to Jordan. Jordan currently relies on a fleet of trucks to transport approximately 90,000 barrels per day of crude oil and refined petroleum products from Iraq. (DJ)

June 25 The Yugoslav state-run petroleum company states that it can't provide enough petroleum products to satisfy demand due to unrepaired damage from NATO air strikes. Direct losses from the air campaign are estimated at $1.1 billion, mostly damage to refinery and storage facilities at Novi Sad and Pancevo.

June 26 Petroleum Development Oman, Limited announces the discovery of new oil deposits in commercial quantities in southern Oman. The new find is described as the most significant find in Oman in the last five years. (DJ)

June 28 Russian oil firm Transneft announces that it will begin moving crude oil from Baku in Azerbaijan to the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk by rail, temporarily bypassing the troubled pipeline through the breakaway province of Chechnya. (DJ)

June 29 Brazil's Petrobras and Venezuela's Petroleos de Venezuela sign a letter of intent on forging a strategic alliance between the two firms. The agreement's stated aim is to be "the starting point to establish the economic viability of a joint company, which will be called Petroamerica." (DJ)

June 30 The Independent Petroleum Association of America issued a statement declaring its intention to join as an "interested party" in the anti-dumping complaint filed by Save Domestic Oil, Incorporated. The complaint accuses Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Mexico, and Venezuela of dumping cheap oil on the U.S. market from the second quarter of 1998 through the first quarter of 1999. (DJ)

July 3 The Gulf Cooperation Council decides, at a meeting of foreign ministers, to establish a joint panel to represent the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in its territorial dispute with Iran over the islands of Abu Musa and the Tunbs. The move comes in response to tensions between Saudi Arabia and the UAE over Saudi Arabia's improving ties with Iran. (DJ)

July 5 The Franco-Belgian oil company Total Fina makes a hostile takeover bid for the French oil firm Elf Aquitaine. Elf Aquitaine shareholders are offered a 4-for-3 swap of Elf Aquitaine shares for Total Fina shares, for a total value of $43 billion. While Elf Aquitaine was privatized in 1994, the deal would still require the approval of the French government, which retains a "golden share" in Elf Aquitaine permitting it to block a takeover. (DJ, NYT, WP)

July 6 Ehud Barak is sworn in as Prime Minister of Israel after a vote in the Knesset approving his government. Barak has promised to accelerate peace negotiations with Syria, Lebanon, and the Palestinians, which are considered a key factor in promoting stability in the Middle East. (DJ)

July 7 The United Kingdom restores full diplomatic relations with Libya. Ties were severed between the two governments in 1984, after the killing of a British policewoman by a shot fired from the Libyan embassy. Meanwhile, the United States again restates its opposition to the immediate permanent lifting of United Nations sanctions against Libya. The air travel and arms embargoes were suspended on April 5, 1999, after Libya handed over two suspects in the 1989 Lockerbie bombing for trial in the Netherlands. (DJ)

July 7 Phillips Petroleum announces the discovery of oil and gas in its Bohai Bay block 11/05 off the coast of southern China. The company intends to drill five more test wells in the near future, in addition to the two initial wells, which are capable of producing 3,000 to 5,000 barrels per day of crude oil. Phillips expects the drilling costs to be low, as water and reservoir depths are shallow. Analysts have estimated the reserves at 150 million barrels, but see it as a more significant development, as it may suggest that other, larger oil-bearing structures exist under the Bohai Bay. The China National Offshore Oil Company holds an option to buy a 51 percent interest in any development of the field. (D J)

July 7 The Nigerian government announces the cancellation of 16 crude oil prospecting licenses, following an investigation by a panel probing awards of contracts by the previous military government. The canceled licenses were held by Nigerian firms, although some of the firms had foreign technical partners. Earlier in July, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation had revoked contracts previously awarded to foreign firms for crude oil lifting and refinery maintenance. The cancellations are effective in September 1999, at which time the government will conduct a review of the contracts. (DJ)

July 9 Shell declares force majeure on all outstanding loadings of Bonny Light and Forcados crude oil from its facilities in Nigeria. The statement cites disruptions due to civil unrest by local residents demanding that the Niger Delta region receive a greater share of Nigeria's oil proceeds. (DJ)

