Baker

Poor market conditions are forecast to permeate every segment of Baker Hughes Inc.’s business through the rest of the year, with the North American rig count “relatively unchanged,” management said Tuesday.

Rig count data for the 14 unconventional oil and natural gas basins tracked by Baker Hughes Inc. showed that rig movement for the week ending June 19 was flat at 650, while NGI's assessment of eight additional basins from Baker Hughes data showed a week-over-week increase of four rigs to 60.

Rig count data for the 14 unconventional oil and natural gas basins tracked by Baker Hughes Inc. showed that rig movement for the week ending June 19 was flat at 650, while NGI’s assessment of eight additional basins from Baker Hughes data showed a week-over-week increase of four rigs to 60.

Nearly all shareholders voting Friday for the proposed combination of Halliburton Co. and Baker Hughes Inc. approved the mega-merger, which would bring together the No. 2 and No. 3 global oilfield service companies.

Halliburton Co. and Baker Hughes Inc. both beat market expectations in the final three months of 2014, but a sharp turnaround in North American business activity has clouded expectations for 2015, company CEOs said Tuesday.

Halliburton Co. (HAL) on Monday agreed to acquire Baker Hughes Inc. in a transaction worth an estimated $34.6 billion, bringing together the world’s No. 2 and No. 3 oilfield service (OFS) operators. On a pro-forma basis, the combined company had 2013 revenues of $51.8 billion, 136,000-plus employees and operations in more than 80 countries.

No matter how volatile the global political scenario becomes for oil and gas markets, North America will remain in a more solid position because the unconventionals have provided operators with predictability that can’t be found anywhere else in the world, Baker Hughes Inc.’s CEO said Thursday.

Baker Hughes Inc. expects North American exploration to increase through the rest of this year, lifted by the surge in Permian Basin development, which is showing no signs of slowing.

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto has submitted 700 pages of proposed legislation that would reform the nation’s energy policies. The proposal includes incentives for foreign investment in oil and gas exploration and production and breaking some of the monopolistic controls currently held by national oil company Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex).