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New Book Uncovers The Secret to Turning Wild and Creative Ideas Into
Multi-Million Dollar Innovation PR Newswire, 04/24/01 Enron India Eyes 1st Step To End Pwr Proj - Board Member Dow Jones Energy Service, 04/24/01 IT'S TV CO PICKS NCUBE CORP TO BE VIDEO-ON-DEMAND SERVER PROVIDER Asia Pulse, 04/24/01 INDIA'S MAHARASHTRA STATE NEEDS ONLY 300 MW OF ENRON POWER Asia Pulse, 04/24/01 India: Centre proposes panel to defuse Dabhol crisis Business Line (The Hindu), 04/24/01 Enron PPA to be renegotiated The Economic Times, 04/24/01 Enron directors mulling India deal Wednesday The Daily Deal, 04/24/01 No date set for electricity D-Day Government hopes deregulation will be ready by May, 2002, but deadline uncertain The Globe and Mail, 04/24/01 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Street Smart Stock Analysis Column KRTBN Knight-Ridder Tribune Business News: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Wisconsin, 04/24/01 UK: UPDATE 2-Saudi's Naimi to meet US Energy Secy on Friday. Reuters English News Service, 04/23/01 New Book Uncovers The Secret to Turning Wild and Creative Ideas Into Multi-Million Dollar Innovation 04/24/2001 PR Newswire (Copyright © 2001, PR Newswire) CHICAGO, April 24 /PRNewswire/ -- You're at your local grocery store or shopping mall when you spot it -- that one product that makes you say out loud, "Who came up with that idea and why didn't I think of it first?" As it happens, though, you may have thought of it. So why aren't you now reaping the benefits from its sales? Companies such as Bacardi, Coldwell Banker, Enron and Starbucks can tell you why. You were hit with a humorous bazooka. For many years companies have been touting their innovation, techniques and experiences, but as they can tell you, it takes dedication and perseverance to arrive at the point where innovation is a strategic part of any business. Innovation begins with a creative idea; however, without an environment that allows that idea to grow, nothing comes of it except frustrated comments like, "Why didn't I think of it first?" In his new book, Ban the Humorous Bazooka: (And Avoid Roadblocks and Speed Bumps along the Innovation Highway), innovation guru Mark Henry Sebell shares his experiences and case studies to show how and why ideas are quickly silenced. As the founder and president of Creative Realities, Inc., a Boston- based consulting firm specializing in innovation processes that dramatically increase the odds for successful outcomes, Sebell spells out what it takes to achieve real breakthroughs in innovation, in spite of the speed bumps (individual behaviors) and roadblocks (group behaviors and cultural norms) that impede progress. Sebell's impressive Who's Who client list has taken part in the book, allowing him to share stories from the front lines of innovation, humanizing the concepts and providing tangible and practical tools to make innovation work beyond any and all expectations. "... I now keep a toy bazooka prominently displayed in my office as a constant 'innovation reminder' that every idea, no matter how unconventional or implausible, has potential value and should always be encouraged," says Alex Perriello, president and CEO, Coldwell Banker Real Estate Corporation. Sebell defines a humorous bazooka as a funny, witty comment that, intentionally or unintentionally, shoots down another person's idea. In other words -- an innovation killer. In "Ban the Humorous Bazooka," readers examine the nine myths of innovation, bringing a greater awareness to the exciting and messy work that must be done in order to discover, nurture, launch and implement a great idea. Sebell also utilizes past and current client examples to provide the reader with the five phases of innovation essential to any creative and innovative pursuit. Starting with objective setting and then following the phases through discovery, invention, the greenhouse and implementation and launch, Sebell paints a thorough and motivating sequence of events. Sebell counts among his clients such firms as Compaq Computer, Walt Disney World Soup, Enron, PepsiCo, Citigroup, Starbucks and Dewar's Scotch. MAKE YOUR OPINION COUNT - Click Here http://tbutton.prnewswire.com/prn/11690X71118673 /CONTACT: Michelle M. Rathman of Impact! Communications, Inc. for Dearborn Financial Publishing, 888-68-impact, or mrathman@DoItWithImpact.com / 05:11 EDT Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Enron India Eyes 1st Step To End Pwr Proj - Board Member By Andrew Dowell Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES 04/24/2001 Dow Jones Energy Service (Copyright © 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.) NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Enron Corp.'s (ENE) troubled Indian unit Dabhol Power Co. is mulling a preliminary move toward terminating its project in the state of Maharashtra in light of its inability to collect payment for power already delivered, a member