July 9 The United Nations Security Council issues a statement on Libya's handover of the two suspects wanted in the 1989 bombing of a Pan Am airliner over Lockerbie, Scotland, welcoming "significant progress" in Libyan compliance with earlier resolutions, but calling on Libya to "implement further" the remaining provisions of the resolutions dealing with compensation for the victims' families and cooperation with court proceedings in The Hague. The statement is issued after a resolution proposed by Namibia to lift the air travel and arms embargoes permanently was dropped under the threat of a United States veto. United Nations sanctions were suspended shortly after Libya handed over the two suspects. (DJ)

July 11 Iran nominates its member of OPEC's Board of Governors, Hossein Ardebili, for the position of OPEC Secretary General. Ardebili ran unsuccessfully for Secretary General in 1994. Iran also states its support for the holding of an OPEC summit meeting in Caracas in 2000. (DJ)

July 12 The United Nations Compensation Commission, charged with assessing Iraq's liability for damages resulting from the August 1990 invasion of Kuwait, issues a judgement of liability for $2.8 billion dollars to oil companies and oilfield service providers whose operations were disrupted. The largest share, $2.2 billion, is to go to the Kuwaiti Oil Company. American firms which are owed payments include Saudi Arabian Texaco, a subsidiary of Texaco, National-Oilwell, OGE Drilling Company, and the Halliburton Company. (DJ)

July 12 BP Amoco reports a major natural gas find at Shah Deniz in Caspian Sea waters off Azerbaijan. The find could complicate plans to export natural gas from Turkmenistan to Turkey and Europe, if sufficient reserves are available without the expense of building an undersea pipeline across the Caspian. (DJ, WSJ)

July 12 President Mohammad Khatami of Iran calls for an end to student demonstrations in Tehran, which have entered their sixth day amid increasing violence. Reformist elements in Iran fear that the demonstrations will be used by hard liners to derail reform. (WSJ)

July 13 Schlumberger announces that it has agreed to spin off its offshore drilling operation, Sedco Forex, and merge it with Transocean Offshore, in a deal which will create the world's largest offshore drilling company. The merged company will be called Transocean Sedco Forex. Both companies said the spinoff was in response to the increasing costs and technological demands of offshore drilling, which is taking place in deeper waters than in previous years. (NYT)

July 15 BP Amoco and Mobil announce the discovery of new crude oil reserves of approximately one billion barrels at the Crazy Horse deepwater field south of Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico. BP Amoco is the operator, and holds 75 percent equity, with the remaining 25 percent held by Mobil.(DJ)

July 15 Over 300 independent operators of Shell gas stations in Texas file suit against Shell Oil Company, accusing the firm along with refining companies Motiva Enterprises and Equilon Enterprises of using their dominant position in the marketplace to prevent independent operators from making a profit. According to the independent operators, Shell engaged in price discrimination, charging independent operators more than is charged to company-owned stations. A similar, but much smaller, lawsuit in Michigan resulted in a $2.4 million judgement against Sun Oil Company in favor of two independent dealers in December 1998. (DJ)

July 16 BP Amoco announces that it intends to sell some $10 billion worth of assets and spend as much as $26 billion as part of a broad three-year initiative to finish the integration of British Petroleum and Amoco. Included in the sales will be $3 billion worth of refining assets, with the Alliance Refinery in Louisiana the first to be sold. (WSJ, NYT)

July 18 Elf Aquitaine launches a takeover bid for Total Fina, offering 190 euros (the European Union common currency) and three shares of Elf Aquitaine for every five shares of Total Fina. The offer follows by two weeks a hostile takeover bid for Elf Aquitaine by Total Fina, which is awaiting approval by French securities regulators. (DJ)

July 23 Russia raises the export duty on crude oil by 5 euros per ton. The action comes amid a rash of petroleum product shortages in various regions of Russia, due largely to the rise in world crude oil prices, which makes it more lucrative for Russian oil companies to export their crude oil rather than refine and distribute petroleum products in Russia. (DJ)

July 27 An advisory panel of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) releases a report urging a substantial reduction in the use of methyl-tertiary-butyl-ether (MTBE) as an air-pollution fighting fuel additive, due to concerns about pollution of groundwater by MTBE. MTBE is the major oxygenate which refiners began adding to gasoline as lead-based additives were phased out in the 1970's. (WSJ)

July 26 Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez' "Patriotic Pole" coalition sweeps elections for the new constitutional assembly, giving coalition members 119 of the 128 seats contested. The assembly is scheduled to convene in August 1999, and will have six months in which to draft a new constitution. (DJ)

