<a href=new.stockwatch.com>C O R R E C T I O N 2003-03-24 10:41 ET - News Release

BOSTON, March 24 /PRNewswire/ -- In its 18th year as principal sponsor of the Boston Marathon, John Hancock is proud to announce its elite team of international marathon runners today, including the men's and women's defending champions, Rodgers Rop and Margaret Okayo of Kenya, and the #1 ranked U.S. women's marathoner Marla Runyan of Eugene, Oregon. This year's field of 29 Olympic, world, and nationally ranked runners from 11 nations will compete on April 21, 2003, Patriot's Day.

In the men's field, Rodgers Rop will seek to defend his title against many of the fastest marathoners in the world. An eleven member Kenyan team also includes last year's runner-up Christopher Cheboiboch, world-ranked Vincent Kipsos and Benjamin Kimutai. Italian Olympian Giacomo Leone and two-time Boston runner-up and Ecuadorian Olympian Silvio Guerra will add to the competitiveness of the elite field. These seasoned runners will face tough opposition from additional athletes out of Brazil, Canada, Estonia, Tanzania and Venezuela.

On the women's side, Margaret Okayo of Kenya shattered the Boston Marathon women's record last year, running 2:20:43, and this year she will race for a second laurel wreath. Challenging Okayo are 2000 Olympic Marathon bronze medalist Joyce Chepchumba of Kenya and Russian national record holder Svetlana Zakharova. Focusing on the trio will be eight world-ranked marathoners, including the #1 ranked U.S. women's marathoner Marla Runyan and half-marathon world record holder and two-time Boston runner-up Elana Meyer of South Africa. The elite field will face tough competition from two additional American marathoners, 2002 U.S. National Champion Jill Gaitenby and Milena Glusac.

These athletes are part of the John Hancock Running and Fitness Clinic staff. Since the program's inception in 1986, athletes have visited more than 80,000 school children across the country to promote the benefits of a healthy, active lifestyle.

Speaking on behalf of the clinic athletes, four-time Boston champion Bill Rodgers said, "We're proud to be part of the John Hancock Running and Fitness Clinic team teaching children about health and fitness. The international competition and the depth of the field point to the encompassing reach of the world's oldest annually held marathon and the enthusiastic support of Boston fans which contribute to the success of this world class event."

John Hancock Financial Services, Inc. and its affiliated companies provide a broad array of insurance and investment products and services to retail and institutional customers. As of December 31, 2002, John Hancock and its subsidiaries had total assets under management of $127.6 billion.

CONTACT: Pam Kruh (617) 572-0558

John Hancock Financial Services, Inc.

CONTACT: Pam Kruh of John Hancock Financial Services, Inc., +1-617-572- 0558

Web site: www.jhancock.com

In the news release, John Hancock Financial Services Announces 2003 Boston Marathon Elite International Field, issued earlier today by John Hancock over PR Newswire, we are advised by the company that following document was inadvertently omitted:

107th Boston Marathon John Hancock's 2003 Elite Athlete Field

Men's Open Field Personal Best Vincent Kipsos, Kenya 2:06:52 (Berlin, 2002) Benjamin Kosgei Kimutai, Kenya 2:07:26 (Amsterdam, 2002) Giacomo Leone, Italy 2:07:52 (Otsu, 2001) Rodgers Rop, Kenya 2:08:07 (New York, 2002) Christopher Cheboiboch, Kenya 2:08:17 (New York, 2002) Laban Kipkemboi, Kenya 2:08:39 (New York, 2002) Eric Wainaina, Kenya 2:08:43 (Tokyo, 2002) Pavel Loskutov, Estonia 2:08:53 NR (Paris, 2002) John Nada Saya, Tanzania 2:08:57 (Milan, 2001) Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot, Kenya 2:08:59 (Milan, 2002) Timothy Cherigat, Kenya 2:09:34 (San Sebastian, 2002) Silvio Guerra, Ecuador 2:09:49 NR (Chicago, 1997) Martin Lel, Kenya 2:10:02 (Venice, 2002) Luis Fonseca, Venezuela 2:11:49 (Boston, 2002) Romulo Da Silver, Brazil 2:12:24 (Berlin, 2001) Bruce Deacon, Canada 2:13:18 (Sacramento, 2002) Wilson Kipkemboi Kigen, Kenya 2:13:49 (Eindoven, 2002) Stephen Kiogora, Kenya Debut

