BW0273 JAN 23,2003 8:58 PACIFIC 11:58 EASTERN

( BW)(NY-FITCH-RATINGS/OIL&GAS) Fitch Teleconf: Oil & Gas Industry Outlook Tomorrow at 11 a.m. EST

Business Editors

     CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 23, 2003--The Fitch Ratings Oil & Gas group will host a teleconference to discuss the state of the oil & gas industry on tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. EST. The call will include discussion on the outlooks of various subsectors within oil & gas, refining and marketing, drilling and service, and developments in the Latin American oil & gas sector with a particular emphasis on Venezuela.

    Fitch analyst Sean Sexton will be the call leader, with analysts Bryan Caviness, Patrick McGeever and Alejandro Bertuol. Prepared remarks are expected to last approximately 20 minutes, with a question and answer session to follow. In addition, Hugh Welton and Ralph Pellecchia will be available for the question and answer session to discuss pipelines.

    Participants should call 877/897-0442 and international participants should dial 706/643-7396. All participants should dial in ten minutes prior to the 11:00 a.m. EST start time and give the title of the call - 'Fitch Ratings Oil & Gas'. The passcode is '7788056'.

    Interested parties who are not available for the teleconference will be able to hear a replay of the call starting tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. EST, and running until Jan. 31, 2003 at 11:00 p.m. Domestic listeners should dial 800/642-1687 and international listeners should dial 706/645-9291 and use the access code '7788056'.

   --30--kc/sf*

   CONTACT: Fitch Ratings
         Sean Sexton, 312/368-3130
         Matt Burkhard, 212/908-0540 (Media Relations)

   KEYWORD: NEW YORK
   INDUSTRY KEYWORD: OIL/GAS BOND/STOCK RATINGS CONFERENCE CALLS
   SOURCE: Fitch Ratings