EXHIBIT 99

SEMCO Energy                                           NEWS
405 Water St., Port Huron  MI  48060                   RELEASE


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:  Edric R. Mason, Jr.
Phone:    810-989-4104 
FAX:      810-989-4098 


               SEMCO ENERGY ACQUIRES HOUSTON FIRM

     PORT HURON, MI, (NASDAQ-SMGS) November 3 -- Continuing its 
focus on expansion and growth into unregulated arenas which are 
strongly related to its core competencies, SEMCO Energy, Inc., 
has acquired Oilfield Materials Consultants, Inc., a consulting 
and quality assurance/quality control company serving the natural 
gas, oil transmission, and exploration/production industry for 
905,000 shares of SEMCO Energy stock and the assumption of 
approximately $1.1 million in debt.  Oilfield Materials 
Consultants empl-o-ys 220 people and for the 9-month period ended 
September 30, 1998 had gross revenue (unaudited) of $12,445,000.  
The transaction will be accounted for as a pooling of interests.  
Oilfield Materials Consultants will operate as a subsidiary of 
SEMCO Energy Ventures, Inc.
     William L. Johnson, Chairman, President and Chief Executive 
Officer of SEMCO Energy, Inc., made the announcement today.  "The 
acquisition of Oilfield Materials Consultants is a natural fit 
with SEMCO Energy's current businesses as well as future ventures 
in the regulated and nonregulated natural gas industry and is 
consistent with our strategic plan."
     Oilfield Materials Consultants has its head office in 
Houston.  The company provides highly qualified and experienced 
personnel to the natural gas, petroleum, and petrochemical 
industries.  The company monitors and inspects service companies, 
contractors, manufacturers and fabricators to ensure adherence to 
customer and/or industry standards and specifications in the 
manufacture, fabrication and maintenance of coatings, tubular 
goods and engineered equipment.  Oilfield Materials Consultant's 
expertise incl-udes quality control and quality assurance 
verification services for on- and off-shore operations.  Among 
its clients are numerous large national and international 
producers and pipeline companies. 
     Oilfield Materials Consultants is SEMCO Energy's third 
acquisition this year.  In March SEMCO acquired Hotflame Gas, 
Inc., the largest supplier of propane gas in northern Michigan 
and northeast Wisconsin.  In May, it acquired King Energy & 
Construction, a small Knoxville, Tennessee-based natural gas, 
water and sewer infrastructure construction company.  
     "Our strategy is to roll these and other engineering and 
construction operations up into a much larger organization that 
allows SEMCO Energy to offer turn-key engineering, design and 
construction support to a national, if not international, 
customer base.  We believe this strategy offers exceptional 
growth potential," Johnson said. 
     SEMCO Energy, Inc., an energy-focused holding company, has 
three first-tier subsidiaries:  SEMCO Energy Ventures, Inc., an 
unregulated division which acquires and operates businesses 
involved in natural gas construction, energy engineering and 
propane, SEMCO Energy Services, Inc., an unregulated division 
which markets natural gas in parts of the United States and 
Canada; and SEMCO Energy Gas Company, a natural gas distributor 
serving 240,000 customers in 24 counties in Michigan.   ###