Women's Open Field Personal Best

Margaret Okayo, Kenya 2:20:43 CR (Boston, 2002) Svetlana Zakharova, Russia 2:21:31 NR (Chicago, 2002) Joyce Chepchumba, Kenya 2:23:22 (London, 1999) Elana Meyer, South Africa 2:25:15 NR (Boston, 1994) Esther Kiplagat, Kenya 2:25:32 (Paris, 2002) Lyubov Denisova, Russia 2:26:17 (New York, 2002) Alice Chelangat, Kenya 2:26:36 (Milan, 2001) Marla Runyan, U.S. 2:27:10 (New York, 2002) Albina Ivanova, Russia 2:29:53 (Honolulu, 2002) Milena Glusac, U.S. 2:31:14 (New York, 2002) Jill Gaitenby, U.S. 2:36:10 (Minneapolis, 2002)

<a href=www.euobserver.com>EUObserver

JOSCHKA FISCHER - German foreign minister said: "I do not know, either in political theory or practice, a serious alternative [to the UN]."

German foreign minister Joschka Fischer said on Monday that his country is against a new world order after the war in Iraq where the United States would run the international community.

In an interview with Der Spiegel, Mr Fischer said: "A world order in which the superpower decides on military strikes only according to its own national interest cannot work."

"I cannot and do not want to imagine that we stand before a whole series of disarmament wars," he said with reference to fears that the US administration would now unilaterally set the world agenda, after failing to secure the UN route for the Iraq conflict.

"In the end the same rules must apply for the big, middle-sized and small countries," he stressed.

No real influence on Washington Referring to Spain and the UK, the US' strongest EU allies, the German foreign minister questioned whether they had any real influence in Washington's decision to start a military conflict.

"The important question is whether those countries which are now close allies of the USA have or had any influence at all."

London and Madrid are also likely to be irritated by his comments that by deciding to continue supporting US President George W. Bush, despite the huge anti-war sentiment in their countries, they had caused "major problems that bordered on the destabilisation of democratic systems."

Different histories One of the major reasons for the existing transatlantic differences is the different histories experienced by Americans and Europeans.

"Whoever is familiar with European history knows about the many wars here. In the USA there is nothing to compare with Auschwitz or Stalingrad or the other terrible symbolic locations in our history."

Mr Fischer pleaded the case for the UN, which many have seen as being irreparably damaged in the lead up to the Iraqi war.

"I do not know, either in political theory or practice, a serious alternative [to the UN]."

Joschka Fischer has not given up a European foreign minister either. This person is "more necessary than ever" and would combine the roles of the High Representative for common foreign and security policy and the external relations commissioner.   Written by Honor Mahony Edited by Lisbeth Kirk

Read From the March 21, 2003 print edition

Texas oil and gas companies are well-positioned to benefit from the rebuilding of Iraq's multibillion-dollar oil industry, experts say William Hoffman   Staff Writer

GREATER METROPLEX — The Texas oil industry will be a big winner of a quick end to the regime of Saddam Hussein, industry observers agree.

"Texas is probably in the best position of any area, probably in the world, that can benefit from this," said Mark Baxter, director of the Maguire Energy Institute of the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

John Gerdes, senior vice president and director of energy research at Dallas-based Southwest Securities Inc., said Texas oil and gas companies are already lining up for hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts to put out Iraqi oil well fires and rebuild the country's oil industry.

Baxter said he tried to arrange a visit to Iraq about three weeks ago with a group from Dallas and, "even with my contacts, 'mum' was the word of the day" on contract bids and negotiations.

Baxter said he's read that Houston-based Halliburton, Aliso Viejo, Calif.-based Fluor Corp. and San Francisco-based Bechtel Group Inc. have been asked by the U.S. government to bid on reconstruction of Iraq's oil industry.

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He suspects that non-disclosure agreements contractors signed with the government and uncertainty over the scale of work — war damage could be near zero or near total — helps keep speculation about business deals to a minimum.

It's safe to say, however, that reconstruction of Iraq's oil industry will be a massive undertaking.

Iraq is home to the world's second-largest proven oil reserves, with 112.5 billion barrels, Baxter noted. Saudi Arabia ranks first with 261.7 billion barrels.

The job will require billions of dollars in capital and technology, not only to repair war damage but to modernize an industry barred from new technologies for a generation.

Baxter said that while other countries can provide some capital, U.S. companies hold important licenses on technologies needed to modernize Iraq's oil industry.

A March 18 New York Times article said the Bush administration planned to let the lion's share of reconstruction contracts to American corporations, with foreign companies participating only as subcontractors.