July 28 Italy's ENI announces that it has reached final agreements to invest $5.5 billion in oil and gas development in Libya. The projects to be funded will include a 372-mile pipeline which will carry Libyan natural gas to consumers in Sicily. (WSJ)

August 4 The Russian Fuel and Energy Ministry orders Russian oil companies to sell all of their gasoline on the domestic market for the month of August 1999, due to domestic shortages. Russian refiners are also required to supply at least 70 percent of their diesel and fuel oil output to domestic customers during August. (DJ)

August 4 Mexico and Venezuela ratify the San Jose oil agreement, which provides for sales of crude oil to 11 Central American and Caribbean countries at discounted prices. When market prices for crude oil are below $15 per barrel, recipient states pay the market price. If prices rise above $15 per barrel, the excess is rebated to the beneficiaries as credits for imports of other products from the two oil-producing states. (DJ)

August 5 Canadian Natural Resources and Penn West Petroleum make agreements for the purchase of British Petroleum-Amoco (BP Amoco) oil and gas production assets in Canada. Canadian Natural Resources will acquire the Bonnyville, Wabasca, and Nipisi properties for $1.06 billion, while Penn West Petroleum will acquire the Drayton Valley and Hoosier fields for $540 million. (DJ, WSJ)

August 6 The New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) makes an offer for the purchase of up to 70 percent of London's International Petroleum Exchange (IPE). A similar offer from a group of energy companies failed to win the required 75 percent approval of IPE's members last month. (DJ)

August 9 The United States Department of Commerce dismisses a petition filed by Save Domestic Oil, Inc. under anti-dumping statutes. The petition alleged that Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Mexico, and Iraq had sold crude oil to the United States at artificially low prices. The decision was based on the Department of Commerce's determination that "opposition to the petitions exceeded support." Majority support is defined as petitioner representation of at least 25 percent of the domestic industry and support from at least 50 percent of the industry expressing an opinion. Support from a majority in the affected industry is necessary under the law for Commerce to commence a formal investigation of an anti-dumping complaint. (DJ, WP, NYT)

August 10 British Petroleum-Amoco (BP Amoco) announces that it will have laid off 14,500 employees by the end of 1999 as part of its drive to cut costs. BP Amoco expects merger-related cost savings of $4 billion by 2001. (DJ)

August 11 Chevron and Royal Dutch Shell sign an agreement with Benin, Togo, Ghana, and Nigeria to develop the West Africa Gas Pipeline. The $400 million project is scheduled for completion in 2002. (WSJ)

August 13 Texaco announces that it has shut in 50,000 barrels per day of production in Nigeria in response to civil unrest in the Niger Delta, which has prevented the company from delivering supplies to five of its offshore platforms. (DJ)

August 13 The board of directors of Norway's state-owned oil firm Statoil formally recommends to the Oil Ministry that the firm be partially privatized. (DJ)

August 16 United States Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson holds talks with Turkish President Suleiman Demirel on proposed oil and gas pipelines which would cross Turkish territory and terminate at the Turkish port of Ceyhan. (DJ)

August 17 A major earthquake hits northwest Turkey, with its epicenter near the state-owned Tupras refinery. The resulting fire at the refinery causes damage which is expected to keep the 252,000-barrel-per-day facility idle for approximately 4 months. (DJ)

August 18 Venezuela's Supreme Court rules in favor of several foreign oil companies in a longstanding dispute. At issue was the constitutionality of contract clauses involving exemptions from local taxes, arbitration of disputes, and subcontracting exploration projects. The clauses were challenged on constitutional grounds by current oil minister Ali Rodriguez, when he was serving as a senator in 1995, following the decision of a previous government to open Venezuela's oil sector to foreign investment. (DJ)

August 18 French securities regulators extend the closing date for Elf Aquitaine's hostile takeover bid for TotalFina, in response to delays as a result of litigation over the regulators' earlier approval of the Elf Aquitaine offer. Elf Aquitaine and TotalFina are both currently engaged in competing hostile takeover bids for each other. (DJ)

August 19 United States Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson visits Turkmenistan for talks on a proposed pipeline to carry Turkmen gas across the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan, and Georgia to Turkey. (DJ)

August 20 Indonesia's Minister of Mines and Energy, Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, announces that Indonesia's state oil firm, Pertamina, will have two years to restructure itself into an independent company. For five years afterward, Pertamina will have exclusive rights to production in certain designated zones. The change in policy is expected to open the Indonesian oil sector to increased competition. Pertamina has been shaken by a recent audit report from Price Waterhouse that found the company lost $6.1 billion between 1996 and 1998 due to poor management practices. (DJ)

