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Gold/Mining/Energy : Trico Marine Services (TMAR) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: JZGalt who wrote (558)	7/15/1998 12:15:00 PM
From: D.J.Smyth	Respond to of 1153

10:51 DJS Ensco's Net Jumped 54%; National-Oilwell Earnings More than Doubl 10:51 DJS Ensco's Net Jumped 54%; National-Oilwell Earnings More than Doubled NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Ensco International Inc. said Wednesday its second-quarter net income jumped 54%, but the energy-services company warned that results the rest of the year will suffer from low oil prices. Meanwhile, National-Oilwell Inc., which makes oil and natural-gas drilling equipment, said second-quarter earnings more than doubled from a year earlier. Ensco (ESV) posted net income of $80.6 million, or 57 cents a diluted share, compared with year-ago net of $52.2 million, or 37 cents a share. The results were about in line with estimates for earnings of 56 cents a share. Revenue soared 20% to $234 million. The Dallas-based company warned that earnings in the second half of the year will be hurt by low oil prices. Ensco is not alone in that situation as all oil-services companies have been sensitive to changes in oil prices. The companies provide the drilling rigs, drill bits, surveys and other support for the oil business, depend on the capital spending of oil and natural-gas producers for their revenue. And with oil prices languishing below previous expectations, their cash flow has been hurt, and some have curtailed spending plans. Shares of oil-related companies have been weak since October, when the price of oil began falling from its then-level of $21 a barrel to below $12 a barrel last month. Also, the Asian economic crisis, as well as warm winter weather, have contributed to a glut of oil in global markets. Houston-based National-Oilwell (NOI) had net of $23.8 million, or 46 cents a share on revenue of $294.8 million, up from $11 million, or 21 cents a share on revenue of $234 million in last year's period. That latest results were four cents a share better than the First Call forecast. The company said demand for offshore and land equipment is "strong" and reported a backlog of $260 million as of June 30, compared with $84 million a year ago. Copyright (c) 1998 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. (:ESV) (:NOI) 07/15 10:51a CDT

To: JZGalt who wrote (558)	7/15/1998 12:28:00 PM
From: D.J.Smyth	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1153

the bottom line on this report Galt appears to be that the boat market in the US Gulf (Gulf of Mexico) will remain tight and that the Gulf of Mexico is commanding the higher supply vessel day rates. TMAR's boat mix is such that it is heavy toward the supply vessel side which commands the highest day rates. The US Gulf is second only to deep water and the Northsea relative to day rates. The report is more indepth than anything to date. Have access to the long report, but read only the short report. So, diversification in the boat business at this time could favor TMAR given their heavy weighting of supply vessels and concentration only in the markets commanding the highest day rates (nothing in Persia whose margins are 1/2 the US Gulf and nothing in Asia).

To: JZGalt who wrote (558)	7/15/1998 4:51:00 PM
From: D.J.Smyth	Respond to of 1153

15:27 DJS Crude Gains On Inventory Data; Commodities Futures Settle Mixed 15:27 DJS Crude Gains On Inventory Data; Commodities Futures Settle Mixed NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Commodities futures ended mixed again Wednesday. In New York, crude oil continued its recent advance as the latest weekly data showed a large drop in crude inventories, while precious metals futures finished higher, paced by platinum. In Chicago, grains and beans again ended broadly lower. The CRB-Bridge futures index finished up 0.04 at 210.14. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, August crude oil rose 32 cents to end at $14.87 a barrel. September crude oil rose 25 cents to $15.02 a barrel. According to the American Petroleum Institute's inventory report Tuesday evening, crude-oil stocks dropped 6.287 million barrels to 334.670 million barrels, their lowest level since early April. U.S. Department of Energy data released Wednesday morning showed crude stocks down 6.7 million barrels at 333.7 million barrels. A jump in refinery utilization led to the draw, said analysts. The API showed U.S. utilization up 2.1 percentage points at 100.2%, while the DOE showed a 2.8-percentage-point rise to 100.9%. Among petroleum products, August unleaded gasoline dropped 1.06 cents to settle at 46.94 cents a gallon. Gasoline sellers were encouraged by disappointing inventory figures. Gasoline stocks climbed 2.763 million barrels, according to the API, amid demand of 8.2 million barrels a day. The DOE showed a gasoline build of 3.3 million barrels a day. Analysts had expected gasoline stocks to fall amid peak summer demand of at east 8.4 million to 8.6 million barrels a day. August heating oil rose 0.46 cent to settle at 39.32 cents a gallon. While distillate stocks, which include heating oil, climbed in both the API and DOE report, the year-on-year comparison of stock levels showed a dramatic drop to 13.905 million barrels, from 16.878 million barrels the prior week. August natural gas ended down 3.5 cents at $2.231 per million BTUs. The crude inventory data added to bullish sentiment from Tuesday, when trade sources said Saudi Arabia had begun notifying companies in Europe that exports would be trimmed 2% on top of a 7% to 8% reduction in July. The cutbacks are part of OPEC's plan to cut production by more than 2.6 million barrels a day to support weak oil prices. In other news, a crack in Ecuador's main oil pipeline, or SOTE, will hinder the country's oil exports causing delays in deliveries, Petroecuador's director of pipeline operations said Wednesday. The crack was caused Tuesday by a mud slide driven by heavy rains. On New York's Commodities Exchange, August gold rose 50 cents to settle at $294.50 an ounce. September silver climbed 1.8 cents to end at $5.343 an ounce. October platinum jumped $7.40 to finish at $390.30 per ounce. "Platinum was strong right from the start," said Robin Alssid, precious metals manager at Mitsubishi International Corp. in New York. "There was some fund buying early on and the market got long." Alssid said that once prices moved past $388 an ounce - last week's high - with little pull back, the market took it as a sign to move higher. Among industrial metals, September copper jumped 1.60 cents to end at 76.55 cents per pound. Gold was fixed Wednesday afternoon in London at $293.15 an ounce, up 35 cents from the morning fixing. Among grains in Chicago: December wheat fell 1 1/2 cents to end at $2.85 per bushel. December corn dropped 3 1/4 cents to finish at $2.33 1/2 a bushel. December oats fell 2 1/4 cents to end at $1.26 1/4 a bushel. November soybeans dropped 3 cents to finish at $5.78 a bushel. Late Tuesday, a huge sell-off took place, sending new-crop November soybeans to one-month lows and new-crop December corn to a lifetime contract low. The weather outlook remained unsupportive for grains and soybeans. New models show less heat this week than previously thought, and also predict rain across large swaths of the Corn Belt. "The weather's good," said Steve Bruce, broker with O'Connor & Co. on the CBOT floor. "There were some unexpected rains in Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, and Minnesota overnight. Some people think that the crop is made after those rains." In livestock: August cattle fell 0.28 cent to settle at 62.20 cents per pound. August hogs fell 0.38 cent to end at 50.33 cents per pound. August pork bellies dropped 1.03 cents to finish at 51.45 cents per pound. Among food and fiber futures in New York: September coffee dipped 0.10 cent to end at $1.0710 per pound. December cotton edged up 0.15 cent to settle at 72.50 cents per pound. October sugar edged down 0.01 cent to settle at 8.66 cents per pound. September orange juice dipped 0.65 cent to end at 104.50 cents per pound. Speculators and technical traders sold because of the lack of any direction to the market, said Frank Lesh, vice president with Rand Financial Services, Inc., a brokerage in Chicago. Copyright (c) 1998 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 07/15 3:27p CDT