Baxter doubted that was possible. "It's so big, I can't sit here and tell you that American companies can fully develop (Iraq's oil industry) the way it needs to be developed," he said. "It's going to take a lot of players."

Baxter and Gerdes both noted that a post-Saddam Hussein Iraq would likely end its state monopoly on the oil industry and begin granting concessions to foreign operators for a more direct and profitable role in the business.

While behind-the-scenes activity may be intense, Metroplex oil and gas companies seem to be putting a business-as-usual face on their response to the crisis.

"We're always producing all-out," said Exxon Mobil Corp. spokesman Tom Cirigliano in Irving, "so there isn't much of a need for making adjustments there."

He said the company takes no position on the Iraq situation, but has beefed up security to deal with potential terrorist activity.

Exxon Mobil is active in oil and gas development in practically every country in the world, according to Baxter.

Cirigliano said Exxon Mobil is confident it can meet customer demand for its gasoline, oil and petrochemical products during the crisis.

Governments in the Persian Gulf have pledged to keep shipping lanes clear, he noted, and Saudi Arabia has said it can ship product by way of the Red Sea if necessary.

Dallas-based Hunt Oil Co.'s Jim Oberwetter, vice president for public affairs, acknowledged the company had suspended drilling in Yemen after a March 18 shooting aboard a drilling rig there killed a Hunt supervisor.

However, Oberwetter added, "production from Yemen continues in an uninterrupted manner. It is performing normally. We are producing as we have in the past."

Drilling operations will resume in the near future, he said.

Oberwetter declined to discuss Hunt Oil security, personnel movements or the company's future in Iraq.

In the pipeline

Halliburton, which employs 1,500 people in the Metroplex, including 1,100 at an oil-field products facility in Carrollton, was also mum on its participation in post-war Iraq.

The Times' March 18 article reported Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown & Root had been asked to bid on contracts. Halliburton spokeswoman Wendy Hall, in Houston, directed contract inquiries to the U.S. Agency for International Development in Washington, D.C.

Ellen Yount, press director at U.S. AID, said no contracts had yet been awarded to Metroplex-area companies for reconstruction in Iraq.

Phillip Feiner, general counsel at BDS International L.L.C. in Dallas, said since the natural-gas drilling and exploration company had most of its assets in Colorado, and none outside the United States, it expected no direct impact from a war.

Nevertheless, Feiner said BDS has increased security in response to the crisis. "We want to see as minimal impact from a potential war as possible," he said, "because we all suffer as a society."

Gerdes said, "There's not much these companies can do," to manage the impact of the Iraq crisis on their businesses.

Iraq is a significant contributor to the rising price of crude, he said, but an oil strike in Venezuela, frigid winter weather and the industry's low excess production capacity to deal with demand spikes all help create a bullish oil market.

Gerdes said he expected oil prices to surge at the start of hostilities. But if the conflict ends quickly, he said, crude could drop from its March 19 price of $29.88 to $29 a barrel in the second quarter, before settling at an average $26 a barrel by the third quarter.

Baxter estimated Iraq would be able to deliver 3 million to 4 million barrels of oil a day to world markets if war damage to the industry is light. Current production is about 2.8 million barrels a day, he said.

Gerdes estimated the recovered industry could generate $10 billion to $20 billion a year for a new government.

"We are not going to war to pilfer the resources of a sovereign nation," Baxter said. "That's not in the cards. I don't even think that can happen. ... I still like to believe we're the good guys in this."

Contact DBJ writer William Hoffman at bhoffman@bizjournals.com or (214) 706-7123.

Pravda Ru 13:58 2003-03-24

According to the estimates of economists, the indirect losses of the world economy from the war in Iraq may amount to one trillion dollars, says the research done by the Sheikh Sayed Coordination and Monitoring Centre in Abu Dhabi, an information body of the League of Arab States.

According to this research, the cost of rehabilitation work and the modernisation of the Iraqi economy, including the oil industry, will amount to 120 billion dollars. As a consequence of the war, the document forecasts turbulence at the world stock exchanges, a trade war between Europe and the United States, the dropping of the dollar exchange rate, a sharp lowering of investment activity and also an outburst of terrorist activity in the world.

The restoration of Iraq's oil potential and the removal of international sanctions from it will allow Baghdad to quickly increase its oil exports, which in turn will negatively affect the oil prices and the incomes of the OPEC member countries, points out the document.

