USX <X> SAYS TALKS ENDED WITH BRITISH PETROLEUM
USX Corp chairman David Roderick said
the company had ended talks with British Petroleum Co Plc <BP>
about the possible sale of some energy assets and said USX has
no immediate restructuring plans for its oil businesses.
    "We have terminated our discussions," Roderick told Reuters
after a speech to the Petroleum Equipment Suppliers Association
here. He said USX was not conducting talks with any other
possible buyer of its energy assets.
    Earlier today, BP said it planned to offer 70 dlrs per
share for the Standard Oil Co's <SRD> publicly held stock.
    USX said in December the company had held formal
discussions with BP about the potential sale of some of its
overseas oil assets and USX had received expressions of
interest from a half dozen other oil companies.
    Roderick, in response to a question, said USX had no
immediate plans to restructure its Marathon Oil Co, or Texas
Oil and Gas Corp. He said USX also did not plan to sell any of
its 49 pct interest in the giant Yates Field in west Texas.
    "We want to maintain our production in the Yates Field
during these difficult times," Roderick added.
    In response to a question, Roderick also said he did not
know whether Australian investor Robert Holmes a Court was
accumulating USX stock. In recent days, traders have suggested
Holmes a Court was buying additional shares.
    Roderick said Carl Ichan, who terminated an eight billion
dlr hostile takeover plan for USX in January, continued to hold
a sizable interest in the company. "Mr. Ichan still apparently
has 11.4 pct. He hasn't bought any more stock or sold any,"
Roderick said. "He's a very satisfied shareholder right now. I
talk with him monthly."
    In his speech, Roderick predicted the fall in the value of
the dollar would set the stage for the U.S. to solve its trade
deficit problem which totaled 170 billion dlrs in 1986.
    "I expect by the early 1990s the U.S. will be running a net
trade surplus," Roderick said. "I think the worst is over and
we can look forward to stability and upward movement ahead."
    However, the USX chairman warned that European trading
partners may resist the turn in the U.S. trade deficit. "Some
economic discomfort must be transferred from the United States
to our friends, trading partners and allies."
 Reuter