of the company's board said Monday. Enron, however, plans to complete Phase II of the 2,184-megawatt power plant, said Don Sturmer, a vice president at Bechtel Enterprises (X.BTL) and member of the board at Dabhol Power, in which Bechtel owns a 10% stake. The company at its board meeting Wednesday in London will consider what's called a preliminary termination notice, the first of three steps that end in abandonment of the project, Sturmer said. Step two would be an official termination notice, and step three would be a notice that the company was surrendering control of the project, said Sturmer, who called the first step "procedural." "We're nowhere near steps two and three yet," he said. "Whether we go forward with (a preliminary termination notice) will probably be decided at the board meeting on Wednesday." Issuing the preliminary termination notice could put Dabhol Power in a position to suspend deliveries as it negotiates its payment disputes with the Maharashtra state electricity board, or MSEB, Sturmer said. As reported, the electricity board intends to challenge those bills at the meeting Wednesday. A spokesman for Enron Corp., which with a 65% stake in Dabhol Power is the project's largest shareholder, wouldn't comment on topics for discussion at the upcoming meeting. Other shareholders include General Electric Co. (GE), which owns 10%, and the MSEB, which owns 15%. Dabhol Power is moving ahead to finish the second phase of the project, which is 95% complete, Sturmer said. Phase two will add two nominally rated 750-megawatt units to the existing 750-megawatt unit and add a liquefied natural gas terminal and regasification unit to allow the plant to shift from running on naphtha to running on gas. "The current plan is to continue construction...and having the entire facility commercially available by the end of this year," he said. Disputes Over Payments For Power Delivered To MESB The controversial $3-billion project, India's largest foreign investment, has been mired in financial disputes since the electricity board began missing payments last year. According to Sturmer, the board owes Dabhol Power $48 million for power delivered in December and January. The board made a $24 million payment for February, but has a $31 million bill for March coming due Wednesday. Dabhol Power officials met Monday with lenders to update them on the dispute and to discuss steps the company might take in light of the missed payments. Dabhol Power officials weren't available Tuesday to comment on the outstanding payments. According to some news reports, Dabhol Power was seeking to secure its lenders' approval for a plan to terminate the project. A Dabhol Power executive and a banker, both involved in the talks, wouldn't confirm or deny the reports. John Ambler, spokesman for Enron's Global Assets Group, called the meeting a regular status update. The lenders hadn't formulated a response by late Monday, the banker said. The talks were to continue Tuesday. According to Indian news reports, Enron may seek approval at the meeting from Dabhol shareholders to sell some or all of its stake in the project. Ambler wouldn't confirm or deny those reports, but pointed to previous comments from Enron's chief executive that any asset is for sale if the price is right. Enron had sought to reduce its shareholding to the 50% originally envisioned before the electricity board proved unable to cover its entire share of the project's second phase, but Sturmer said Dabhol's current difficulties would have to be resolved before any stakes could be sold. "I do not think any of the owners is actively pursuing a buyer," he said. Dabhol has come under fire because of the relatively high cost of its power. Critics object to the company's charging 7.1 rupees ($1=INR46.84) a kilowatt-hour for its power, compared with around INR1.5/kWh charged by other suppliers. Sturmer said the high cost is the result of the electricity board's failure to buy enough electricity to spread out fixed capacity charges. The rates presume the board would dispatch 90% of the unit's capacity. Instead the board, facing financial difficulty, sharply reduced its calls on the plant in early 2000, sometimes idling it entirely, Sturmer said. As reported by the Press Trust of India Monday, the Maharashtra state government will form a high-level committee to renegotiate the power purchase agreement with Dabhol Power. "We have decided that the government of Maharashtra will constitute a negotiating committee to negotiate issues like the cost of power and use of power with DPC," the Press Trust quoted Indian Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha as saying. -By Andrew Dowell, Dow Jones Newswires; 646-456-3542; andrew.dowell@dowjones.com Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. IT'S TV CO PICKS NCUBE CORP TO BE VIDEO-ON-DEMAND SERVER PROVIDER 04/24/2001 Asia Pulse © Copyright 2001 Asia Pulse PTE Ltd. LAS VEGAS, April 24 Asia Pulse - It's TV Co., Ltd, a Korea-based