A new earnings reporting season kicks off this coming week with the quarterly report from Alcoa, the first Dow Jones industrial to report. But investors looking for early signs about the first quarter will be disappointed in what they see from the aluminum producer, assuming that analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are neither too optimistic or too pessimistic about those results.

Gasoline inventories dropped below their five-year average and are now 6% below last year's average, according to Joseph Dancy, an adjunct professor at Southern Methodist University, in an essay published in Barron's this weekend.

This means the outlook for investing in energy remains good, Dancy believes, as demand for gasoline will grow 2% with little supply relief in sight. Particularly the lack of new refinery capacity means positive growth prospects for a company like Matrix Service Company (NASDAQ: MTRX) that specializes in repair and maintenance services to the refining, distribution and pipelines sectors.

Dancy wrote the supply and demand balance for energy could mean a sharp escalation of energy prices. Mexico's Cantarell field's output, the second largest in the world as measured by output, declined 17% in March from year-earlier levels, while offset by new production increases at a nearby field, total crude production from Mexico is down 5%. In addition, Venezuela production should get hit at some point as Chavez has taken control of exploring for and producing energy away from the foreign experts. And Nigeria, who sends 1 million barrels per day to the US, is also in a politically tenuous situation.

Add to this, the huge swing producer, Saudi Arabia, announced that is will no longer increase production after 2009, which might indicate the nature of its oil reserves.

In addition to Matrix, Arena Resources Inc (NYSE: ARD), OMNI Energy Services Corporation (NASDAQ: OMNI), Pioneer Drilling Company (AMEX: PDC), Natural Gas Services Group Inc (AMEX: NGS) were mentioned as attractive investment ideas.

Whether they need a heat recovery steam generator stack erection, a gas plant relocation, or a petroleum terminal upgrade, many heavy industry decision makers turn to a Tulsa, Oklahoma outfit for help.

Matrix Service Company (NASDAQ: MTRX) provides construction, repair and maintenance services, primarily to the petroleum and power sectors in the United States and Canada. The construction services segment designs and builds plants, refineries and aboveground storage tanks. The repair and maintenance unit offers preventive, routine, and emergency repair services, specializing in turnarounds, outages, and shutdowns. The company operates from offices in Oklahoma, Texas, California, Washington, Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Ontario. Clients include BP plc (NYSE: BP), Chevron (NYSE: CVX) and FedEx (NYSE: FDX).

The firm pleased investors last week, when it reported Q3 EPS of 24 cents and revenues of $168.7 million. Analysts had been expecting 17 cents and $136.5 million. Management also guided FY07 revenues to $630-640 million, versus consensus of $588.92.