August 23 Alaska Governor Tony Knowles gives a speech outlining the State of Alaska's terms for approving the proposed merger between British Petroleum-Amoco (BP Amoco) and Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO), stressing that continued competition should be a priority. Governor Knowles' administration has been concerned that the merger will have a negative effect on the State's economy. The two companies combined account for 72 percent of Alaska's oil revenue. (DJ)

August 24 Negotiators for the governments of Turkey and Azerbaijan begin two days of meetings in Washington on financing for the proposed oil export pipeline from Baku in Azerbaijan to Ceyhan on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey. The two delegations were to meet with the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the Export-Import Bank (Eximbank), and the World Bank. (DJ)

August 27 The Russian oil ministry announces that the export duty for crude oil will be doubled, effective October 1, 1999, to 10 Euros (EUR) per metric ton. The move follows a shortage of petroleum products on the domestic Russian market. (DJ)

August 28 Oil ministers from Mexico, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela announce in a joint statement that they will continue to adhere to the oil production cuts which were agreed to in March 1999, and which are scheduled to remain in effect through March 2000. (DJ)

August 31 Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez names Hector Ciavaldini as the new president of the state-owned oil monopoly, Petroleos de Venezuela. Ciavaldini replaces Roberto Mandini, who abruptly resigned the previous day. Mandini's resignation reportedly came as a result of policy disagreements with the Chavez administration, which has reversed the previous government's policy of investing in increased oil production capacity in order to secure greater market share. (DJ)

September 1 China National Petroleum Corporation announces plans to inaugurate a holding company, which will seek to have its shares listed on the New York Stock Exchange. An initial public offering of its stock is expected to attract $10 billion. (DJ)

September 7 Indonesia's minister of energy and mines Kuntoro Mangkusubroto states that Indonesia intends to abrogate the treaty with Australia on joint development of oil and gas resources in the Timor Gap, between East Timor and the north coast of Australia. The issue of revenue sharing with Australia will be left for the new East Timorese government. (DJ)

September 7 Lawyers representing Save Domestic Oil, Inc. file an appeal with the Court of International Trade in New York, seeking a reversal of the Department of Commerce dismissal of their anti-dumping complaint against four foreign oil producing countries. Save Domestic Oil is taking issue with the method used by the Department of Commerce to determine whether the petition had sufficient industry support to begin an investigation. (DJ)

September 10 Chevron agrees to pay $95 million to settle allegations that it systematically underpaid royalties for crude oil produced from federal government lands. The settlement stemmed from a suit brought by two industry whistleblowers under the False Claims Act against a total of 18 firms which produce crude oil from federal lands. (DJ)

September 10 Creditors of the Russian oil company Sidanco agree to liquidate the company, dealing a blow to BP Amoco's efforts to keep Sidanco, in which it owns a 10 percent stake, united. BP Amoco alleges that the procedure used to make the decision to liquidate Sidanco was influenced by manipulation of the register of creditors by Sidanco's Russian rivals. (DJ, WSJ, NYT)

September 14 French oil companies Total Fina and Elf Aquitaine agree to merge, after a lengthy takeover battle, in a deal which will form the world's fourth largest oil company. The deal will give Elf Aquitaine shareholders 19 shares of Total Fina for every 13 shares of Elf Aquitaine. According to Total Fina's management, the merger will result in annual cost savings for the combined firm of $1.56 billion. (WP, WSJ)

September 18 Russian forces begin air and artillery attacks against suspected guerrilla bases and infrastructure targets, including the Grozny refinery complex, in the breakaway region of Chechnya. The strikes come in the wake of a series of attacks by militants operating from Chechnya on the neighboring Russian region of Dagestan. Chechnya is along the route of the Baku-Novorossiysk crude oil pipeline, which has been closed during most of 1999 due to attacks. (DJ)

September 20 Texaco announces the lifting of the state of force majeure it had declared August 13th on liftings of crude oil from the company's operations in Nigeria. Production had been shut in due to civil unrest in neighboring communities. (DJ)

September 21 Brazil's state oil company, Petroleo Brasileiro S.A., announces the discovery of crude oil reserves in the Santos Basin estimated at between 600 million and 700 million barrels. The Santos Basin is located offshore from Rio de Janeiro state. (DJ)

September 21 Senator Charles Schumer sends a letter to President Clinton and Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson requesting them to authorize the sale of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in response to rising oil prices. Senator Schumer's letter coincided with the ministerial meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries in Vienna. (DJ)

September 22 The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), at a meeting of its member states' oil ministers, decides to maintain current production cuts until March 2000, despite the fact the crude oil prices have doubled since early 1999. In another development, OPEC announces that its current Secretary General, Nigerian Rilwanu Lukman, will stay in office until March 2000. The announcement follows a vigorously contested race to succeed Lukman in the post, in which OPEC's three largest members, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Iraq, had fielded candidates.