interactive TV service provider, today announced that it has chosen nCUBE Corporation to be its Video-On-Demand (VOD) server provider. Formerly known as Genesis Multimedia Corporation, It's TV plans to offer DVD quality VOD movies and television over its IP network to more than 500,000 consumers by 2003, making it the largest scheduled VOD deployment in the world to date. Shipment of the first 96 servers to Korea will begin later this year, the company said in a statement. It's TV, having recently completed the trial stage of the deployment in December 2000, expects to use the 96 servers to reach 88,000 homes by year-end 2001. The company is scheduled to scale-up to a half million subscribers by 2003. It's TV will broadcast TV channels over their IP network as well as provide full video-on-demand and interactive services in DVD-quality picture (4Mbps MPEG-2). When coupled with nCUBE's n4 streaming media server, It's TV would provide TV viewers in Korea with the ability to view a wide range of television and movie options with full VCR functionality, including pause, rewind and fast-forward, capability. nCUBE (www.nCUBE.com) provides scalable streaming media solutions to all broadband networks. Broadband operators worldwide count on nCUBE to provide solutions for broadband video-on-demand, IP streaming media, and advertising insertion. The company's core product line, the n4 streaming media appliance, can scale from 100 megabits per second to 128 gigabits per second of streaming media from a single system. nCUBE systems are used by Alcatel, AT&T, Bertelsmann, Enron Broadband Services, Cisco Systems, Charter Communications, Gemstar-TV Guide, Liberate, Motorola, Scientific-Atlanta, RealNetworks, Telewest Communications and Time Warner. ASIA PULSE A 24-04 1831 Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. INDIA'S MAHARASHTRA STATE NEEDS ONLY 300 MW OF ENRON POWER 04/24/2001 Asia Pulse © Copyright 2001 Asia Pulse PTE Ltd. NEW DELHI, April 24 Asia Pulse - The western state Maharashtra has said it needed only 300 MW of the 740 MW power produced by US energy giant Enron -promoted Dabhol Power Company (DPC). "The state cannot consume all the power produced by DPC. Our requirement of power is only about 300 MW," Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said. While 740 MW Phase-I of DPC is presently operational, 1444 MW Phase-II is due for commissioning this year. Deshmukh, who met the federal finance minister Yashwant Sinha here on the issue of payment default and high cost of power from DPC, said "a way has to be found to wheel out the excessive power produced by DPC." A committee, Sinha said, would be constituted for negotiating the cost of power with DPC, adding "we have to also look for wheeling out excessive power generated as the state cannot consume all the power generated after commissioning of phase-II." (PTI) 24-04 1733 Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. India: Centre proposes panel to defuse Dabhol crisis 04/24/2001 Business Line (The Hindu) Copyright (C) 2001 Kasturi & Sons Ltd (KSL); Source: World Reporter (TM) - Asia Intelligence Wire NEW DELHI, April 23. THE Centre has proposed to set up a committee to suggest measures to defuse the crisis of a potential termination of the Dabhol power project. This proposal came up at a meeting today between the Union Finance Minister, Mr Yashwant Sinha, the Power Minister, Mr Suresh Prabhu, and the Maharashtra Chief Minister, Mr Vilasrao Deshmukh. The Centre has mooted a committee consisting of itself, the State Government and Enron to defuse the crisis. The move comes two days ahead of the DPC board meeting in London besides a meeting with the project lenders. Given the company's recent move to change gear and adopt legal recourse by way of seeking arbitration to resolve its issues, it is not clear whether DPC will become party to this committee. The committee, if formed with the three constituents, will look into issues such as DPC's offer of 15 per cent stake to National Thermal Power Corporation. Our Bureau Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Enron PPA to be renegotiated Our Bureau 04/24/2001 The Economic Times Copyright (C) 2001 The Economic Times; Source: World Reporter (TM) NEW DELHI THE MAHARASHTRA government has decided to form a high-level committee with central representation to renegotiate the power purchase agreement of Dabhol Power Company. This decision was taken after discussions were held between finance minister Yashwant Sinha and Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh. The committee, which is to be formed within a week, will deliberate on the cost aspect of the 2,184 -MW Dabhol power project. The Centre will nominate one member to this committee who will represent the joint views of all related ministries. Sources said since the Maharashtra government has already indicated that it will not be in a position to buy the entire power generated by the Enron plant, the committee will also look into