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

To: Think4Yourself who wrote (50801)	9/9/1999 7:42:00 PM
From: Tomas	Respond to of 95453

Oil-Company Stock Indexes Reach Highs as Oil Prices Surge to 1997 Levels Oil-Company Stock Indices Rise to Records on Higher Oil Prices New York, Sept. 9 (Bloomberg) -- An index of major oil companies rose to a record level as the highest oil prices since 1997 pushed up the shares of Texaco Inc., Chevron Corp. and other companies in the oil industry. The Standard & Poor's index of international oil companies, which includes Chevron and Texaco, rose as much as 29.39, or 3 percent, to an all-time high of 1021.05. The S&P Index of U.S. domestic oil companies, which includes Atlantic Richfield Co., rose as much as 30.22, or 3.3 percent, to 942.09, a 52-week high. Crude oil traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose as high as $23.33 a barrel, the highest level since February 1997. Oil rose after a report showed U.S. inventories are at their lowest level in 20 months. The higher prices are expected to boost oil company profits. ``Third-quarter earnings vs. last year will be sensational,' said Jack Aydin, an oil analyst at McDonald Investments Inc. Profit increases for the major oil companies will range from 45 percent to 100 percent, he estimated. Other stock gainers among international oil companies today were Exxon Corp., which rose as much as 1 13/16 to 83; Mobil Corp., up 2 5/16 to 108 1/16; and the American depositary receipts of London-based BP Amoco Plc, up 4 7/8 to 116. Exxon is buying Mobil in a transaction now valued at about $90 billion in stock and assumed debt. BP Amoco is buying Arco for $35 billion. Shares of oilfield-service companies, which sell drilling and other oil exploration equipment, rose on increased optimism that the rise in oil prices will lead to higher spending on the products they provide, analysts said. ``Every week that we have higher crude prices, the more likely it is that oil companies will spend lavishly next year,' said Fred Mutalibov, a Southwest Securities Inc. analyst. The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index of 15 oilfield companies rose 4.29, or 5 percent, to 90.57 in late trading. Gainers included Schlumberger Ltd., up 2 7/8 to 69 13/16; Smith International Inc., up 2 5/16 to 50; and Veritas DGC Inc., up 2 to 20 11/16. Schlumberger and Smith touched 52-week highs. Halliburton Co., the largest oil service company, rose as much as 3 1/8, or 6 percent, to 51. Analysts see oil-producing nations continuing to restrain output, which will buoy oil prices. Even so, future gains in big oil stocks may fall short of recent performance because investors have been building a higher oil price into the shares. ``I do think the easy money is off the table,' said Tyler Dann, oil analyst at Banc of America Securities in Houston. Shares of Texaco, the third-largest U.S. oil company, have risen 37 percent in the last six months, better than its 34-percent gain in the past three calendar years. Mobil, the second-largest, has gained 22 percent since March, beating its 20- percent rise from 1996 through 1998. bloomberg.com