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To: Broken_Clock who wrote (20938)	4/30/1998 8:23:00 PM
From: pz	Respond to of 95453

NEW YORK, April 30 (Reuters) - Crude oil futures recovered in the last minutes of trading at the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) Thursday, boosted by late short-covering, traders said. Front-month crude settled at $15.39 a barrel, up seven cents, after staying down most of the day, dipping to a low of $15.06 in the afternoon. The contract traded at a high of $15.49, mostly on technical buying. "There was short-covering on gasoline ahead of the May contract expiry and crude was swept up in the process," said a New York-based analyst. A NYMEX floor trader added: "The market overreacted to the gasoline build on Wednesday." He was referring to an unexpected build in gasoline stocks for the past week reported in a government stock inventory report that triggered a sell-off on Wednesday. While OPEC talk that started days ago on the need to further reduce output continued to be watched, the initial bullish effect had faded, another trader said. But with the approach of the group's June semi-annual meeting, "you can't discount that it (the meeting) will generate some optimism," the trader said. "Overall, crude oil has been meandering in the past two weeks, testing the $15 on the downside, rallying early this week and then falling apart," noted Tim Evans of Pegasus Econometric Group. "I think today's turnout was more of the same, with no trend developing." he added. Traders gave scant attention to a statement by President Bill Clinton that he was encouraged by Iraqi cooperation with some U.N. inspections and was waiting for the Pentagon to recommend a reduction in U.S. forces in the Gulf. "The statement had no connection with the market performance today," said a NYMEX trader. The May gasoline contract settled at 49.95 cents a gallon, off 0.96 cent. The June contract rose 0.22 cent at 52.46 cents a gallon. Nearby months also gained. The May heating oil contract, which also expired on the day, finished down 0.33 cent at 42.75 cents a gallon while the June contract ended up 0.57 at 44.21. Nearby months also rose. "Heating oil stocks are at an equilibrium," Evans said, adding that if the product wakes up and goes along with a break to the upside, the market may see a broad rally. In London, IPE Brent crude futures closed up sharply toward the highs on Thursday, boosted by momentum from some dealers rushing to settle trading positions before the long Labor Day weekend in Europe. June Brent rose 21 cents at $14.48 a barrel. On refinery news, the government of Newfoundland, Canada, approved a Friday restart for Vitol SA's refinery at Come By Chance that was shut down after a deadly fire on March 25, a provincial fire official told Reuters on Thursday. The 105,000 barrel per day plant would begin the slow process of powering back up following the long outage, Newfoundland Fire Commissioner Fred Hollett said. "The startup is initiating tomorrow. Of course, to get one of those things running is a seven- to 10-day exercise," Hollet said.

To: Broken_Clock who wrote (20938)	4/30/1998 8:25:00 PM
From: Gottfried	Respond to of 95453

P.K., this evening in the street.com: "Top Stories: Oil Patch Sees Insider Selling" By Mavis Scanlon Staff Reporter 4/30/98 6:32 PM ET Recent insider selling in the oil patch extends beyond Core Laboratories (CRLBF:Nasdaq). Insiders at Veritas (VTS:NYSE), Camco (CAM:NYSE) and Global Marine (GLM:NYSE) also have sold stock or registered to sell stock recently.<snip> "The fundamentals in the group are so strong I think investors are able to look past [the selling]," says Mickey Brivac, an energy analyst at USAA Investment Management whose Aggressive Growth Fund has a position in Veritas. "At some point you're going to sell. ... I don't like to see management sell, but at some point they are supposed to get rewarded for their efforts." He adds that he has not heard from the Street that people are overly concerned.<snip> Subscribers: thestreet.com GM