Lower earnings from refining and marketing due...

Lower earnings from refining and marketing due to continued pressure on refining and retail price spreads, as well as depressed natural gas and crude oil prices that improved slightly at the very end of the quarter contributed to Dallas-based Diamond Shamrock’s profit loss for the 1986 fourth quarter, a spokesman said. Revenue for the quarter also was down. For the full year, the firm’s loss was less than the 1985 year. Exploration earnings were reduced by higher international operating costs and leasehold and well impairments in North American operations, the spokesman added.