Contractors

Houston’s Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc., one of the top offshore rig contractors in the world, on Thursday reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings from lower operating costs. Competitor Noble Corp. reported a mixed profit report, but CEO David Williams said the fundamentals for the offshore industry remain strong.

The Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC) on Tuesday published recommended practices to respond to stray gas incidents, the fourth in a series of guidance documents published by the industry group.

Drawing up a blueprint for regional companies that want to capture the lucrative business opportunities brought on by rampant Marcellus Shale oil and natural gas development in Pennsylvania, University of Pittsburgh researchers this month released a Pitt Business Working Paper titled “Understanding the Marcellus Shale Supply Chain.”

Noble Inc., one of the biggest offshore drilling contractors in the world, is updating its extensive global drilling suite to meet the needs of its clients, a do-over of a strategy from the late 1990s, when offshore rigs were merely upgraded, CEO David Williams said last week.

Noble Inc., one of the biggest offshore drilling contractors in the world, is updating its extensive global drilling suite to meet the needs of its clients, a do-over of a strategy from the late 1990s, when offshore rigs were merely upgraded, CEO David Williams said Thursday.

It didn’t take long for the natural gas industry and energy insiders to react to a New York Times (NYT) story on Sunday, which cited unnamed industry and government sources describing the shale gas industry as a “Ponzi” scheme with a future similar to Enron Corp. and the bursting of the dot.com bubble.

A New York City-based law firm specializing in mass tort litigation is suing Anschutz Exploration Corp. and its contractors on behalf of nine families that claim their drinking water was contaminated by the company’s gas exploration and drilling activities in Horseheads, NY.

Laser Northeast Gathering Co. LLC has started construction on its gathering and transportation pipeline in Susquehanna County, PA, and expects the project to bring substantial investment and jobs to northeastern Pennsylvania, CEO Thomas F. Karam said at a groundbreaking ceremony in New Milford, PA, Tuesday.

Drilling products manufactured by two Pennsylvania companies, Center Rock Inc. of Berlin in southwestern Pennsylvania and Schramm Inc. of West Chester, near Philadelphia, were instrumental in the rescue Wednesday of 33 Chilean miners trapped for more two months in an underground mine.