International oil companies in the Far East

Technical Report · Mon Oct 01 04:00:00 EDT 1984

OSTI ID:6292068

Mlotok, P

All of the major international oil companies have extensive operations in the Far East, and in most cases, these operations account for a significant part of their worldwide earnings. In the refining and marketing end of the business, near-term profitability could be hampered by problems in the Singapore refining center. An expansion of Indonesian refining capacity has reduced profits from processing arrangements, and new Saudi product exports will enter Singapore starting this year. Longer term, however, the strong economic growth in the region renders it a highly attractive area in which to operate. On the producing end, rising output will boost profits for the international oil companies in Indonesia and Malaysia. Caltex (a 50/50 joint venture between Chevron and Texaco) is one of the largest marketers in the Far East. It will not initially be affected greatly by the Singapore refinery problem, as its production from this area goes directly into its own marketing system rather than into the open market. Exxon is a medium-size marketer with especially strong positions in Japan, Malaysia and Thailand. However, the company could be vulnerable to near-term problems in Singapore. Mobil, another medium-size marketer, has a very strong position in Japan but problems in Australia. As those problems are corrected, earnings should grow over time. The Royal Dutch Shell Group is one of the largest marketers in the Far East, with good positions in Singapore, Malaysia and Australia. Shell will have difficulty adjusting to the changing conditions in Singapore, but once this is complete, downstream earnings growth should resume. British Petroleum (BP) has a smaller upstream and downstream presence than the other international oils. Estimated 1983 Far East earnings are tabulated for these five companies. 5 figures.

• Research Organization: Salomon Bros., Inc., New York (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6292068
• Report Number(s): NP-5900362; ON: TI85900362
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020700* -- Petroleum-- Economics
Industrial
& Business Aspects
ASIA
AUSTRALASIA
AUSTRALIA
DATA
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
EXPLORATION
FINANCIAL DATA
GLOBAL ASPECTS
INDONESIA
INDUSTRIAL PLANTS
INDUSTRY
INFORMATION
ISLANDS
JAPAN
MALAYSIA
MARKETING
NEW ZEALAND
PETROLEUM INDUSTRY
PETROLEUM REFINERIES
PROCESSING
PRODUCTION
PROFITS
REFINING
SINGAPORE
THAILAND