Corporate Profile for Baker & Associates, dated Sept. 20, 2002.

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Published Date:   Sept. 20, 2002

Company Name:     Baker & Associates, Energy Consultants

Address:          1770 Saint James, Suite 406
                  Houston, TX 77056

Main Telephone
 Number:          713/627-9390

Internet Home
 Page Address
  (URL)           www.energia.com

Chief Executive
 Officer:         George Baker

Chief Financial
 Officer:         Sue Breen

Investor Relations
 E-mail address:  [e-mail]

Public Relations
 Contact:         Johanna Schroeder
 Business number: 713/627-9390
 E-mail address:  [e-mail]

Industry:         Energy

Trading Symbol/
 Exchange:        N/A

Market Makers:    N/A

Company description: The lack of transparency in Mexico directly affects the careers and fortunes of prospective investors and exporters as well as lenders, regulators, journalists and analysts. Mexico's oil and gas, power and chemical industries exist in a tensely politicized climate characterized by opposition to change voiced by political parties, labor unions and consumers.

These facts pose problems both for analysis and execution -- even for Mexican government officials. Since 1992, the government has succeeded only in opening niche opportunities for private investment. The Fox administration, meanwhile, looks ahead to a major overhaul of the energy sector.

Any organization's challenge is to find the right mix between developing in-house expertise and seeking outside assistance. Baker & Associates provides insights that strengthen the process of due diligence in relation to business or policy development. Clients and subscribers benefit from the firm's newsletter service, research and documentation center, and consulting services.

Newsletter publisher

The firm's newsletter service, Mexico Energy Intelligence(R) (MEI), was launched in 1994. MEI brings analysis of the Mexican operating environment to managers, analysts and regulators in the spirit of a challenge to in-house reporting. It provides companies and government organizations with analysis of market and policy conditions, taking into account trends and cycles in Mexican politics and history.

Baker & Associates minimizes the risk associated with single-source projections by providing a type of cognitive insurance against the uncertainties in Mexico project and policy development. In such an environment, business development requires market, industry, and political sensitivities to assess risk and reward adequately.

In view of these challenges for business and policy development, MEI provides analysis critical to due diligence assessment and alerts subscribers of policy, market and institutional developments affecting Mexico's energy and chemical sectors. Subscribers are also kept abreast of pertinent Internet traffic, new publications and upcoming industry or academic meetings relating to the energy sectors.

Organizations from seven countries depend upon MEI analysis to confirm or confront their in-house views. They include major oil companies, large independents, gas pipeline providers, power developers, banks and regulators.

Energia.com

Reports, research tools, public information and worldwide weblinks are available at the firm's website, www.energia.com. MEI subscribers have access to prior reports and several market research tools, and reports in the archive are available to the public for individual purchase on-line.

Research & Documentation center

Through the course of projects with US and Mexican government agencies as well as Fortune 100 corporations, multiple databases on Mexico's oil and gas, chemical and electric power markets and related infrastructure have been created. Our corporate library on the contemporary energy history and policy environment in Mexico, including Pemex, the CFE, the CRE, and Mexican politics, is probably unmatched in the United States or Canada.

Consulting support

The firm offers consulting services for organizations seeking data, business and policy intelligence about operating conditions and market and policy outlooks in Mexico.

Baker & Associates, Energy Consultants (BAEC)

BAEC is a privately held firm whose beginnings may be traced back to consulting assignments carried out by founding principal George Baker in the late 1970s in Mexico at the height of its Oil Boom.

An occasional contributor to the Oil & Gas Journal, his first OGJ article on Mexico was published in June of 1981; a recent report may be found in the May 7, 2002 issue. Baker, an internationally recognized industry expert on Mexico who trained as a Latin American area specialist at Duke University, continues to steer the firm's intelligence-gathering and reporting efforts.

Two members of the research staff, Fernando Ramirez and Gloria Mancha, are economists with degrees from the State University of Nuevo Leon (UANL). Ramirez, formerly with the Mexican Finance Ministry, holds an M.A. in economics from Rice University and is completing a Ph.D. there.

The research and editorial teams bring together multidisciplinary skills and experience that challenge the assumptions and conclusions of subscribers and clients.

Baker & Associates' Houston office has been located in the Galleria Area since 1996.