Britoil shares down

Press, 25 November 1982, Page 25

Britoil shares down

NZPA-Reuter London Shares in Britoil, the Stateowned British North Sea oil company sold to the private sector on Friday, dropped almost 20 per cent on Tuesday when they made their debut on the London Stock Exchange. ■ Dealers reported slow trading after the shares opened at 82 pence each, 18 pence below the down-pay-ment price paid on Friday

when the Government offered shares to selected buyers. The shares cost 215 pence each, 100 pence in cash with the balance due in April. The Labour Party called Friday’s sale a disaster, after small investors and pension funds to less than 30 per cent of the 225 million shares on offer. But the Secretary for Energy (Mr. Nigel Lawson) said the Government had fully

underwritten the sale preventing any loss to the British taxpayer. Oil shares, once a firm favourite with investors have been hit by the slump in world demand for oil. Mr Lawson blamed Friday’s lack of interest on an interview in which Saudi Arabia’s Oil Minister sug-' gested that the organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries might consider a price cut.