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

To: Big Dog who wrote (32110)	11/24/1998 10:29:00 PM
From: Snowshoe	Respond to of 95453

>>He only missed THIRTEEN times today!<< Send him out in the field with just three bullets. He'll be more careful. The same concept can be applied to trading and investing.

To: Big Dog who wrote (32110)	11/26/1998 10:09:00 AM
From: marc chatman	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 95453

This question is mainly for the thread's industry insiders, including E&P insiders (although I'm happy to get a view from anyone): What is the impact of oil industry consolidation (e.g., Exxon-Mobil, BP-Amoco, etc.) on spending for exploration and drilling? On the one hand, I would guess fewer players means less drilling. And a few, very large players may have more leverage in negotiating lower drilling and service fees than would a greater number of medium-sized oil companies. On the other, strengthening the oil companies by increasing their economies of scale and eliminating redundant costs could increase cash flow, so more resources could be devoted to exploration. I suppose there is at least one other choice, which would suggest no change since they will maintain whatever drilling activity is necessary to meet demand -- but as we've seen, that is over the very long term. Thanks in advance for any opinions.