September 23 British Petroleum Exploration (Alaska), a subsidiary of BP Amoco, pleads guilty to a felony charge of illegally dumping hazardous waste on Alaska's North Slope. The company agreed to a $22 million settlement to resolve the charges. (DJ)

September 23 In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council pledge to continue to work toward a consensus on a new policy toward Iraq. All five permanent members have accepted that on-site weapons inspections must resume in Iraq, though there is still disagreement over how much cooperation Iraq would have to give international inspectors before economic sanctions could be lifted. (DJ)

September 23 The Senate approves a proposal to block the Clinton administration from increasing royalties on oil and gas from federal lands. The Department of the Interior has proposed a rule change which would tie royalties to market prices for crude oil. (WP, NYT)

September 24 China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and Royal Dutch Shell sign a contract for the joint exploration and development of natural gas resources in northwest China's Ordos Basin. The $3-billion contract includes the development of the Changbei Block, where CNPC has found natural gas reserves estimated at 2.5 trillion cubic feet. Shell, as the operator, will cover the investment required to develop the field. (DJ)

September 24 Italian Prime Minister Massimo D'Alema says he will evaluate the possibility of the Italian state-owned oil company ENI SpA merging with Total Fina and Elf Aquitaine once the latter two firms' merger is completed. (DJ)

September 28 Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh announces that the National Iranian Oil Company has discovered a new oilfield, Azadegan, with 26 billion barrels of crude oil in Khuzestan province. The discovery is the largest new find in Iran in the last three decades. Zanganeh expects the field to produce between 300,000 and 400,000 barrels per day of crude oil three to four years after development begins next year. (DJ)

September 30 Japan suffers a serious nuclear accident at a uranium processing plant in Tokaimura, in which radiation is released after an apparent uncontrolled nuclear chain reaction. Three workers at the plant, operated by JCO, Inc., are injured. Japanese authorities issue a warning instructing 310,000 people in neighboring communities to stay indoors. (DJ, WSJ)

October 4 The United Nations Security Council agrees to raise the monetary ceiling on Iraqi oil sales to $8.3 billion from $5.26 billion, guaranteeing the continuation of Iraqi production until the November 20 end date for the current six month extension of the "oil-for-food" program. The move is a one time adjustment, and does not bind the Security Council to continue a higher ceiling if the program is renewed for another six month term. The increase reflects the difference between previous monetary ceilings and actual Iraqi sales during previous phases of the program. (DJ)

October 6 Exxon announces the commencement of production at the Balder field located in the Norwegian zone of the North Sea. The field is expected to reach a peak output of 100,000 barrels per day. (DJ)

October 7 Brazilian state oil company Petrobras announces that it has broken off negotiations with Exxon for the development of the Albacora Leste offshore field. Petrobras is considering asking one of the other consortium partners to take over Exxon's stake and become the operator at the field, which is estimated to hold 600 million barrels of crude oil. (DJ)

October 8 A spokesman for the Norwegian Oil and Energy Ministry announces that the Norwegian government is seeking to increase the country's crude oil production in 2000 by 20 percent, to roughly 3.5 million barrels per day. According to the spokesman, if Norway were to decide to extend its 200,000-barrel-per-day production cut undertaken in support of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' (OPEC) March 1999 agreement, it would be subtracted from the new baseline amount of 3.5 million barrels per day. (DJ)

October 8 Rem Vyakhirev, the chief executive of Russia's Gazprom, the world's largest producer and exporter of natural gas, announces his intention to attempt to forge a natural gas cartel in response to low prices in the European market. Other major exporters of natural gas to European countries include Algeria, the Netherlands, and Norway. (WSJ)

October 10 Two major Japanese downstream oil firms, Cosmo Oil and Nippon Mitsubishi Oil, announce a strategic alliance. While the move is short of a merger, it is expected to result in cost reductions for both firms by eliminating duplicate operations. The action follows a period of low refining margins and excess refinery capacity in the Japanese oil industry. (DJ)

