WALL STREET STOCKS/U.S. OIL COMPANIES
British Petroleum Co PLC's
announcement that its U.S. subsidiary intends to tender for the
45 pct of Standard Oil Co <SRD> it does not already own,
catapulted U.S. oil stocks sharply higher this morning, traders
and analysts said.
    "It raises the specter of additional consolidation in the
industry and that is what is boosting the other oils," analyst
Rosario Ilacqua of L.F. Rothschild said.
    Sanford Margoshes of Shearson Lehman Brothers said "this
deal shows that British Petroleum, a conservative investor that
knows the oil business, is clearly confident in the U.S. oil
industry, and that shines well on the U.S. companies."
    Philips Petroleum <P> gained 3/4 to 15-7/8, Occidental
Petroleum <OXY> one to 34-5/8, USX Corp <X>, with its Marathon
Oil Co unit, rose 1/2 to 28-3/8. Exxon <XON> climbed one to
88-3/8, Mobil <MOB> one to 50-1/4, Atlantic Richfield <ARC>
3-1/8 to 80-1/2, Amoco <AN> 1-7/8 to 84-1/8, and Amerada Hess
one to 33-5/8. BP gained 2-3/8 to 59-3/4.
    Both analysts said the rise in Standard's price this
morning to above the proposed tender price of 70 dlrs a share,
is an indication that investors expect the bid to be sweetened.
Standard gained 6-3/4 to 71-5/8.
    The analysts cited Royal Dutch/Shell Group's <RD> <SC> bid
for Shell Oil Co, which was sweetened before its successful
conclusion.
    Margoshes said the BP action "is an articulation of the
underlying value of oil companies in the marketplace." But he
expressed skepticism that this will necessarily lead to
heightened merger or buyout activity in the oil group.
 Reuter
