  Oxygen abundances in the spiral galaxies expected to be richest in oxygen are
estimated. The new abundance determinations are based on the recently
discovered ff-relation between auroral and nebular oxygen line fluxes in HII
regions. We find that the maximum gas-phase oxygen abundance in the central
regions of spiral galaxies is 12+log(O/H)~8.75. This value is significantly
lower than the previously accepted value. The central oxygen abundance in the
Milky Way is similar to that in other large spirals.
