BANGALORE, March 31 (Reuters) – DryShips Inc shares
inched up on Thursday, a day after the Greek dry bulk carrier
and oil and gas driller said it has finally secured financing
for all of its four new drillships.

After several delays, DryShips said it has received
commitments for a new $800 million loan and restructured its
$1.1 billion term loan facility from Deutsche Bank.

BANGALORE, March 25 (Reuters) – Oil and natural gas firm
Vanguard Natural Resources LLC offered to buy the rest
of Encore Energy Partners LP it does not already own for
about $567 million, to get full access to Encore’s oil-heavy
reserves amid surging crude prices.

Encouraged by crude oil prices that are consistently trading
above $100 a barrel, global exploration and production companies
are hunting for deals that would shore up their liquid reserves.

BANGALORE (Reuters) – Higher customer inventories and pricing pressure forced Cree Inc to cut its third-quarter revenue and margin forecast, signaling another disappointing quarter from the LED maker.

Supply of light-emitting diodes, used to light mobile phones and television screens, has jumped in recent times mainly due to generous subsidies in China. That, along with pricing pressures, have led Cree to post revenue below market expectations in the last two quarters.

BANGALORE, March 23 (Reuters) – Cree Inc (CREE.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) cut its
third-quarter revenue and margin view on higher customer
inventories and lower-than-expected pricing, dragging the LED
lighting maker’s shares down 11 percent.

Supply of light-emitting diodes, used to light mobile phones
and television screens, has jumped in recent times mainly due to
generous subsidies in China.

BANGALORE, March 22 (Reuters) – Oil and natural gas producer
Newfield Exploration will pay about $308 million to buy
assets in Utah’s Uinta basin from Harvest Natural Resources
and a private company, as it directs its investments to
oil plays for higher returns.

Newfield plans to spend nearly all of its 2011 budget of
$1.7 billion to develop its oil and liquids-rich gas plays, a
trend that is catching up due to higher oil prices and a
depressed natural gas market in the United States.

BANGALORE, March 14 (Reuters) – Kirby Corp , which
transports petrochemicals and refined petroleum products by tank
barge, said its deal to buy smaller rival K-Sea Transportation
Partners will add to its per-share earnings by the high
single to low double digits in 2012.

Units of K-Sea leaped 29 percent to $8.35 — above the bid
price of $8.15 — on Monday on the New York
Stock Exchange.

BANGALORE, March 9 (Reuters) – Shares of companies that own
oil tankers have perked up as crude oil prices have jumped to
2-1/2-year highs on fears that unrest in North Africa and the
Middle East could disrupt supplies.

Trading sources say Libya’s oil trade — the country is
Africa’s No.3 producer — has virtually been paralysed as banks
decline to clear payments.

BANGALORE (Reuters) – JinkoSolar Holding Co’s (JKS.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) quarterly results beat market estimates as shipments soared by two-thirds, and the Chinese solar company forecast a sequentially higher revenue for the first quarter as sales pick up ahead of subsidy cuts in Europe.

Solar companies such as First Solar (FSLR.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Yingli Green Energy (YGE.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and JinkoSolar saw record shipments last year as customers rushed purchases before new tariffs set in. But fading support for renewable energy have raised fears that margins could be hit in 2011.

BANGALORE (Reuters) – After the spill, the clean-up … of “idle iron”, the hundreds of old, disused wells, pipelines and drilling platforms scattered across the Gulf of

Mexico.

In the wake of last April’s Macondo oil spill, the U.S. government has ordered some 3,500 non-producing wells in the area to be plugged for good and 650 production platforms dismantled — a potential windfall for oilfield services firms.

BANGALORE (Reuters) – After the spill, the clean-up … of “idle iron,” the hundreds of old, disused wells, pipelines and drilling platforms scattered across the Gulf of Mexico.

In the wake of last April’s Macondo oil spill, the U.S. government has ordered some 3,500 non-producing wells in the area to be plugged for good and 650 production platforms dismantled — a potential windfall for oilfield services firms.