matters like exports of surplus power to other states. The committee will have representatives from the state government and MSEB. Speaking to reporters, Sinha said: "We hope DPC will respond positively to this and not take steps that will precipitate a crisis." Although this appears like the beginning of a breakthrough as far as the government of Maharashtras stand on the Enron controversy is concerned, it is left to see as to how it is accepted or reciprocated by Enron. Sources said since Enron had already slapped two arbitration notices on the state government and a arbitration/conciliatory notice on the Centre, the legal aspects of the issue will also have to be resolved. "This will, however, be seen by the legal experts and a view would have to be taken as to how this could be dealt with if negotiations on the PPA were to begin all over again." The lenders to the project are meeting in London to evaluate the developments in the project and are expected to take a view on the non-payments of energy bills. Industry sources claim that the developers who have been slowing down their investments in all other sectors are looking for buyers to sell a sizeable portion of the stake. The Godbole committee, which was instituted by the Maharashtra government to look into the Dabhol power project, its costing, tariffs and other aspects of the PPA, have submitted its findings to the state government. This committees views and inputs will be drawn largely by the negotiating committee during deliberations with Enron. Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. InPlay Enron directors mulling India deal Wednesday 04/24/2001 The Daily Deal Copyright © 2001 The Deal LLC Bechtel Group Inc. - General Electric Co. - Enron Corp. Houston energy giant Enron Corp. confirmed Monday that the directors of its Indian subsidiary are scheduled to meet Wednesday in London to discuss the $3 billion, 2,184 megawatt Dhabol power project in the western state of Maharashtra. An Enron spokesman wouldn't say whether the company will consider selling its 65% interest. The Maharashtra State Electricity Board, which owns 15%, is expected to send representatives, as are Fairfield, Conn. based General Electric Co. and San Francisco based Bechtel Group Inc., which each own 10%. Enron reportedly wants to sell its stake because financially strapped MSEB failed to invest in the project's second phase, has not purchased 15% of Enron's stake and defaulted on $48.2 million in electricity payments. -Claire Poole http://www.thedeal.com Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. National News No date set for electricity D-Day Government hopes deregulation will be ready by May, 2002, but deadline uncertain RICHARD MACKIE AND MARTIN MITTELSTAEDT With a report from John Ibbitson 04/24/2001 The Globe and Mail Metro A4 "All material Copyright © Bell Globemedia Publishing Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved." The Ontario government is hoping that a competitive electricity market will be ready by May, 2002, but has stopped short of fixing a day for deregulation to begin. The declaration, made separately by Premier Mike Harris and Energy Minister Jim Wilson yesterday, shows that there is still uncertainty in the government over timing the beginning of competition in the province's $10-billion electricity market. That indecision angered some industry officials, who had wanted the province to set a date. Deregulation has been under discussion for more than three years but is highly controversial because of problems that energy deregulation has caused in Alberta and California. Mr. Harris, speaking in Hamilton, said the timing depends, in part, on when the province's shuttered Pickering A nuclear station returns to service, adding much-needed juice to the province's supplies. "You don't have to be a rocket scientist to understand that we are looking at some time -- January, February -- for the return of Pickering onto the grid. We believe that's an important supply factor that needs to be there," he said. He also warned that ratepayers should brace for an increase in the price of electricity because of the growing tightness in the North American power market. Despite the possibility of higher rates, Mr. Harris argued that competition is the proper course because price increases would be steeper if Ontario retained a monopoly over the generation and the sale of electricity. "Clearly the track we are on is higher energy prices," Mr. Harris told reporters. "That's global. That's certainly North-America-wide. And that is the case here in the Province of Ontario in electricity and in other energy sources." In a related legislative statement yesterday, Mr. Wilson referred to the May, 2002, date as the time when the government "is confident that conditions necessary to open the electricity market to competition will exist." When asked later whether May, 2002, was an "absolutely fixed date" for deregulation, Mr. Wilson replied, "Yes." The Association