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

To: The Ox who wrote (30554)	10/9/1998 5:45:00 PM
From: RGinPG	Respond to of 95453

I agree. It would be very interesting if I didn't have money riding on the outcome of the global economy. I've got a large portion of my portfolio in the European Warrant Fund. By the end of next week I imagine I'll be heavily into the drillers again (cheated and took a look at the charts already, and there are a lot of buy signals). So instead of being interesting, it's just scarry. I'm betting we've seen the bottom in this sector, and the rapid precipitous unrelenting decline is over. At worst we'll get some sideways movement for a few months before the next decline or incline. In that scenario the daily stochastics should help to increase profits over the short term. osxstocks.com

To: The Ox who wrote (30554)	10/9/1998 7:49:00 PM
From: Crimson Ghost	Respond to of 95453

Sanctions may hurt U.S. access to Saudi oil sector By Tom Doggett WASHINGTON, Oct 9 (Reuters) - U.S. oil companies' efforts to invest in Saudi Arabia's energy sector could be hurt because of new religious sanctions legislation expected to be approved soon by the U.S. Congress before it wraps up its work for 1998. Saudi Arabia, which holds about 262 billion barrels of oil, or a fourth of the world's proven crude reserves, has seen its government revenues chopped by one-third this year -- to about $29.4 billion -- because of a steep drop in oil prices, according to estimates by the U.S. Department of Energy. Allowing more foreign investment in the Saudi energy sector would ease the kingdom's strained finances. The pending legislation would prevent the U.S. Export-Import Bank and the Overseas Private Investment Corp. from providing financial assistance for projects in countries that persecute religious minorities. The legislation cleared the U.S. Senate on Friday morning and was scheduled to be approved by the House of Representative before lawmakers adjourn for the year in the next few days. President Bill Clinton was expected to sign the bill into law. The legislation does not target specific nations, only human rights violations they commit. However, the bill's sponsors have said countries such as Saudi Arabia have taken action against religious minorities and, therefore, would be subject to the sanctions. The Christian Coalition has lobbied lawmakers hard for passage of the bill. The U.S. State Department would determine which countries persecute religious minorities, and then President Clinton could exempt a country from the sanctions -- if it were in the best interests of the United States to do so. Saudi Arabia would most likely get such a waiver, but being on the State Department's list could make create anti-American sentiment and make it difficult for U.S. energy companies to do business in Saudi Arabia, according to Daniel O'Flaherty, vice president of the National Foreign Trade Council. ''It could become an issue,'' he said. ''This is an effort to export U.S. religious guarantees.'' O'Flaherty's organization coordinates lobbying efforts of USA-Engage, which is a coalition of almost 700 businesses, agricultural groups and trade associations fighting unilateral U.S. economic sanctions against other countries. The legislation could not have come at a worse time. After two decades of keeping its oil production operations out of the hands of foreign companies, Saudi Arabia recently hinted it might be open to foreign investment. During a visit last month to the United States, the heir to the Saudi throne, Crown Prince Abdullah, held a rare meeting with executives from major U.S. oil companies. ''Unfortunately, the bill remains a unilateral sanctions bill that could end up targeting some of this country's closest allies and trading partners,'' said Frank Kittredge, president of the National Foreign Trade Council and vice chairman of USA-Engage. At his meeting with the companies, the prince did not promise access to any specific energy projects, but asked the executives for ideas on how to improve Saudi Arabia's oil producing and drilling operations.