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.

By Matt Daily and Braden Reddall

(Reuters) – Oilfield services leader Schlumberger (SLB.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) reported a higher-than-expected rise in fourth-quarter earnings and remained cautiously optimistic about 2012 despite the potential for Europe’s debt crisis to hurt economic growth and oil demand.

Schlumberger shares rose as much as 4 percent to their highest level in six weeks, even though Chief Executive Officer Paal Kibsgaard warned that analysts’ first-quarter profit expectations were on the “optimistic side.”

LOLO HOT SPRINGS, Montana (Reuters) – Along a remote stretch of mountain highway near the Idaho/ Montana border, on the very same route that nearly killed the legendary 19th century explorers Lewis & Clark, two men are huddled in the snow, guarding a gargantuan blue box owned by Canada’s Imperial Oil Ltd.

Pulled by truck, this house-sized “test module” set off from an inland Idaho port nine months ago to demonstrate how Exxon Mobil-owned Imperial planned to ship millions of pounds of Korean-made equipment across the back roads of Idaho and Montana to its oil sands project in Alberta.

By Braden Reddall

(Reuters) – Chevron Corp (CVX.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) warned that fourth-quarter profit would be significantly below the previous quarter, with production still falling short of prior expectations and its refining operations about breaking even.

Shares of the second-largest U.S. oil company fell more than 2 percent in after-hours trading to $105.21, or about $5 below the record high they hit last week.

By Anna Driver and Braden Reddall

(Reuters) – A steep drop in natural gas prices is squeezing the profits of producers such as Southwestern Gas Corp (SWX.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), EXCO Resources (EXC.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Quicksilver Resources (KWK.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), which may need to shut wells, raise cash, cut staff or seek merger partners in the coming year.

Spot natural gas futures dipped below $3.00 per million British Thermal units on Friday, the lowest level in more than two years, as a glut of gas from shale fields across the United States pushed inventory levels to historic highs.

Dec 7 (Reuters) – Chevron Corp , the second-largest
U.S. oil company, is increasing its spending in 2012 by about a
sixth as it invests heavily in deepwater developments and two
massive Australian liquefied natural gas projects.

The $32.7 billion capital and exploratory budget compares
with the $28 billion it expects to have spent this year, which
is $2 billion more than the company originally planned.

Dec 5 (Reuters) – Schlumberger is selling its rig
management business to a Canadian company that it part owns, as
the world’s largest oilfield services company sharpens its
focus on providing services for rigs instead of owning them.

Saxon, bought by Schlumberger and private equity firm First
Reserve in 2008, said on Monday it would take over 14 land
drilling rigs and their crews in Oman, Pakistan and Venezuela,
adding 1,100 people as it expands into the Middle East.

Nov 28 (Reuters) – Arbitrators expect to rule as early as
next month on whether they can hear a dispute between Chevron
Corp and Ecuador related to a marathon pollution
liability case, according to a letter to the lawyers involved.

The tribunal, working under The Hague’s Permanent Court of
Arbitration (PCA), ordered the Republic of Ecuador in February
to suspend enforcement of any judgment in the lawsuit filed by
rainforest dwellers against Chevron.