of Major Power Consumers in Ontario, a lobby group for big electricity users, had a hostile response to Mr. Wilson's formal statement. Its president, Arthur Dickinson, said he was appalled by the weak language. The association wants a large number of electricity producers to open up shop in Ontario to increase the chances that competition will lead to lower prices for big power users, but is worried that companies won't build generating stations until they are sure the government has a firm opening date. "He's left uncertainty in the air, and that's not helpful. We have potential investors who want to get into this market who I don't think are going to invest if the minister uses words like he's 'confident the market will open by [May 2002].' They need a definitive date," Mr. Dickinson said. Companies have announced plans to spend about $3-billion on 27 new or expanded generation stations in Ontario, the Ministry of Energy says. But very few of those projects are actually under construction. Recently, the head of Enron Corp., a major U.S. power producer, said it would re-evaluate plans for a $200-million power plant in Ontario if the government didn't fix a date for the market to open. Adding to the upward pressure on electricity prices in Ontario is the government's decision to pay off the almost $20-billion in debt incurred to build the existing generating and distribution system. The government wants to pay off this $20-billion, known as the so-called stranded debt, by 2017 with charges on purchases of electricity. Mr. Harris said delaying repayment is not being considered. "Certainly the debt has to be repaid. It is being repaid now, starting June 1. The current increase in prices of 8 per cent, a significant portion of that, is to make sure Hydro Ontario Power Generation is generating the kind of revenue it needs to pay down that debt," he said. Ontario Power is the provincially owned electricity utility, one of the successor companies to Ontario Hydro. Illustration Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Street Smart Stock Analysis Column Kathleen Gallagher 04/24/2001 KRTBN Knight-Ridder Tribune Business News: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Wisconsin Copyright (C) 2001 KRTBN Knight Ridder Tribune Business News; Source: World Reporter (TM) FUEL CELLS SPARK ANALYST'S INTEREST: INVESTMENT: FuelCell Energy Inc., Danbury, Conn., develops and commercializes fuel cell power plants for electric power generation. ANALYST: KENT A. MORTENSEN, vice president and senior research analyst at Robert W. Baird & Co. MORTENSEN THINKS FUELCELL'S strong partnership with Enron Corp. and good management team will help it take advantage of the pressing need for reliable power, the fallout from utility deregulation and the pressure on power generators to protect the environment. "Enron thinks there's about a $1 billion market for alternative energy products and the economies of FuelCell's product appear to make more sense than other technologies like solar and wind power," he said. Most people confuse fuel cells, which have been around since the 1800s and were used in the Apollo space missions, with batteries. But while batteries store energy for later use, fuel cells use natural gas to start a chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen that makes electricity. "Nickel is the catalyst -- it's a chemical reaction, not combustion," Mortensen said. FuelCell's products look like big round cans and can get as hot as 1,200 degrees. Their biggest downside is cost: Their generating capacity costs about $5,000 a kilowatt -- a number Mortensen thinks needs to shrink to about $1,200. But he's betting that FuelCell, which is hoping to have commercial units of the product it's testing available by the end of this year, will be able to lower its prices if it can sign on enough customers. "They believe they have a road map to bring costs down to a reasonable basis," Mortensen said. That effort would be helped greatly if FuelCell wins the contract it's trying to get with Enron to build a 26-megawatt fuel cell farm in Connecticut. Mortensen sees several trends working in FuelCell's favor: New technologies have created a huge need for reliable power. "Yet just when we need power quality to improve to support the Internet, telecommunications and e-commerce, it's actually degrading," Mortensen said. He believes California's problems with power generation and transmission are just the beginning. Seventy percent of our nation's power grid is more than 25 years old, and 30 percent of it is more than 50 years old, Mortensen said. "We're moving to a 21st-century digital economy with a 20th-century grid that was built to support the air conditioner and TV," he said. Utility deregulation has encouraged power suppliers to underinvest, resulting in a shortage of power plants and transmission lines. It is difficult to build new power plants, because of environmental regulations and people's aversion to living or working