EXXON <XON> MAY CLOSE ONE FRENCH REFINERY
Exxon Corp, the world's largest oil
company, said in a published interview today that it was
reviewing its worldwide refinery operations and might decide to
close on of its french refineries.
    Lee R. Raymond, Exxon's new president, singled out the
possibility of a closure of one of Exxon's refineries in France
during the interview.
    An Exxon spokeswoman confirmed that Raymond had
specifically mentioned refineries in France but said that no
specific refinery had been named. She also said that all of
Exxon's opertations were under constant review.
    Exxon currently has two refineries in France, FOS in the
mediterranean with a capcity of 175,000 barrels per day and
Port Jerome west of paris with a similar capacity.
    Petroleum Intelligence Weekly, an influential trade
journal, said, in its current issue, that they understood that
Exxon was looking at the possibility of refinery closures in
Antwerp, Southern France or possibly Italy.
    Paul Mlotok, oil analyst with Salomon Brothers inc said
that with the closures Exxon made in 1986 in Europe and the
improvement in the European refining situation, its future
profits there should be good.
    "Exxon and other major oil companies have closed a bunch of
refineries in Europe, upgraded the rest and shaken many of the
indepedents out of the market. Now with demand for products
rising and efficient operations, Exxon should show superior
earnings," Mlotok said.
    "Just after Royal Dutch <RD>, they are seen as one of the
highest grade refiners in Europe," he added.
    Industry sources said that the oil companies were likely to
feel greater pressure on their operations in Southern Europe
where competition from the OPEC countries is increasing as
these producers move further into downstream operations.
    PIW said that refiners in the Mediterranean can expect
increased shipments from Saudi Arabia and other OPEC export
refineries.
    PIW said "sales from Libya, Algeria and elsewhere are
expected to reclaim markets lost to Italian and other European
refiners as a result of the abundance of cheap netback oil last
year."
 Reuter
