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

To: jbe who wrote (22779)	5/24/1998 6:51:00 PM
From: Czechsinthemail	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 95453

5/21/98 Gasoline Prices Tumble 11% From Last Year, May Stay Low All Summer By Terzah Ewing, Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal Memorial Day drivers will fill their tanks with gasoline that costs substantially less than a year ago, and those pleasantly low prices are likely to continue into the summer driving season. Due to lower prices for crude oil and hefty inventories of gasoline, the average retail price of a gallon of gasoline is 11% lower than the $1.20 a gallon a year ago. That could add up to decent savings for travelers, who usually find prices higher during the summer months. Still, prices at the pump are up a bit from earlier this year, when they fell to levels at or below $1 a gallon in some parts of the country. As of May 18, the average retail price across the U.S. for regular unleaded gasoline was $1.07 a gallon, up slightly from $1.05 a gallon in February, according to data from the Energy Information Administration. The American Automobile Association, which tracks driver trends, notes that even the record number of drivers it expects to hit the highways this summer won't push the price up. "There's more than enough gasoline now to meet that demand growth," said Jerry Cheske, an AAA spokesman. "If there is a price increase, I doubt it will be more than a nickel a gallon, unless something unforeseen happens." Several factors are holding gasoline prices down. The International Energy Agency expects world supply for crude to outstrip demand all year. Prices for crude oil, gasoline's feedstock, have recovered some from recent lows but still are trading around the relatively low price of $15 a barrel. Promised production cuts from oil-producing nations haven't come quickly, adding to the downward pressure on prices. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, bearish investors Wednesday sent both crude and gasoline futures down. Crude for July delivery settled at $14.18 a barrel, down 83 cents, while June gasoline fell 1.6 cents to settle at 48.43 cents a gallon. Wednesday's market activity came on the heels of a plunge in the price of crude oil earlier in the week. The expiring June futures contract hit a 9 1/2-year low Tuesday on supply concerns before settling slightly higher. However, market watchers later said the price dip was induced largely by panic-driven selling related to the contract's expiration. Meanwhile, low crude prices prompt refiners to buy and process more oil so supplies of oil-based products, including gasoline, continue to grow. As of the end of last week, U.S. inventories of crude were up 12%, while unleaded gasoline inventories were up 7%, according to the American Petroleum Institute. Refineries, meanwhile, are running at 97% of their capacity, pouring more gasoline onto the market.

To: jbe who wrote (22779)	5/24/1998 7:31:00 PM
From: MonsieurGonzo	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 95453

jbe; RE:" YTD Performance of OSX/XOI Stocks " There's nothing wrong, jbe - your YTD numbers show about the same rank for the stocks; if you look at my little list, I used 23-JAN-98 as my 'beginning of the year' starting point, and I simply glanced at the charts and picked a price that seemed "typical" (^_^) After all, the idea was to rank the OSX sub-sectors. Machinery&Equipment (OSX.M) outperformed the Drillers (OSX.D), is one conclusion we can make about the last few months. Services (OSX.S) did well if you chose well... the 'bellwethers' OSX.D=SLB, OSX.M=SII, and OSX.S=HAL, were not the leading gainers. OSX.T=TDW Transports didn't make any money. I guess I'm just painting with broad strokes, jbe. Anyhoo, FWIW here's my " OLX portfolio " : 30% BigOil: 28s XON 22s BP 32s TOT 20% Drillers: 40s RIG 65s NE 40% Mach&Equip: 33s RON 42s DI 77s VRC 85s GIFI 10% Services: 99s GLBL -Steve