Oil Companies Take Measures to Protect Operations, Staff

U.S. military strikes against alleged terrorists in Afghanistan and Sudan prompted some international oil companies to reassess their operations and take steps to protect personnel and equipment in the region.

Sudan produces little oil or gas and Afghanistan produces none, but some U.S.-based oil and gas exploration companies said they are concerned about their holdings and personnel in nearby countries.

Meanwhile, oil futures traders pushed the price of crude oil almost 3% higher on fears of possible oil supply disruptions after the attacks, which targeted groups believed to be involved in the Aug. 7 bombings of two U.S. embassies in East Africa.

Oil prices already had been rising Thursday because the United Nations renewed 8-year-old sanctions against Iraq in their dispute over weapons inspections, but the bombings further boosted crude oil for September delivery to $13.54 a barrel, up 38 cents, on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Some companies that operate in the region, including Los Angeles-based oil giants Atlantic Richfield Co. and Unocal Corp., said Thursday that they were taking precautions in their operations.

Unocal closed a small office in Pakistan earlier in the week and evacuated employees in the wake of the embassy bombings, a company spokesman said. The corporation also is evaluating its role in controversial proposed pipelines that would stretch from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan to Pakistan and India.

Unocal, which heads consortiums that have proposed a $1.9-billion gas pipeline and a $2.5-billion oil pipeline, had said it would not go forward with the project until a stable, internationally recognized government is established in Afghanistan.