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Keynote speaker James Rubin, a former state department spokesman in the Clinton administration, presented a mixed view of the outlook for the Middle East and its relationship with the West following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. "We are never going to convince the Arab world that our policy makes sense," he told delegates, regarding sanctions against Iraq. Rubin also slammed the idea that Osama bin Laden-sponsored attacks on the U.S. are on behalf of the Palestinians. He noted that the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed in 1998 when the U.S. was at the height of its popularity with the Palestinian Authority for putting pressure on the Israeli government of the day to negotiate. "The people of the Palestinian Authority would come out in the street and cheer the Americans," he recalled.

Saudi Arabia's electricity market, the largest in the Middle East, requires an investment of SAR340 billion ($90 billion) to meet Ministry of Industry and Electricity targets of raising installed generation to 60,000 MW from 23,000 MW by 2023. Demand for electricity in the kingdom is growing at 4% per year, Christopher Dann of management consulting firm Arthur D. Little, Inc., said. Saudi Arabia's 75 power plants--including combined power and desalination projects--produce 23 GW, he noted, adding "current peak load this summer was just shy of that."

* "I don't see the chemistry between [Israeli Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon and [Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser] Arafat yielding anything other than a peace process, rather than real peace."--James Rubin, former state department spokesman, commenting on the Arab-Israeli conflict.

California faces a very significant issue associated with recovery of past power costs. PG&E and Southern California Edison ran up bills of $14 billion before the state Department of Water Resources (DWR) stepped in to buy electricity for them. The DWR has paid about another $10 billion to buy electricity. Generators have unpaid claims for billions of dollars.

Bonds Issue Date Maturity Issuer Amount ($ mil) Offer Price Type of Security Coupon (%) Moody's S&P Bookrunner(s) 10/04/01 10/25/16 EdF 731.1 99.201 Fxd/Straight Bd 5.5 Aaa AA+ CAI/ML/UBS 10/05/01 10/05/04 CA La Electricidad de Caracas 5.2 Market FRNs Floats - - N/A 10/05/01 10/15/04 Powergen 1,200 99.927 Global Bonds 4.5 Baa1 BBB DEUTSCHE BANK/JPM M&A Date Announced Date Effective Target Target Advisors Target Country Acquiror Acquiror Advisors Acquiror Industry Sector Acquiror Country Value ($mil) 10/04/01 - Descon Pvt - India Andrew Yule Co. - Investment & Commodity Firms,Dealers,Exchanges India - 10/05/01 - Portland General Electric CSFB U.S. Northwest Natural Gas Merrill Lynch Electric, Gas, and Water Distribution U.S. 2,849 10/05/01 10/05/01 ZPS Energetika - Czech Republic Mostecka Uhelna - Mining Czech Republic - 10/08/01 - Fiddlers Ferry,Ferrybridge Goldman Sachs U.K. American Electric Power J.P. Morgan Electric, Gas, and Water Distribution U.S. 957.775 10/09/01 - Elia (CPTE/Electrabel) - Belgium City of Brussels - Public Administration Belgium 202.423 Source: Thomson Financial Securities Data Company. For more information, call Rich Peterson at (973) 645-9701.

Syndication of the $232 million Salalah project loan is still scheduled to take place within the next month or so, despite market rumors and press speculation to the contrary, say bankers involved in the deal.

Lead arrangers of a $1.3 billion loan to CMS Energy and International Power's Al Shuweihat S1 project jacked up front-end fees at the beginning of last week to entice banks into the deal and counteract growing nervousness about investing in Middle East projects.

Following is a directory of upcoming Middle Eastern power projects. To report new projects, please call Will Ainger, Managing Editor, at (44-20) 7303-1735 or email: wainger@euromoneyplc.com

Bonds Date Maturity Issuer Amt ($ mil) Offer Price Type of Security Coupon (%) Moody's S&P Bookrunner(s) 10/02/01 10/15/11 Arizona Public Service 400 99.668 Bonds 6.375 Baa1 BBB CSFB/JPM 10/02/01 10/01/05 Detroit Edison (DTE Energy) 200 99.856 Fst Mtg Bonds 5.05 A3 A- SALOMON/BARCLAYS/BANK ONE 10/02/01 10/01/10 Detroit Edison(DTE Energy) 500 99.982 Fst Mtg Bonds 6.125 A3 A- SALOMON/BARCLAYS/BANK ONE 10/03/01 10/01/08 Mirant 300 99.813 Bonds 7.2 Baa3 BBB- SALOMON/BofA 10/03/01 10/01/21 Mirant 450 99.851 Bonds 8.5 Baa3 BBB- SALOMON/BofA 10/03/01 10/26/11 Tokyo Electric Power 413.9 100 Bonds 1.445 Aa2 AA- NIKKO-SSB 10/03/01 10/26/06 Tokyo Electric Power 413.9 100 Bonds 0.5 Aa2 AA- DAIWA M&A Date Announced Date Effective Target Target Country Acquiror Acquiror Country Value ($mil) 09/27/01 - Orion Power U.S. Reliant Resources U.S. 4,975.257 09/28/01 - Furnas Centrais Eletricas Brazil Investors N/A - 09/28/01 - Furnas Centrais Eletricas Brazil Investors N/A - 09/28/01 - OEstnett Norway Viken Energinett Norway - 09/28/01 - PEC Tarnobrzes Poland Elektrocieplownia Krakow Poland - 09/28/01 09/28/01 SPE Belgium EdF France - 09/28/01 09/28/01 Tindra Norway ASA Norway 39.072 10/01/01 10/01/01 Gruzgaz Georgia Itera Group Russian Fed. - 10/02/01 - GAIL India Indian Oil India - 10/02/01 - Niagara Mohawk Energy U.S. Select Energy U.S. - Source: Thomson Financial Securities Data Company. For more information, call Rich Peterson at (973) 645-9701.

Bahrain's Ministry of Finance has selected Gulf International Bank to provide short-term financing to fund an expansion of the Al Hidd power and water desalination plant, according to Shahriar Khoshabi, a financier at GIB in Abu Dhabi. The bank is currently in the process of closing the $350 million six-month bridge loan. It does not intend to syndicate the transaction, says Khoshabi.