October 10 The French government announces its intention to retain its "golden share" in the merged Total Fina-Elf Aquitaine. The "golden share" allows the French government the right to block any merger plans or takeover attempt involving the company. (DJ)

October 11 The Venezuelan newspaper El Nacional reports that the final draft of the new Venezuelan constitution includes a provision prohibiting privatization of the state-owned oil firm Petroleos de Venezuela (PdVSA). A referendum on the proposed new constitution is scheduled to take place before the end of 1999. (DJ)

October 13 Pakistan's military stages a coup, led by General Parvaiz Musharraf. According to a statement from Atlantic Richfield, the largest producer of oil in Pakistan, their operations are not expected to be affected. (DJ)

October 13 U.S. House and Senate conferees agree on a six month moratorium on increases in oil royalty payments from firms lifting oil from federally-owned land. The moratorium has been opposed by the Clinton administration. (DJ)

October 19 BP Amoco announces its decision to take the lead in promoting the construction of an oil export pipeline from Baku on the Caspian Sea to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan. The company's support is seen as crucial, as it holds the largest stake in the Azerbaijan International Operating Company (AIOC), a consortium of foreign oil firms which will develop Azerbaijani reserves. (WSJ)

October 20 Saudi Oil Minister Ali Naimi says the Saudi government is still evaluating proposals submitted by foreign oil companies for investment in Saudi Arabia. He stresses the need to consider projects which "compliment the domestic industry, not replace it," such as petrochemical plants. (DJ)

October 20 The Colombian government announces new measures to preserve the country's oil production level into the future. Companies holding concessions will be allowed to return unused portions of blocks back to the government, in exchange for an increased share of production in the portion they retain. The government also intends to solicit bids from foreign firms for some blocks currently operated by state-owned Ecopetrol. (DJ)

October 25 The Federal Trade Commission approves the $6 billion merger between Sonat and El Paso Energy, which will create the largest natural gas pipeline company in the United States. The merged firm will be required to divest assets in some local markets to preserve competition. (DJ)

October 28 The United Nations Security Council shelves a proposal to allow Iraq to double the amount, currently $300 million, it is allowed to spend under the "oil-for-food" program on spare parts for its oil industry. The issue of funding for repairs and improvements to Iraq's upstream oil infrastructure will now be considered when the next six-month renewal of the "oil-for-food" program is considered. (NYT)

October 28 China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) announces the formation of a holding company, for which it intends to sell shares in an initial public offering (IPO) on the New York and Hong Kong stock exchanges to be scheduled in either January or February 2000. Earlier in the month, the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) had announced the postponement of a similar IPO due to adverse market conditions. (DJ)

October 29 Oklahoma Secretary of Energy Carl Michael Smith sends a letter to U.S. Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson urging him to resist calls for a sale of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). Smith argues that a sale of SPR oil would damage the recovery of U.S. domestic oil producers in the wake of low oil prices in 1998 and early 1999. (DJ)

October 31 Isramco, an Israeli oil and gas exploration company, reports a discovery of natural gas in commercial quantities from an offshore test well in the Mediterranean. Previously, exploration in Israel had not discovered oil or gas in commercial quantities. (DJ)

November 1 The Russian government sells a 9 percent stake in Russia's largest oil company, Lukoil, to a Cyprus-based firm, Reforma Investment. The Russian government had previously held a 27 percent stake in Lukoil. (WSJ)

November 1 Atlantic Richfield and Triton Energy conclude a $5 billion agreement with the state-run oil companies of Thailand and Malaysia to sell natural gas from blocks jointly held by the two firms in the Gulf of Thailand. Deliveries of 390 million cubic feet per day are set to begin in 2002. (WSJ)

November 4 China and Germany sign a memorandum of understanding for the construction of a $2.7 billion petrochemical complex in China. The project will be a joint venture between China's state-owned petroleum firm Sinopec and BASF of Germany. The deal was signed during a visit to China by German Prime Minister Gerhard Schroeder. (DJ)

November 6 China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) announces that it will be undertaking a reorganization of its corporate structure. The company's exploration, production, gas, refining, and petrochemical units will be transferred to a holding company. Its technical services and overseas operations units will remain outside the holding company. CNPC officials intend to offer shares in the holding company on the New York Stock Exchange in January or February 2000. (DJ)

November 10 Alberto Calderon is appointed to head the Colombian state petroleum company, Ecopetrol, after the resignation of its previous president Carlos Rodado. (DJ)

