Mexico's state-owned oil and electricity monopolies are in need of drastic, but politically perilous, reforms.

Blakeney also created a state-owned oil and gas corporation, SaskOil, to handle oil exploration and production.

The Finnish state-owned oil and energy company Neste Oy reported a 52 percent increase in profits yesterday for the first eight months of the year.

KazMunayGas is the state-owned oil and gas company of Kazakhstan.

He said Brazil's drive to privatize state-owned oil and telephone companies, among others, was a strong indicator of a free-market approach.

The Congress also rejected reforms aimed at opening the state-owned oil and electricity companies to urgent private investment.

But Mexico's state-owned oil company, long past the glory days of the early 1980's when prices were high, will probably not be much help.

Since 1997, Iran's state-owned oil and gas industry has entered into major exploration and production agreements with foreign consortia.

In terms of production," he said, "it will be near in size to several of the big state-owned oil companies in the Middle East.

Soekor, South Africa's state-owned oil and gas exploration company, said yesterday that the country's first oilfield development was expected to come on stream early next year.