This article from Reuters coverage on Yahoo. Looks like the corporate world is looking for just about any excuse for more of these touchy- feely business liasons. ----------------------------------------------------------------------

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>>>Wednesday January 19 2:08 PM ET Chevron, Statoil, Shell Lead Oil Into Web Age By Andrew Mitchell

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil companies have made their first big move into the Internet age, sealing a flurry of look-a-like alliances with e-commerce companies to set up online energy marketplaces.

Chevron Corp., the number two U.S. oil company, and software company Ariba Inc. said on Wednesday they agreed to create an Internet marketplace allowing companies to buy and sell a range of energy-related products.

It came hot on the heels of similar deals first between Royal Dutch/Shell and Commerce One last week and then earlier on Wednesday between Norway's state-run Statoil and Europe's biggest business software maker SAP AG.

All three ventures expect to start up in the second quarter of this year, and mark the big oil firms' first major efforts to co-ordinate their costly procurement business on the web.

``They are three very big players in e-procurement and each of them has found a major oil company to hook up with,'' said Paul Spence of Andersen Consulting in London.

``It's very much too early to tell who will come out on top but size will be very, very important, as will the ability to secure the right suppliers and the necessary volume of buying,'' Spence said.

While the massive energy sector offers mouth-watering commercial opportunities as web trade grows the industry has previously come under fire for being slow to grasp cost-cutting opportunities the internet offers.

BP Amoco -- which has so far announced only internal initiatives -- expects to save at least $200 million a year by moving business onto the web.

Meanwhile Shell believes sheer financial clout will give its new venture a head start over its rivals.

``We've got no direct comment on the other plans but should just point out that Shell's got a total annual spending of $29 billion -- $40 billion if you include all the joint ventures -- which puts us in a particularly good position to do e-business,'' a Shell spokeswoman said.

Statoil's total spending is less than half that of Anglo-Dutch giant at $13.6 billion (109 billion kroner), including procurement costs of $4 billion in 1999.

Oil companies hope the initiatives will cut procurement costs significantly, feeding through in lower capital expenditure. E-commerce can cut procurement spending by between five and 15 percent, analysts estimate.

Analysts say that America Online subsidiary Netscape is the most surprising absentee so far from the clutch of new deals. ''When one moved all the others felt this is the right time to make their own play,'' said one.<<<

-- Irving (irvingf@myremarq.com), January 19, 2000

Answers

Bullshit, bullshit bullshit.

How does an oil company make money on the web.

Duh.

Mania.

This is what we call a hint. These folks can't even bill their customers straight these days without the "WEB".

Duh.

-- Gordon (g_gecko_69@hotmail.com), January 19, 2000.