Word: petroleum
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...addition, Dukakis said in recent speeches that the Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPR) should be filled to capacity. The SPR program, created in the late 1970s, stores barrels of oil in some Southern states for use in case of a major supply disruption...
Singapore, which has been a leading oil refiner and supplier of drilling equipment, is still coming back from an economic slump that was exacerbated by last year's drop in petroleum prices. Nonetheless, the tiny island country did well enough to run up a $1 billion surplus with the U.S. in the first six months of the year. Singapore is strong in electronics and is trying to establish a biotechnology industry. It also aims to be a service center for Asia, specializing in banking, insurance and communications...
...agency's plan calls for a dramatic return to the banking business by A. Robert Abboud, former chairman of First Chicago and ex-president of Occidental Petroleum. Abboud, 58, known during a stormy 29-year career as an exacting boss, is spearheading a campaign to raise $500 million and gain control of First City, a holding company that operates 61 banks in Texas and one in South Dakota. Abboud, who will become chairman, is kicking in $5 million of his personal funds. His group, which had been conducting secret negotiations with the FDIC since November, beat out at least three...
...happened is a typical tale of oil-patch woe. When petroleum prices were high in the late 1970s, First City lent extensively to oil-rig builders and small supply firms. When prices later plunged, loan defaults skyrocketed. First City then boosted its presence in real estate loans -- and that market softened. As foreclosures mounted, First City's management offered Arabian horses, Porsches or 40-ft. yachts to new customers who maintained accounts of $100,000 and up. The gimmicks did not lure enough high rollers to stanch First City's losses, and talk of a takeover, bailout or shutdown mounted...
...course, a hard-edged manager may be just what First City needs. Despite a partial recovery in petroleum prices this year, the Texas economy is still stagnant and oil-patch lending remains a risky business. The FDIC has already rescued eleven Texas banks, while 38 others went belly up. Last week, as Abboud set up temporary quarters in a First City Tower conference room, he said he will aggressively seek new business, and predicted that First City will be profitable "very shortly" after the influx of FDIC and private funds. "As this bank emerges, it's going to be formidable...