Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Gold/Mining/Energy : Ensco International Inc. (ESV) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Gottfried who wrote (1548)	11/22/1998 6:23:00 PM
From: Crimson Ghost	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2005

BUSINESS WEEK has a cover story this week about the troubles of Richard Rainwater's empire. Defying the conventional wisdom, Rainwater maintains that oil prices will rebound to between $20 and $40 per barrel in 2-5 years. See excerp below: From here on, Moore and Goff will handle Rainwater's new investments through a vehicle named Goff Moore Strategic Partners. ''I'm passing the dealmaking mantle on to Darla and John,'' Rainwater says. So far, Goff Moore has been moving slowly, buying oil and gas stocks, mortgage-backed securities, and high-yield bonds. ''Things are still brutal,'' says Moore. Rainwater found that out in the oil market. He maintains that rising global demand will push oil prices up to somewhere between $20 and $40 a barrel in two to five years. With crude hovering at $13, Rainwater reckons OPEC has miscalculated by failing to adjust to weak Asian demand. But he says that's a temporary development and he has sunk 20% of his fortune into the sector. ''It takes an enormous amount of self-confidence to stick to your guns when everybody around you is saying it'll never work. But that has been the key for Richard,'' says Moore. ''Nobody can talk him into or out of something once he has made a decision.'' Rainwater's Pioneer crew, led by CEO Scott D. Sheffield, is hunkering down. Having lost $103.6 million so far this year, it laid off 350 employees and sold $410 million worth of oil and gas fields in Texas and Oklahoma. And sources say more restructuring is coming. ''Rainwater and Sheffield are making the right moves,'' says Leigh Goehring, vice-president at Prudential Investments, which boosted its Pioneer stake in October.