Arco Exec Postpones Trip to Saudi Arabia

Atlantic Richfield Co. Chief Executive Michael Bowlin on Monday postponed his trip to Saudi Arabia to discuss possible oil and gas ventures after his scheduled meeting with the Saudi crown prince was canceled.

Bowlin, head of the seventh-largest U.S. oil company, was to arrive in Riyadh today to meet with Crown Prince Abdullah and other Saudi officials.

U.S. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson is scheduled to visit the oil-rich nation later this week.

Meanwhile, Chevron Corp.’s chief executive, Kenneth Derr, arrived in Saudi Arabia on Monday after visiting Kuwait and Qatar. Derr, who heads the fourth-largest oil company, was scheduled to meet with the Saudi crown prince later Monday, but it was not immediately known if the meeting took place as scheduled.

Bowlin and Derr are the latest chief executives from big U.S. oil companies to acknowledge plans to visit the kingdom. In September, the Saudis signaled that they may reopen oil and gas fields to U.S. companies for the first time since the 1970s.

Texaco Inc., the third-biggest U.S. oil company, sent Chief Executive Peter Bijur to Saudi Arabia in December to discuss a possible natural gas project.

Hani Iskander, managing director of Chevron Kuwait, said Derr met with Kuwait’s oil minister, Sheik Saud al Sabah, on Saturday to discuss “existing relationships and future opportunities” in the country.

The Saudis canceled the meeting with Bowlin because the crown prince won’t be in Riyadh, Arco said. His trip will be rescheduled, said Linda Dozier, a spokeswoman at Arco’s Los Angeles headquarters.

Other Arco representatives, including Executive Vice President Donald Voelte and Adrian Turner, its vice president for business development, will meet with other Saudi energy officials this week, Dozier said. She didn’t give details, and the Saudi oil ministry couldn’t be reached for comment.

Saudi oil fields contain a quarter of the world’s reserves, and production costs there are among the lowest anywhere. That’s enticing to oil companies desperate to cut expenses at a time when inflation-adjusted oil prices are at their lowest levels since the Great Depression.

Saudi Oil Minister Ali Ibrahim Naimi and the crown prince met with U.S. oil executives in September in a suburb of Washington. The Saudis were said to have solicited ideas on how best to develop the country’s oil and natural-gas deposits.

The Saudis’ oil revenue plummeted more than a third in 1998 as oil prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell to their lowest levels since trading began in 1983.

Arco shares rose 13 cents to close at $57.56; Chevron shares fell 81 cents to $73.69. Both trade on the New York Stock Exchange.