SAN FRANCISCO, June 3 (Reuters) – Oilfield services company
Baker Hughes Inc (BHI.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) sees a “much better” second half of
2011 in the Gulf of Mexico thanks to resumed deepwater
drilling, pushing its stock up 3 percent.

Chief Executive Chad Deaton said drilling had started on
about half of the dozen deepwater wells with permits, with 11
more permits pending on wells where customers had awarded
service contracts. Analysts, however, remain concerned about
how quickly permits will flow once the backlog is cleared.

DALLAS/SAN RAMON, California (Reuters) – Large blocks of investors in the two biggest U.S. oil companies on Wednesday demanded more disclosure about the environmental risks of extracting oil and gas through hydraulic fracturing.

Exxon Mobil Corp defended the practice at its annual shareholder meeting on Wednesday, even as investors peppered Chief Executive Rex Tillerson with concerns and questions about it.

, May 20 (Reuters) – A group of Silicon
Valley schools have built the largest solar and power-saving
system of any U.S. school district through a project undertaken
with the energy efficiency arm of Chevron Corp (CVX.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

The 7.1 megawatt project at San Jose’s East Side Union High
School District should save $43 million over its life, and $3
million next year alone, or enough to fund at least 25 jobs,
according to Lan Nguyen, president of the district’s board.

SAN FRANCISCO/RIO DE JANEIRO, May 13 (Reuters) – Brazil’s
plans to build 21 offshore rigs are being closely watched by
drilling contractors because any delay would lead to an
increase in demand for existing rigs.

Dozens of new deepwater units are already being built by
the private-sector contractors that are banking on growing
demand from Brazil to prevent the global deepwater drilling
market from becoming over-supplied.

SAN FRANCISCO, May 12 (Reuters) – Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)
plans to move a deepwater rig to the U.S. Gulf of Mexico next
year, owner Transocean Ltd (RIGN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) (RIG.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)
said, marking a planned
addition to the region’s fleet after months of departures.

The newly built Deepwater Champion, which will spend the
next year and a half in the Black Sea working for Exxon at a
record rate of $703,000 per day, is then set to move to the
U.S. Gulf in December 2012, according to the Transocean
fleet update out on Thursday.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – URS Corp (URS.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) reported a quarterly profit that fell short of expectations, but the U.S. engineering company stuck with its full-year targets and spotted signs of life in some previously dormant markets.

Chief Executive Martin Koffel was pleased by revenue growth in the commercial and power/industrial business lines, with clients having deferred projects during the economic downturn.

SAN FRANCISCO, May 10 (Reuters) – URS Corp (URS.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) reported
a quarterly profit that fell short of expectations, but the
U.S. engineering company stuck with its full-year targets and
spotted signs of life in some previously dormant markets.

Chief Executive Martin Koffel was pleased by revenue growth
in the commercial and power/industrial business lines, with
clients having deferred projects during the economic downturn.

SAN FRANCISCO, May 5 (Reuters) – Fluor Corp (FLR.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the
largest publicly traded U.S. engineering company, posted a
small increase in quarterly profit that beat analysts’
estimates, while reporting that its backlog of work expanded to
a new high.

“We have a very robust prospect list and I think we are
going to see a consistent improvement as we go into the second
half of this year and into 2012 and 2013,” said Chief Executive
David Seaton, a 26-year Fluor veteran who just took over in
February from Alan Boeckmann, now the nonexecutive chairman.

SAN FRANCISCO, April 29 (Reuters) – Chevron Corp (CVX.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)
delivered another blow to the once-preeminent U.S. West Texas
Intermediate (WTI) oil futures contract on Friday, saying it
had switched to Europe’s Brent crude benchmark when calculating
production-sharing contract changes.

Chevron, the third-largest nongovernment-controlled oil
company by value, said on Friday higher oil prices cut volumes
under production-sharing and variable-royalty contracts in the
first quarter by about 22,000 barrels per day (bpd).