USX &lt;X> SAYS TALKS ENDED WITH BRITISH PETROLEUM

  USX Corp chairman David Roderick said
  the company had ended talks with British Petroleum Co Plc &lt;BP>
  about the possible sale of some energy assets and said USX has
  no immediate restructuring plans for its oil businesses.
      "We have terminated our discussions," Roderick told Reuters
  after a speech to the Petroleum Equipment Suppliers Association
  here. He said USX was not conducting talks with any other
  possible buyer of its energy assets.
      Earlier today, BP said it planned to offer 70 dlrs per
  share for the Standard Oil Co's &lt;SRD> publicly held stock.
      USX said in December the company had held formal
  discussions with BP about the potential sale of some of its
  overseas oil assets and USX had received expressions of
  interest from a half dozen other oil companies.
      Roderick, in response to a question, said USX had no
  immediate plans to restructure its Marathon Oil Co, or Texas
  Oil and Gas Corp. He said USX also did not plan to sell any of
  its 49 pct interest in the giant Yates Field in west Texas.
      "We want to maintain our production in the Yates Field
  during these difficult times," Roderick added.
      In response to a question, Roderick also said he did not
  know whether Australian investor Robert Holmes a Court was
  accumulating USX stock. In recent days, traders have suggested
  Holmes a Court was buying additional shares.
      Roderick said Carl Ichan, who terminated an eight billion
  dlr hostile takeover plan for USX in January, continued to hold
  a sizable interest in the company. "Mr. Ichan still apparently
  has 11.4 pct. He hasn't bought any more stock or sold any,"
  Roderick said. "He's a very satisfied shareholder right now. I
  talk with him monthly."
      In his speech, Roderick predicted the fall in the value of
  the dollar would set the stage for the U.S. to solve its trade
  deficit problem which totaled 170 billion dlrs in 1986.
      "I expect by the early 1990s the U.S. will be running a net
  trade surplus," Roderick said. "I think the worst is over and
  we can look forward to stability and upward movement ahead."
      However, the USX chairman warned that European trading
  partners may resist the turn in the U.S. trade deficit. "Some
  economic discomfort must be transferred from the United States
  to our friends, trading partners and allies."
  

