By Swetha Gopinath and Braden Reddall

(Reuters) – Transocean Ltd took a $1 billion charge related to the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the clearest indication yet that the contract driller is preparing to settle the case.

Shares of Transocean, owner of the world’s largest offshore drilling fleet, rose 5 percent on its solid quarterly results, out on Monday, and the prospect of closing out a liability that has loomed for nearly two years.

Feb 24 (Reuters) – Exxon Mobil Corp, the
world’s largest publicly traded oil company, now expects to
invest $37 billion annually over the next several years, coming
in at the top of a previous range and in line with an industry
trend toward robust spending.

The new guidance in Exxon’s annual report, issued on Friday,
compares with the previous capital expenditure range of $33
billion to $37 billion. Actual capital and exploration
expenditure in 2011 was $36.8 billion.

Feb 23 (Reuters) – Chevron Corp has pushed
back the expansion of a natural gas processing plant in Nigeria,
originally slated for this year, by another three years,
according to the U.S. oil company’s annual report.

Phase 3B of the Escravos Gas Plant, designed to gather 120
million cubic feet of natural gas per day from eight offshore
fields and then compress and transport it to onshore facilities,
had already been delayed by a year.

By Braden Reddall

(Reuters) – An arbitration panel reinforced an order that Ecuador’s government seek to suspend an $18 billion court award against U.S. oil company Chevron Corp over pollution in the South American country’s rainforest.

A year after its original order, the three-person panel, working under The Hague’s Permanent Court of Arbitration, told the Republic of Ecuador on Thursday to “take all measures necessary” through its judicial, legislative or executive branches to suspend enforcement of the award at home and abroad.

Feb 6 (Reuters) – Anadarko Petroleum Corp
reported a higher-than-expected quarterly profit and solid 2011
oil and gas production that it more than replaced through
exploratory drilling, and its shares rose 1.5 percent.

The company also said on Monday it resumed an “active”
deepwater exploration program in the Gulf of Mexico, having
recently made its first discovery in the region since the
moratorium that followed the BP spill.

Feb 2 (Reuters) – Sunoco Inc (SUN.N: Quote, Profile, Research) took another step
in its running effort to turn the business around by replacing
the chief executive who oversaw a dramatic shake-up of what was
once the major independent refiner in the Northeastern United
States.

The Philadelphia-based retail and logistics company also
increased its dividend and announced a share buyback as part of
a new strategic effort to restore its fortunes after seeing the
value of its shares cut in half in the past six years.

By Ernest Scheyder and Braden Reddall

(Reuters) – Exxon Mobil Corp’s profit narrowly beat expectations, as rising oil prices offset falling margins for chemicals and fuel, and production fell short of some estimates, and its shares fell almost 2 percent.

Fourth-quarter production of natural gas and crude oil dropped 9 percent, which Barclays Capital analyst Paul Cheng said might have been partly caused by reduced European natural gas sales due to warm weather.

By Matt Daily and Braden Reddall

(Reuters) – Chevron Corp reported lower quarterly earnings on Friday, missing Wall Street forecasts, as rising spending on oil and gas projects and losses at its U.S. refinery business offset gains from higher crude oil prices.

Its shares were down 2.2 percent at $104.21 by midday, nearly $7 short of the record high they hit early this month.

By Braden Reddall and Matt Daily

(Reuters) – Halliburton Co (HAL.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) warned that its response to a deep slump in U.S. natural gas prices would cause near-term disruptions that will pinch first-quarter earnings, sending its shares down 3 percent.

The world’s second-largest oilfield services company posted a higher-than-expected fourth-quarter profit and gave a fairly upbeat outlook for 2012, but investors remain worried about what wider U.S. drilling trends will mean for the U.S. market leader.

SAN FRANCISCO/QUITO (Reuters) – Chevron Corp (CVX.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) has filed an appeal with Ecuador’s National Court of Justice to review a judgment that the U.S. oil company pay $18 billion in damages for polluting the Amazon jungle.

Chevron was ordered by an Ecuadorian judge to pay the damages after a fraught legal battle that has lasted nearly two decades and looks like it will run longer.