November 14 Royal Dutch Shell signs an $800 million development contract with the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) for two offshore fields in the Iranian sector of the Persian Gulf. The contract calls for an expansion in production at the Soroush field to 150,000 barrels per day and at the Nowruz field to 90,000 barrels per day. Under the "buy back" contract, Royal Dutch Shell will not have an ownership interest in the fields, but will recoup its investment plus a fixed rate of return. The move raises the possibility of United States sanctions under the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA), which prohibits investment of more than $40 million per year by foreign companies in Iran's oil industry. (DJ)

November 15 The United States and China conclude an agreement on Chinese entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO). Under the agreement, China will make a limited opening of its internal petroleum products market to foreign competition, allowing foreign firms to open 30 retail gas stations every three years after China's accession to the WTO. China also will abolish the existing oil import quota system in phases over four years. (DJ)

November 17 California governor Gray Davis announces a lawsuit by the State of California against the federal government in an attempt to block extensions of offshore oil leases which eventually could expand oil production off the central California coast. California is demanding the right to scrutinize each of the 36 blocks prior to any federal government action. The move comes four days after the Department of the Interior unveiled a plan which allows oil companies to move forward with exploration in the areas. (LAT)

November 18 The heads of state of Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Georgia sign an agreement to build a pipeline for the export of crude oil from the Caspian Basin. The 1,080-mile pipeline will begin at the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, and run through Georgia and Turkey to the Turkish port of Ceyhan. The project is expected to cost $2.4 billion, and the government of Turkey has offered guarantees that the cost of the Turkish segment of the pipeline will not exceed $1.4 billion. The signing ceremony took place during a visit to Istanbul by U.S. President Clinton for a summit of the Organization for Cooperation and Security in Europe (OSCE). (WP, NYT)

November 20 Iraq announces its rejection of the United Nations Security Council's two-week extension of the "oil-for-food" program, under which Iraq is permitted to make limited oil exports. The rejection produces a cutoff in Iraqi oil exports, which Iraq said was ordered to protest the failure of the Security Council to grant a six-month extension. Many analysts see the Iraqi move as coming at a particularly inopportune time for oil consumers, as world oil stocks have been falling in recent months. (DJ, NYT, WSJ)

November 25 The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) defers loadings of approximately 18 million barrels of crude oil exports scheduled for late November and early December, resulting in delays of as much as 11 days for some buyers. The deferment comes in response to an order from Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh for strict control of exports to ensure compliance with Iran's OPEC production quota. (DJ)

November 27 Iraqi Oil Minister Amer Mohammed Rashid states that Iraq is willing to accept a six-month extension of the United Nations "oil-for-food" program. He also urges other OPEC members not to raise output in response to Iraq's temporary halt in crude oil exports. (DJ)

November 30 A spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry states that if the dispute among several Asian countries over the potentially hydrocarbon-rich Spratly Islands cannot be resolved, China would consider the idea of joint development of the Islands with other claimants. However, the spokesman also reiterated China's claim to the islands. (DJ)

November 30 The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) grants approval for the proposed merger between oil giants Exxon and Mobil. The $80 billion merger was approved by the FTC after the firms agreed to the largest divestiture of assets ever involved in a merger. The companies will sell over 2,400 retail outlets, mostly in the Northeast, Texas, and California, and a refinery in California. (DJ)

December 2 Independent refiner Tosco agrees to buy 1,740 gasoline stations from Exxon and Mobil in the Northeastern United States. The $840 million sale was one of the measures the Federal Trade Commission required to preserve adequate competition in the wake of the Exxon-Mobil merger. (WSJ)

December 2 BP Amoco wins approval from the State of Alaska for its planned takeover of Atlantic Richfield (ARCO). The Federal Trade Commission is still considering the matter. (DJ)

December 4 Iraq's Minister of Petroleum, Amer Rashid Mohammed, states Iraq's rejection of a one week extension of the United Nations "oil-for-food" program approved by the Security Council a few hours earlier. (DJ)

December 10 The California Air Resources Board approves a regulatory change that will halve the amount of sulfur allowed in gasoline sold in California from 30 parts per million to 15 parts per million, starting in 2003. The California limit would be half the national limit under a new rule proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency. The current federal sulfur limit for gasoline is 330 parts per million. (WSJ)

