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U.S. oil companies step up anti-san
Subject: U.S. oil companies step up anti-sanctions efforts
NEW YORK, June 5 (Reuter) - U.S. oil companies Thursday
stepped up efforts to head off sanctions against some oil
producing nations that have been prompted by human rights
concerns.
Their move came during the debate on China's Most Favoured
Nation trading status and on top of a dispute between human
rights activists and Unocal Corp. over the company's
involvement in Burma.
U.S. oil companies point out that unlike other industries,
they have little choice over where they find resources, which
are distributed by geography and sometimes in countries with
less than perfect human rights records.
``If American firms are to thrive in a world where
political boundaries are no longer viewed as barriers to trade
then we believe the leaders of our government must place our
nation squarely on the side of international trade and
investment,'' Marie Knowles, chief financial officer at
Atlantic Richfield Co., told a conference in Washington
Thursday.
Other companies such as Mobil Corp have been running a
series of op-ed columns in newspapers such as the Wall Street
Journal in an effort to get their message across to Capitol
Hill and the public.
Thursday's piece, the second in a series, terms U.S.
government trade sanctions on countries including Cuba, Iran,
Iraq and China as ``saber-rattling'' politics that can be seen
as a ``theatrical display meant largely for domestic
consumption''.
A Mobil spokesman denied Thursday's piece was aimed
specifically at China, but addressed the debate about
unilateral sanctions in general.
A recent study by the National Association of
Manufacturers said that between 1993 and 1996, some 61 U.S.
laws and executive actions were enacted authorising unilateral
economic sanctions aimed at 35 countries.
In the case of the oil industry, NAM notes that $2 billion
was lost in exports to the former Soviet Union as a result of
an embargo on petroleum equipment contracts in the 1980s.
Oil companies generally claim that their involvement in
developing countries is beneficial. Unocal points to the
employment of local workers at high rates of pay in Burma and
to the health clinics it has financed. However, protestors --
from the environmental group Greenpeace to members of the
clergy -- accuse the companies of blind devotion to profit.
At Texaco Inc.'s recent annual meeting, the company
indicated it was considering selling its stake in a natural
gas field in the Andaman Sea off the Burmese coast. However,
it cited financial reasons, not human rights concerns.
Citing the Burma embargo on new investment, NAM said the
Yadana gas pipeline being constructed by Unocal, France's
Total SA, the Petroleum Authority of Thailand and the Burmese
state company would benefit 35,000 people.
``The lasting positive effects of the project will be felt
long after the obstacles to democratization have been
overcome,'' the report said.
<UCL.N> <ARC.N> <MOB.N> <TX.N> <TOTF.PA>
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