SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – While nobody in oilfield services wants to sound the all clear for an industry floored last year by a collapse in drilling, companies are now more comfortable with their cash positions — and ready to spend.

Acquisitions of smaller specialist companies are on everyone’s radar screens, but many investors, after enduring a year of austerity, seem hungry to reap rewards for their patience.

Halliburton Co <HAL.N>, the second-largest oilfield services company, said it may return some of its $2 billion in excess cash to shareholders this year.

“We may recommence buying our shares back,” Chief Financial Officer Mark McCollum said on Wednesday at the Credit Suisse Energy Summit in Vail, Colorado, noting the company would first need to see more improvement in financial markets.

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 3 (Reuters) – While nobody in oilfield services wants to sound the all clear for an industry floored last year by a collapse in drilling, companies are now more comfortable with their cash positions — and ready to spend.

Acquisitions of smaller specialist companies are on everyone’s radar screens, but many investors, after enduring a year of austerity, seem hungry to reap rewards for their patience.

Halliburton Co <HAL.N>, the second-largest oilfield services company, said it may return some of its $2 billion in excess cash to shareholders this year. [ID:nN03153707]

“We may recommence buying our shares back,” Chief Financial Officer Mark McCollum said on Wednesday at the Credit Suisse Energy Summit in Vail, Colorado, noting the company would first need to see more improvement in financial markets.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Oilfield equipment and services company National Oilwell Varco Inc <NOV.N> reported estimate-beating earnings on Wednesday, as unexpectedly strong orders cushioned a shrinking backlog, and its shares rose 4 percent.

NOV executives said prices had stabilized after a sharp drop in demand last year, and that any pricing improvement was still a few quarters away.

But looking further ahead, Chief Executive Pete Miller said growth driven by new rig orders would be supplemented by replacement of aging equipment as customers opt to spend more for improved technology.

“Some people like to believe that the old equipment is going to work forever. It will not,” Miller told analysts on a conference call. “Look at the rig count: New rigs are working, old rigs are not.”

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 3 (Reuters) – Oilfield equipment and services company National Oilwell Varco Inc <NOV.N> reported estimate-beating earnings on Wednesday, as unexpectedly strong orders cushioned a shrinking backlog, and its shares rose 4 percent.

NOV executives said prices had stabilized after a sharp drop in demand last year, and that any pricing improvement was still a few quarters away.

But looking further ahead, Chief Executive Pete Miller said growth driven by new rig orders would be supplemented by replacement of aging equipment as customers opt to spend more for improved technology.

“Some people like to believe that the old equipment is going to work forever. It will not,” Miller told analysts on a conference call. “Look at the rig count: New rigs are working, old rigs are not.”

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 2 (Reuters) – Rowan Companies Inc <RDC.N>, seeking a lower tax rate like its rivals, would try to rebase outside the United States as part of any deal to expand its oil and gas rig fleet, its chief executive said on Tuesday.

In the years ahead, Rowan wants to buy some ultra-deepwater rigs and also strengthen its grip on the market for high-end jackup rigs, their shallow-water counterparts, CEO Matt Ralls told the Credit Suisse Energy Summit in Vail, Colorado.

“As we look at these expansion opportunities, one of the things we look at is the ability to get us re-domesticated in that transaction,” Ralls said, though he added there was “nothing imminent” in terms of mergers or acquisitions.

Shares of Rowan climbed 2 percent to close at $22.69 on the New York Stock Exchange.

NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Chevron Corp posted a drop in quarterly profit on Friday, and its new boss said the second-largest U.S. oil company had plenty of work to do on its own project line-up without making any big acquisitions.

Chief Executive John Watson also said there would be no refinery closures in the near term, despite a bad performance in the fourth quarter that weighed heavily on its bottom line.

Exxon Mobil Corp’s <XOM.N> planned purchase of U.S. natural gas producer XTO Energy <XTO.N> cast the industry’s attention on how Exxon’s smaller rivals might respond.

Chevron’s anticipated 2010 production growth will not come anywhere close to the 9 percent fourth-quarter increase, but Watson, who just took over the top job at the start of January, said the company’s long-term pipeline was very full.

NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO, Jan 29 (Reuters) – Chevron Corp <CVX.N> posted a drop in quarterly profit on Friday, and its new boss said the second-largest U.S. oil company had plenty of work to do on its own project line-up without making any big acquisitions.

Chief Executive John Watson also said there would be no refinery closures in the near term, despite a bad performance in the fourth quarter that weighed heavily on its bottom line.

Exxon Mobil Corp’s <XOM.N> planned purchase of U.S. natural gas producer XTO Energy <XTO.N> cast the industry’s attention on how Exxon’s smaller rivals might respond.

Chevron’s anticipated 2010 production growth will not come anywhere close to the 9 percent fourth-quarter increase, but Watson, who just took over the top job at the start of January, said the company’s long-term pipeline was very full.

NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO, Jan 28 (Reuters) – Occidental Petroleum Corp <OXY.N>, the fourth-largest U.S. oil and gas company, said Thursday that its quarterly profit more than doubled, boosted by higher oil prices and increased output.

Its shares recovered from early losses as it outlined a big rise in 2010 capital expenditures and said first-quarter sales volumes would be between 730,000 and 740,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, up from 722,000 in the fourth quarter.

Under a reformatted reporting system that aligns the company with its peers, total 2009 daily production was 714,000 boe, compared with 645,000 before the change.

Overall 2009 output rose 7 percent from 2008, and the company expects 2010 output to grow by 5 percent to 8 percent.

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan 27 (Reuters) – Oilfield services company Smith International Inc <SII.N> posted a lower quarterly profit on Wednesday, hurt by a slump in North American drilling that appears to have bottomed out.

Chief Executive John Yearwood offered analysts a similar outlook to larger rivals such as Halliburton Co <HAL.N> and Baker Hughes Inc <BHI.N>, predicting no real recovery in oilfield profit margins until later in 2010. [ID:nN26221067]

“Hopefully, if the activity continues at its current growth rate, we may see something in the second quarter or in the second half of the year,” he said on a conference call.

The sector was battered over the past year as oil and gas producers cut spending on new wells amid weak demand.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Halliburton Co’s <HAL.N> fourth-quarter profit fell by nearly half on weaker drilling activity and pricing, and the company said new project costs and Venezuela’s devaluation would dent profits this quarter.

Shares of the second-largest oilfield services company were slightly higher in early-afternoon trade, recovering from an early 4 percent drop.

The Houston-based company sounded more upbeat about prospects in its home market, after North American revenue rose 12 percent in the fourth quarter from the third as companies continued to deploy more rigs to hunt for natural gas.

“The trend toward increasing levels of service intensity is also playing in our favor, and we believe we could be poised for a much better North American market in 2010,” Chief Executive Dave Lesar told investors on a conference call.