December 10 The United Nations Security Council passes a resolution extending the "oil-for-food" program by six months, under terms identical to the previous six-month phase. Iraq had previously stated a willingness to resume oil exports if a six month extension were to be granted. (DJ)

December 14 Adrian Lajous, the director of Mexico's state-owned oil company Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex), resigns. The move comes in the wake of delays and large cost overruns in the $10.5 billion Cantarell project, which seeks to increase Mexico's oil production capacity. (WSJ)

December 15 Chevron, BP Amoco, and Conoco agree to pay a total of $153 million to settle allegations that they underpaid royalties for oil produced on federal lands. The issue stems from a 1996 lawsuit filed by two former Atlantic Richfield executives. (WSJ)

December 16 ExxonMobil announces that it intends to cut 14,000 jobs, 13 percent of its work force, in a round of layoffs stemming from its recent merger, as part of an effort to increase cost savings to $3.8 billion per year by 2002. (NYT, WSJ)

December 17 Turkmenistan signs a gas sales agreement with the Russian natural gas company Gazprom. Turkmenistan agrees to accept more than fifty percent of the value of its payments from Gazprom in Russian foodstuffs and consumer goods, rather than cash. (DJ)

December 17 The United Nations Security Council passes a resolution on returning weapons inspectors to Iraq. Under the resolution, sanctions could be suspended if Iraq were to cooperate with the inspectors over a period of nine months. Iraq has stated that it does not accept the resolution. (DJ)

December 21 The Export-Import Bank drops a proposed $500 million loan to Russia's Tyumen Oil after Secretary of State Madeleine Albright exercises her statutory authority to block the transaction. The loan had been controversial in part because of Tyumen Oil's dispute with BP Amoco over the bankruptcy of Russian oil firm Sidanko, in which BP Amoco owns a major stake. BP Amoco and Tyumen Oil later settled the dispute on December 23. (DJ)

December 21 The government of Kazakhstan signs an agreement with four foreign firms, including Texaco, for the construction of a pipeline from Bolshoy-Chagan to Atyrau, which will link into the export pipeline being developed by the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC). The initial capacity of the pipeline will be 150,000 barrels per day, beginning in 2002. (DJ)

December 21 President Clinton announces the publication of final rules on sulfur content in gasoline and environmental standards for light trucks and sport utility vehicles. The new sulfur content standard of 30 parts per million will become effective in 2004. Trucks and sport utility vehicles will be under the same emissions standards as automobiles by 2009. (WP)

December 23 Amid concerns over possible consumer hoarding of petroleum products in response to fears of supply disruptions caused by the "Y2K Bug," Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson advises drivers that they do not need to fill up their gasoline tanks or otherwise hoard fuel during the rollover to the year 2000, as there is no reason to believe there will be major disruptions that would affect the availability of fuels in the United States. (DJ)

December 24 South Korea's Hyundai and Samsung sign a memorandum of understanding paving the way for the merger of their petrochemical business units. The merger comes as part of South Korea's drive to ease overcapacity in several key industries, including petrochemicals. (DJ)

December 26 Iraqi officials state that Iraq intends to export the same amount of oil during the recently-begun seventh phase of the "oil-for-food" program as it had during the previous phase. Iraq's exports during the sixth phase averaged 2.1 to 2.2 million barrels per day. The country had suspended exports on November 24 to protest short extensions of the previous phase of the program, and had restarted exports in mid-December. (WSJ)

December 28 BP Amoco announces that it is withdrawing from a project to develop natural gas deposits in Ukraine, which BP Amoco said it had determined were below the minimum scale in which the company was willing to invest. BP Amoco's action will open the exploration blocks in central and eastern Ukraine to other firms, but is seen as a major blow to Ukraine's hopes of becoming less dependent on gas imports, due to the loss of BP Amoco's advanced deep-drilling technology. (NYT)

December 31 The Panama Canal Zone reverts to Panamanian sovereignty at noon, after nearly a century of American control. More than a half-million barrels of crude oil and petroleum products transit the Canal each day. (DJ)

December 31 After nearly two years of construction, ExxonMobil completes the Sable Offshore Energy Project, a $2 billion project to bring natural gas from fields offshore Nova Scotia to the northeastern United States. The fields are estimated to contain 3.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. (DJ)

December 31 Russian President Boris Yeltsin makes a surprise announcement that he is resigning immediately. Vladimir Putin becomes Acting President, and presidential elections will be held within 90 days, with a date to be set by the State Duma. Russia is the largest exporter of energy in the world. (DJ)