Benefited

National Oilwell Varco Inc.’s (NOV) backlog for capital equipment orders jumped by one-third from the end of March to the end of June, the oilfield services operator said Tuesday.

An investigation by the Interior Department’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) revealed that Royal Dutch Shell benefited during the awarding of oil shale leases by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in 2005-2006, but it did not find any evidence that the producer committed any criminal violations, according to a new report by the OIG.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. last week said quarterly natural gas and oil sales volumes benefited from “significant” growth in U.S. onshore plays, with the Rocky Mountain region delivering 10% growth and the Southern and Appalachian region, which includes the Marcellus and Eagle Ford shales, up 9% from year-ago levels.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. on Tuesday said quarterly natural gas and oil sales volumes benefited from “significant” growth in U.S. onshore plays, with the Rocky Mountain region delivering 10% growth and the Southern and Appalachian region, which includes the Marcellus and Eagle Ford shales, up 9% from year-ago levels.

Because of strong drilling in North America’s onshore basins, oilfield equipment manufacturer National Oilwell Varco Inc. (NOV) said Tuesday its rig equipment backlog at the end of September was worth an estimated $4.87 billion — more than at the end of the second quarter.

Larger upstream producers in Canada benefited from strong prices and healthy production levels in 1Q2005, which in turn should help the country’s energy industry meet its natural gas and oil output targets this year, according to a report by Standard & Poor’s (S&P).

All of the lessons of how the nation positively benefited from the successful restructuring of the nation’s natural gas markets, from greater investment in energy infrastructure to innovation, are being lost in the shuffle as the electric utility industry continues to come to terms with its own march towards competition, FERC Commissioner Nora Brownell said last Tuesday. The end result? Consumers in the United States are being denied the opportunity to reap the fruits of new technologies that come with the evolution of markets, she argued.

For 2001, gas-rich Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. saw a 21% increase in production volumes and benefited from early-year natural gas prices and favorable hedge positions between February and October 2001. However, the Houston-based company was hit late in the year with credit exposure related to Enron Corp.’s bankruptcy, and combined with other special items, reported overall losses of more than $10 million. For the entire year, however, Cabot set unprecedented income records of $56.7 million, or $1.87 per share, with discretionary cash flow of $231.2 million, or $7.64 per share.

Major American businesses that have taken advantage of powerderegulation and switched suppliers have benefited from lowerprices, but they also have received less service, performance andvalue, and they’re ready to switch again, according to a survey byRKS Research and Consulting.