Hold on to your Wallets

Congratulations on your forthright characterization of the recent jaw-boning emanating from certain government officials regarding the pipeline alternatives being considered by the development consortia operating in the Caspian Basin. I believe you summed it up best with one simple word -arrogant (OGJ, Sept. 27, 1999, p. 23). I find this sort of behavior not particularly surprising coming from the incumbent US administration, given its penchant for spending other people's money. As a former employee and shareholder of BP Amoco PLC, I am confident that Sir John Browne and his advisors will do the right thing and appropriately discount these self-serving comments from the governments of Turkey and the USA. In the high-stakes Caspian Basin development process, which has been characterized by some as "The Great Game," one simply does not come to the bargaining table empty-handed.

Lou Volberding, CPA
Energy Industry Specialist
Tulsa, Okla.