Transnationals building a base in the fastest growing oil market, Asia, have already been stung by the economic slowdown in the continent, following the currency crisis of the Tigers. ``Companies will just delay investments,'' said Conoco EurAsia Inc. president and managing director Franz B. Ehrhardt, who expected the lull in the oil market to persist for almost two years.The US multinational, with an annual income of $ 16 billion, has had a presence in India for the last two years and is ``pursuing several joint ventures'' here. Global oil barons are expected to turn pessimist at a time when India expects overseas investors to contribute to the Rs 1000 billion investment required to augment thecountry's oil producing and refining capacities in the coming decade.

Ehrhardt still believes that Asia would be a destination for oil industry investments. ``It is like a healthy person, who catches a flu,'' he said, ``you also know that the flu will be over.'' A member of the Unocal board, another US multinational with investment plans in India, said, ``we become citizens of the country we operate in, we do not leave when things turn sour...''

Tan Sri Dato Mohd Hassan Marican, chief executive of Malaysia's $ 10.9 billion-turnover national oil company, Petronas, took a long-term view of the oil market too. He pointed out that oil companies made long-term investments and were usually not deterred by short-term shocks.

``The global conditions are not the same as the conditions in India and China. Our demand for petroleum products is still growing at a pace of six per cent,'' said Indian Oil Corporation director, human resources and business development, Subir Raha. Raha was referring to the slackeninggrowth in the demand for petroleum products in Asia, which has helped drag down oil prices in the past 12 months.

Ehrhardt, however, felt that investments would not be so impacted by the Asian economic crisis as the price of crude. He was only echoing the apprehensions of market watchers, who see a continued downtrend in oil prices hitting the profit margins of oil companies and so, their investible surpluses.

The gradual decline in the prices of crude oil and consequently, petroleum products, since the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) first announced a 10 per cent increase in output in November last year, has already left an impression on the industry tycoons. Oil companies everywhere, are cutting corners and looking for strategic alliances, to help cushion market shocks.

The first signs that the crude price slide was here to stay, came on Tuesday (December 1), a day after the OPEC meeting in Vienna ended amidst acrimony. Crude oil prices, which were already at a 22-year low, hitrock bottom worldwide.

Oil prices plunged to $ 9.7 a barrel on December 1, or to roughly half the prevailing rate of $ 18 a barrel a year ago. The price of Dubai crude, which had been sliding steadily from $ 14.5 a barrel in early October to $ 10.5 in mid November, plunged to $ 9.72 on December 1.

The benchmark North Sea Brent prices (for the first time and for some inexplicable reason,) ran neck in neck with that of Dubai crude. Brent rates tumbled from $ 13.88 a barrel on October 1, to $ 12.49 on November 2 and finally to $ 9.77 on December 1.

By Friday (December 3) North Sea Brent rates had plunged to $ 9.75 a barrel and Dubai crude kept a respectful distance at $ 9.66 a barrel. Oil prices are likely to continue sliding, because the world's largest producers, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Iran could not agree on even contining the output cuts that have already been committed.

Market watchers say, the OPEC's problems will be augmented once the United Nations lifts sanctions on Iraq and it turns up itsoil taps, adding another three million barrels to OPEC's current output of 27 million barrels per day. Iran could turn up its oil taps too, once its diplomatic relations with the oil-guzzling US improves, sloshing the oil mart with another three million barrels of oil per day.