BP-Amoco, Texaco and Chevron, are scrambling for a share of the equity.

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"The principal motivation and the primary competitive justification for BP-Amoco and Exxon-Mobil is to gain the necessary scale to undertake larger and riskier global exploration and development projects that become available, " says Philip K. Verleger Jr.

FORBES: Industry: The John D. way

Winning the operating rights for what may prove to be one of the greatest oil discoveries ever is a major victory for ENI, which was competing against the likes of Royal Dutch Shell (nyse: RD - news - people), BP Amoco (nyse: BP - news - people), TotalFinaElf (nyse: TOT - news - people), Exxon Mobil (nyse: XOM - news - people) and Phillips Petroleum (nyse: P - news - people).

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The London-based BP Amoco once confined its efforts to buying small stakes in the deepwater forays led by bigger rivals.

FORBES: Going deep

For BP Amoco's soft-spoken CEO, Sir John Browne, deep water offers the prospect of the largest untapped reserves and the lowest-cost means of extraction.

FORBES: Going deep

The ship, named the Schiehallion after a mountain on the Scottish coast, is the only visible sign of what lies 365 meters below:a 500-million-barrel oilfield that BP Amoco has discovered and developed.

FORBES: Going deep

In exchange, the Chinese oil firm signed a letter of intent with BP Amoco calling for the establishment of a gas-marketing joint venture in eastern China.

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The company was forced to sell off 90% of the production, ceding control to BP Amoco, in order to finance a multibillion-dollar project that included pipelines to carry the oil 500 miles from the Andes to Colombia's coast.

FORBES: One Tamed Wildcat

It was forced to sell off 90% of the production, ceding control to BP Amoco, in order to finance a multibillion-dollar project that included pipelines to carry the oil 800 kilometers from the Andes to the coast of Colombia.

FORBES: One Tamed Wildcat