LASMO SET TO BENEFIT FROM FUTURE OIL PRICE RISES London and Scottish Marine Oil Plc (Lasmo) <LASL.L> will have an advantage when oil prices rise again and it is confident this will happen early in the next decade, the company said in a statement accompanying results. Lasmo said its advantage comes from its reserves of oil and gas which at the end of 1986 stood at 210 mln barrels of oil equivalent, a group record. Reserves have increased every year since 1983 at a compounded rate of 10 pct a year. The company reported a 1986 pretax profit of 4.4 mln stg, down from 118 mln in 1985. It said falling oil prices caused the downturn. The company said it reacted swiftly to the sharp drop in oil prices which began over a year ago. Capital expenditure, which had been budgeted at over 150 mln stg, was cut to 51 mln stg net of disposals. Managers responded well to the demand for lower operating costs and this has been achieved worldwide. The company said had very few exploration wells committed for 1987 and therefore retains maximum flexibility in its exploration program. Even without further success, the existing fields and recent discoveries will contribute significantly to profit and cash flow for some years to come, it said. Lasmo shares were down 2p at 251 after the announcement.