Sector Snap: Oil Services Sector Falls

NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of oil services companies fell on Wednesday on expectations that waning energy demand, constrained credit markets and oil price weakness would cause mounting cancellations of drilling projects and sharper-than-expected declines in rig counts.

Light, sweet crude fell 74 cents to $53.26 in afternoon trading after government data showed that crude inventory levels climbed beyond analyst forecasts, further evidence of demand weakness.

Ben Dell, an analyst with Bernstein Research, on Wednesday lowered his rig demand forecast and profit expectations for oil services companies. Dell said he expects 2009 US rig demand to decline 45 percent from the prior year, even worse than his earlier estimate of a 30 percent decline. Dell predicted the bottom will occur during the second quarter of the year. ...