EXXON &lt;XON> MAY CLOSE ONE FRENCH REFINERY

  Exxon Corp, the world's largest oil
  company, said in a published interview today that it was
  reviewing its worldwide refinery operations and might decide to
  close on of its french refineries.
      Lee R. Raymond, Exxon's new president, singled out the
  possibility of a closure of one of Exxon's refineries in France
  during the interview.
      An Exxon spokeswoman confirmed that Raymond had
  specifically mentioned refineries in France but said that no
  specific refinery had been named. She also said that all of
  Exxon's opertations were under constant review.
      Exxon currently has two refineries in France, FOS in the
  mediterranean with a capcity of 175,000 barrels per day and
  Port Jerome west of paris with a similar capacity.
      Petroleum Intelligence Weekly, an influential trade
  journal, said, in its current issue, that they understood that
  Exxon was looking at the possibility of refinery closures in
  Antwerp, Southern France or possibly Italy.
      Paul Mlotok, oil analyst with Salomon Brothers inc said
  that with the closures Exxon made in 1986 in Europe and the
  improvement in the European refining situation, its future
  profits there should be good.
      "Exxon and other major oil companies have closed a bunch of
  refineries in Europe, upgraded the rest and shaken many of the
  indepedents out of the market. Now with demand for products
  rising and efficient operations, Exxon should show superior
  earnings," Mlotok said.
      "Just after Royal Dutch &lt;RD>, they are seen as one of the
  highest grade refiners in Europe," he added.
      Industry sources said that the oil companies were likely to
  feel greater pressure on their operations in Southern Europe
  where competition from the OPEC countries is increasing as
  these producers move further into downstream operations.
      PIW said that refiners in the Mediterranean can expect
  increased shipments from Saudi Arabia and other OPEC export
  refineries.
      PIW said "sales from Libya, Algeria and elsewhere are
  expected to reclaim markets lost to Italian and other European
  refiners as a result of the abundance of cheap netback oil last
  year."
  