near them. These factors "will drive demand for new power technologies," Mortensen predicted. FuelCell's products have minimal emissions and are perfect for generating power on-site for, say, a small factory. "FuelCell's product, a molten carbonate fuel cell, can take up the size of roughly a tennis court and provide power that has, for all practical purposes, no emissions," Mortensen said. He believes those attributes can help FuelCell take market share away from centralized power plants, much as the personal computer has taken share away from mainframes. The company doesn't make money now, but Mortensen expects FuelCell to turn profitable in 2004. Its partner, Enron, has incentive to make that happen because if it sells 55 megawatts of FuelCell's product by September 2002, it gets warrants for about 8 percent of the company. Mortensen thinks the biggest risk associated with this stock is the possibility that FuelCell, which has never made its products in scale, won't be able to bring down its costs. "If they don't get the right level of orders, they won't be able to drive the cost down," he said. The other big risk is that FuelCell's patented technology could fail. "I'm more worried about them getting the cost down. Their technology seems reasonably sound, but you still have to convince people to have their power supplied by a new technology -- and a lot of people don't like to take chances with new technology," he said. Mortensen thinks this stock is best for investors who are willing to own it as part of a basket of power technology companies. "Betting on who's going to be the winner in this space is difficult. This is a very speculative investment," he said. Mortensen would buy FuelCell shares up to $70 in the near term and thinks they could go as high as $120 in the next 12 to 24 months. Kathleen Gallagher's Sunday Street Smart column examines one stock through the eyes of a professional investor. Neither Gallagher nor the Journal Sentinel recommends specific investments or endorses the recommendations of those interviewed. Symbol/Exchange: FCEL, Nasdaq April 20 price: $56.60 52-week range: $16 to $108.75 Dividend yield: None Long-term debt: None Shares outstanding: 15.8 million Avg. daily volume (3 month): 698,873 shares Earnings per share (2001): $1.60 Earnings per share (2002): $1.80 Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. UK: UPDATE 2-Saudi's Naimi to meet US Energy Secy on Friday. 04/23/2001 Reuters English News Service (C) Reuters Limited 2001. LONDON, April 23 (Reuters) - Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi will meet U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham in Washington later this week, the first meeting between the two officials, diplomats said on Monday. They said the meeting would allow Naimi to meet face-to-face with his U.S. counterpart, who assumed office as part of President George W. Bush's administration in January. An Energy Department spokesman said the meeting would take place on Friday morning at DOE headquarters. The two officials are likely to discuss oil prices in the wake of OPEC's decision to curb output twice this year by 2.5 million barrels per day (bpd), or about 9 percent. Oil prices have found support from tight U.S. gasoline supplies which threaten a repeat of last summer's price spike at the pumps. Saudi Arabia is the leading supplier to the United States, the world's biggest oil consumer. Abraham has taken a low-key approach towards the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries - a marked departure from former energy secretary Bill Richardson who lobbied OPEC ministers during their meetings. But Washington has made clear it does not want to see sky-high oil prices further eroding U.S. economic growth. OPEC members, which last year enjoyed the biggest oil boom in two decades, have said they would cut output again if prices fall below a $22 price floor for their basket of seven crudes. The basket is currently around OPEC's preferred level of $25 a barrel. OPEC power Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter and producer, has said the oil cartel would move swiftly to raise output again if prices pushed above the $28 upper limit of the group's target range. SAUDI INVESTMENT The oil officials' meeting comes as Riyadh prepares to award multi-billion dollar contracts for Saudi gas developments. U.S. oil company Exxon Mobil Corp. is a leading contender to win an operatorship for at least one of the three projects on offer, industry sources have said. U.S. oil companies Conoco, Chevron, Phillips, Marathon and Enron/Oxy - along with several European rivals - are also expected to play a role in the investment. Naimi is scheduled to speak at an energy conference in Paris on Wednesday and travel from there to Washington. He is due in Houston on May 3 to attend a Saudi Aramco board meeting, industry sources said. Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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