The return of Iraq to the international oil market will take place at the expense of the OPEC countries, mainly the Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and other key oil producers which will have to lower the level of their production, giving way to additional Iraqi deliveries, says the document.

Taking into account the slow growth in oil demand due to the slow development of the global economy, the oil prices will sharply fall, which will force oil producers to continue lowering their oil extraction. Quite possible that a new price war will start between the OPEC members, because this organisation will be forced to change its policy to defend its share on the world market, underscores the research.

read more Posted on Mon, Mar. 24, 2003 BY TOM AVRIL Knight Ridder Newspapers

PHILADELPHIA - KRT NEWSFEATURES (KRT) - Your car's gas tank is thirsty. Your wallet hurts. Two things to consider:

1. Prices aren't really as high as they seem.
2. A little pocketbook pain, according to some, is not entirely a bad thing.

Not that anyone wants economic hardship, much less a war, but some clean-air advocates hope the recent rapid increase in gasoline prices will cause motorists to think about alternatives to the almighty automobile.

"It definitely forces people out of their cars," said Ronda R. Urkowitz, program director of Cross County Connection, a New Jersey nonprofit that promotes transportation alternatives. "We hope that people who do try alternatives like carpooling like it, so that once gas prices do come down, they'll keep doing it."

Joseph O. Minott, executive director of the Philadelphia-based Clean Air Council, holds a common view among environmentalists when he says gasoline prices are not high enough.

The price does not reflect the true societal cost of byproducts such as air pollution, Minott said. Yet he wishes the current high prices were happening for a different reason.

"Ideally, they shouldn't be high because oil companies and Middle Eastern countries are making a lot of money off it," Minott said. "I'd rather see them high because they're taxed so highly, and then the government can invest in ... alternatives to the car."

The run-up in fuel prices is already being cited by interest groups in Washington in promoting initiatives for energy efficiency.

On Thursday, the nonprofit coalition Alliance to Save Energy applauded the introduction of a bipartisan Senate bill that calls for a wide range of energy-efficiency tax credits.

"With energy costs reaching record levels in recent days, lawmakers are right to get behind energy efficiency that will help consumers and the environment with longer-term benefits for the economy and national security," said David M. Nemtzow, alliance president.

Energy experts agree that current gasoline prices - said to be higher because of a possible war with Iraq and labor unrest in Venezuela - are not high enough to significantly reduce consumption. Indeed, after accounting for inflation, gas prices are as low as they were in the 1960s.

And even if the current hikes continue, gasoline prices are what economists call "inelastic," meaning that higher prices have little effect on demand, at least in the short term.

That's because people still have to get to work or school, and in many parts of the country there aren't many options besides the car.

Still, Honda dealers credit high gas prices with recent record sales of the company's fuel-efficient "hybrid" cars. And in big cities such as Philadelphia, commuters will readily forsake their cars when pushed. Witness the packed mass-transit trains when the weather is bad.

Urkowitz said her organization had seen an increase recently in inquiries about ride-sharing and mass transit, but could not say whether it had been prompted by higher gas prices or by bad weather.

How high would gas prices have to go before people start taking the train, buying fuel-efficient cars, or living closer to where they work and play?

"What's the pain threshhold?" said Bill Veno, a director of Cambridge Energy Research Associates and co-author of a 2000 study titled Gasoline and the American People. "Gasoline doesn't cost enough to really have a significant impact on the average person's income."

Veno said a good model is Europe, where gasoline prices are triple what they are here - a difference due mostly to higher taxes.

Greater use of mass-transit and smaller cars have long been the norm on the other side of the Atlantic, though part of the reason for small cars could be the narrow roads in older cities, Veno said.

Here in the United States, said Kert Davies, the U.S. research director for Greenpeace, the goal should be to "change behavior without nuking the economy."

Whatever their impact, current high gasoline prices may be short-lived, according to one expert.

George Gaspar, an energy analyst with the Robert W. Baird & Co. financial firm in Milwaukee, predicted that crude oil prices, now at about $37 a barrel, won't go higher than $45. That means average prices at the pump, now about $1.70 nationwide, won't go up more than 20 cents a gallon, he said.

The reasons are that a war is expected to be quick, and that the Bush administration would open the nation's strategic petroleum reserves to keep prices in check, he said. In the meantime, oil companies are building up non-OPEC supplies, Gaspar said.

All of which makes Minott, of the Clean Air Council, lament that prices won't have much of an impact.

"It takes an awfully large price hike for Americans to change their gas-consuming ways," Minott said. "Culturally, we love our cars."