In a research note, Prabhas Panigrahi, managing director of energy research at Ehrenkrantz King Nussbaum, said Rowan's results were a harbinger of good things to come from its peers, including Ensco International (ESV: news, chart, profile), GlobalSantaFe (GSF: news, chart, profile), Transocean (RIG: news, chart, profile) and Noble Corp. (NE: news, chart, profile).
Noting that Rowan's third-quarter utilization in the Gulf of Mexico stood at 97 percent vs. 88 percent in the second quarter of 2004, Panigrahi said: "This is consistent with our hypothesis that supply/demand balance in the critical Gulf of Mexico for jack-ups has been tightening, implying prospects for strong price (and consequently, earnings) improvement." marketwatch.com |