UPDATE 1-Morgan Keegan cuts oil services cos on recession fears

(Recasts; adds analyst comments)

Oct 16 (Reuters) - Morgan Keegan analyst Michael Drickamer
downgraded the oilfield services industry, and said shares of
companies in the sector are not set to rebound from current
lows in the face of a looming global recession.

Domestic drilling activity is expected to decline while the
macroeconomic environment remains uncertain, the analyst, who
cut his rating on the oilfield services sector to "market
perform" from "outperform," said.
"With rising uncertainty as to the depth and length of the
recession, energy and petroleum companies have already begun
announcing reductions to their capital spending plans,
prompting oilfield service companies to reconsider their
capital expansion plans," he said in a note to clients.

Shares of most companies in the downgraded sector, which
includes Diamond Offshore (DO.N) and Ensco International
(ESV.N), were trading down on Thursday. The broader Dow Jones
U.S. Oil Equipment & Services Index .DJUSOI was down 4
percent at 348.90 Thursday afternoon.

But Drickamer maintained his rating on a few companies,
including Transocean Inc (RIG.N), Helmerich & Payne Inc (HP.N)
and Pride International Inc (PDE.N), that he believes would be
able to withstand the negative impact from reduced drilling
activities.

The following table lists the rating and estimate changes
the brokerage made on companies in the oilfield services
sector:
Company name Ticker Rating
2008 EPS Est.

New Old
New Old Diamond Offshore (DO.N) Market perform
Outperform $9.79 $9.79 Ensco International (ESV.N)
Market perform Outperform $8.23 $8.24 Hercules Offshore
(HERO.O) Market Perform Outperform $1.01 $1.02 Noble
Corp (NE.N) Market Perform Outperform $5.54
$5.54 Rowan Co (RDC.N) Market perform
Outperform $3.86 $3.89 Pioneer Drilling (PDC.A)
Market perform Outperform $1.57 $1.63 Allis-Chalmers
(ALY.N) Market perform Outperform $1.24 $1.25 Basic
Energy Services(BAS.N) Market perform Outperform $2.20
$2.20 Complete Production Services (CPX.N)
Market perform Outperform $2.44 $2.46 Parker Drilling
(PKD.N) Market perform Outperform $0.78 $0.80 RPC
Inc (RES.N) Market perform Outperform
$0.90 $0.90 StealthGas (GASS.O) Market perform
Outperform $1.53 $1.53 Transocean (RIG.N)
Outperform Outperform $14.47 $14.47 Helmerich & Payne
(HP.N) Outperform Outperform $4.19 $4.19 Boots
and Coots (WEL.A) Outperform Outperform $0.28
$0.28 Natural Gas Services NGS.A Outperform
Outperform $1.16 $1.16 Pride International (PDE.N)
Market Perform Market Perform $3.50 $3.50 Bronco Drilling
(BRNC.O) Market Perform Market Perform $0.90 $1.01
Patterson-UTI (PTEN.O) Market perform Market perform
$2.23 $2.27
(Reporting by Antonita Madonna Devotta in Bangalore; Editing
by Pratish Narayanan)