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Gold/Mining/Energy : Strictly: Drilling and oil-field services -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Harold S. who wrote (47008)	6/28/1999 8:20:00 PM
From: pz	Respond to of 95453

Small Oil Firm Comeback Seen - (HOUSTON) -- The Weekly Petroleum Argus energy newsletter says reports of the death of independent oil and gas companies were greatly exaggerated. The letter notes many independents have been crippled and some on the verge of bankruptcy because of low prices earlier this year. But it predicts the second half of this year could see a brisk upturn of merger and acquisition activity and better economic times for independents.

To: Harold S. who wrote (47008)	6/28/1999 8:21:00 PM
From: pz	Respond to of 95453

Monday June 28, 3:55 pm Eastern Time NYMEX crude settles off mildly, products end down NEW YORK, June 28 (Reuters) - Crude oil futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) settled off the day's lows Monday as traders took defensive positions ahead of weekly inventory data to be released late Tuesday. NYMEX crude for August delivery settled at $18.23 a barrel, down 16 cents, after last trading at $18.22. It moved as low as $18.18 in late trade. In the morning the contract traded as high as $18.36. Trading volume was light, traders said. Front month heating oil and gasoline futures ended down as the contracts were sold off ahead of their expiration on Wednesday, traders said. Both contracts were range-bound in late trade. Front month heating oil finished at 45.02 cents a gallon, down 0.51 cents, after last trading at 45.00 cents. It traded between 44.95/45.40 cents. Front month gasoline wiped out earlier gains and ended at 52.79 cents a gallon, off 0.29. It last traded at 52.75 cents, after keeping to its 52.60/53.20 range in late trade. Traders said there was no fresh fundamental news to trade on. In the cash market there were rumors of problems at Conoco's refinery in Lake Charles, La.. But traders said they did not see any evidence of that as the company appeared to be a seller of heating oil and gasoline in the physical market. A Conoco spokesman declined to comment. In London, August Brent crude last traded at $16.52 a barrel, down 10 cents, giving up earlier gains. On Wednesday last week, a surprise 5.8 million barrel draw in U.S. crude inventories pushed NYMEX oil prices 70 cents higher to $18.45. It has seesawed since then as analysts said the burst after the draw was reported appeared to be an overreaction. ''The underlying fundamentals of crude oil are not supportive of higher prices at the present time,'' said Prudential Securities in its weekly outlook. Ahead of the weekly data from the American Petroleum Institute (API), Prudential said its forecast calls for a 2.5 million barrel increase in U.S. crude oil stocks for the week ended June 25. Also last week, an unseasonable 2.1 million barrel decline in distillate stocks also lifted heating oil. Distillates include heating oil and diesel. And a neutral 160,000-barrel build in gasoline stocks kept gasoline futures' movement tentative, although by Friday the front month contract had moved up, along with crude and heating oil.

To: Harold S. who wrote (47008)	6/28/1999 8:24:00 PM
From: pz	Respond to of 95453

Monday June 28, 2:20 pm Eastern Time Big Oil Q2 earnings seen doubling from Q1-Solomon NEW YORK, June 28 (Reuters) - Salomon Smith Barney analyst Paul Ting predicted second quarter 1999 earnings for U.S. major oil companies would be almost double earnings seen in the first quarter of 1999. But weak refining margins will keep earnings in the second quarter of 1999 below their year-ago levels, despite a strong improvement in crude oil prices, Ting said in a research report. ''Among the majors, 2Q earnings should almost double the 1Q level,'' Ting said in the report. ''Yet, majors' 2Q earnings should decrease by 14 percent versus 2Q 1998 level in spite of the $2.80 oil price improvement due primarily to the downstream deterioration.'' Ting estimated U.S. refining margins in the Gulf Coast during the second quarter at $1.27 per barrel, about one-third the level seen in the second quarter of 1998. The weak downstream sector will pressure earnings of majors such as Royal Dutch/Shell (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: SHEL.L), Chevron Corp. (NYSE:CHV - news), Exxon Corp. (NYSE:XON - news) and companies such as Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR - news) and Amerada Hess (NYSE:AHC - news) the research report said. But companies such as Tosco Corp. (NYSE:TOS - news) and Atlantic Richfield Co. (NYSE:ARC - news) are likely to benefit from strong refining margins on the West Coast. Unlike in the Gulf, Californian refining margins surged to an average $7.87 a barrel, Ting said.