Earnings

Pressure pumping services in North American unconventional basins appear to be on the cusp of oversupply, Schlumberger Ltd. executives said Friday.

National Fuel Gas Co. (NFG) will continue to go it alone in the Marcellus Shale, the company said during a quarterly earnings call last Friday.

Calgary-based Ensign Energy Services Inc. is boosting its services in the U.S. onshore through an agreement to acquire Rowan Cos. Inc.’s land drilling division for US$510 million in cash.

The chairman of Energy Transfer Equity LP (ETE) said Thursday the merger with natural gas pipeline giant Southern Union Co. (SUG) will give the combined company more customer market access in U.S. shale gas plays and alleviate some growing takeaway issues.

Noble Energy Inc. CEO Chuck Davidson said he was “really pleased” with the company’s growth in the Denver-Julesburg (DJ) Basin.

General Electric views the future of energy globally as upbeat, citing several “positive trends in energy” in reporting a 58% hike in its operating earnings to $3.5 billion in the first quarter this year, compared to the same period in 2010. Both CEO Jeffrey Immelt and CFO Keith Sherin talked bullishly about GE’s various energy plays, particularly global turbine orders, during a conference call with financial analysts Thursday.

Australian energy giant BHP Billiton Petroleum has become the latest international energy heavyweight to buy into U.S. shale plays with a transaction to acquire Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s Fayetteville Shale portfolio for $4.75 billion cash.

More shale rigs and higher dayrates lifted the latest quarterly earnings of U.S. land-based driller Patterson-UTI Energy Inc. (PTEN), which last week topped Wall Street’s forecasts.

Consol Energy Inc. has reduced a planned build-up of its horizontal rig fleet in the Marcellus Shale due to low natural gas prices, the Appalachian Basin player said Thursday.