| Germany approved BP2's bid for Veba oil, making BP | | | | BP Amoco's Sir John Browne- is working overtime to |
| that nation's marketing and refining leader | | | | get you to think differently about oil companies |
| Solidified BP's position in the fastgrowing Chinese | | | | particularly his own. |
| market, with a $2. | | | | Most analysts seem to agree that, no matter what |
| 7 billion joint venture3 there. | | | | your expertise12 , trying to predict the erratic13 price |
| John Browne lights up a rich Cuban cigar in his London | | | | of oil is pretty slippery14 business. And despite being |
| office as he reflects on the year. The CEO of BP | | | | the leader of one of the most powerful oil companies |
| PLC (BP ) has plenty of reasons to be satisfied. | | | | in the world, Sir John Browne, CEO of BP Amoco Pic, |
| Browne, a bachelor, is about to move - ' | | | | readily admits that even he doesn't know just where |
| mfmrvmm^^^^^^m 'nto an Edwardian" house in | | | | the price of oil is headed. |
| Cam-276 , :> ,'i^m^^^^m brjdge5 tnat ne has | | | | Certainly, the oil market has been a complicated |
| been |avjsh|y reno. vating. And he looks forward to | | | | animal in recent years. After enjoying two decades |
| several years of refining what is already a | | | | of relatively stable oil market, the world watched |
| formidable6 profit machine. | | | | prices fluctuate in the last two years from as low as |
| Many people in the oil patch consider Browne, 53, to | | | | $ 10 to almost $36 last autumn. The oil and gas |
| be the industry pacesetter. A decade ago, BP was a | | | | industry is supposed to be a relic of the so-called old |
| struggling midsize company short on earnings and | | | | economy, yet the global energy business is a $1.8 |
| clout7. But Browne, who was promoted to CEO in | | | | trillion-a-year industry that dwarfs information |
| 1995, has been instrumental in transforming it into the | | | | technology, defense, and the auto industry. A |
| world's No. 2 oil company, behind Exxon Mobil Corp. | | | | nostrum of the new economy is that new |
| (XOM) His $57 billion acquisition of Chicago-based | | | | technology allows us to use less energy. In fact the |
| Amoco8 in August, 1998, triggered a huge wave of | | | | reverse is true. Some observers estimate that much |
| industry Breitling Bentley Replica consolidation. Browne | | | | of the surge in electricity Breitling Replica demand in |
| then bought Arco in 1999 for $25 billion. These | | | | regions such as California comes from the reliance on |
| groundbreaking deals are more than paying for | | | | abundant servers required to keep the Internet |
| themselves. BP's profits for the first nine months of | | | | humming. Higher power demand and recent volatility |
| 2001 were up 9% , to a record $ 10.97 billion, despite | | | | of oil prices have rekindled concern about energy's |
| weaker prices. | | | | impact on world economies, and particularly how it will |
| Browne's gustiness9 sometimes draws flak.10 His | | | | affect the U. S. economy in the face of a slowdown. |
| warnings about the dangers of global warming have | | | | Where oil and gas prices go from here depends on |
| annoyed some environmentalists, who consider such | | | | hard-to-predict events, but almost certainly big oil |
| talk from an oilman to be hypocritical". Lately, Browne | | | | along with OPEC will take center stage. |
| has been quiet, but the industry watches his every | | | | As the CEO of a company likely to be right in the |
| move for clues about the future. | | | | thick of the action, Browne is keeping a careful |
| As he addressed in his speech Beyond Tokyo, | | | | watch on industry trends. Recently, at the World |
| Taking small steps never feels entirely satisfactory. | | | | Economic Forum, he made this striking prediction, |
| Nor does taking action without complete scientific | | | | "The amount of oil used in the next 10 years will |
| knowledge. But certainty and perfection have never | | | | exceed all the oil consumed in the first five decades |
| figured prominently in the story of human progress. | | | | of the last century. " |
| Business, in particular, is accustomed to making | | | | With cigar in hand and reading specs perched at the |
| decisions in conditions of considerable uncertainty, | | | | end of his nose, the sqftspoken Cambridge graduate |
| applying its experience and skills to areas of activity | | | | gives the outward appearance of an erudite jockey |
| where much is unknown. That is why it will have a | | | | in a Savile Row suit. His command of the facts |
| vital role in meeting the challenge of climate change | | | | appears total , as does his disciplined attention to |
| and why the contribution it is already making is | | | | financial performance. |
| so encouraging. | | | | |