Improving

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.

State regulators from eight states — Texas, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Nebraska, Arkansas, Michigan, Colorado and Pennsylvania — told the U.S. Secretary of Energy Advisory Board Natural Gas Subcommittee (SEAB) that its recommendations on hydraulic fracturing (fracking) should address best practices.

New and continuously improving drilling technologies have handed producers the keys to unlock more onshore natural gas and oil reserves with fewer wells and at a lower cost, but today’s innovations have only scratched the rock’s surface, a Schlumberger Ltd. executive said recently.

New and continuously improving drilling technologies have handed producers the keys to unlock more onshore natural gas and oil reserves with fewer wells and at a lower cost, but today’s innovations have only scratched the rock’s surface, a Schlumberger Ltd. executive said recently.

Senior Interior Department officials a major report reviewing offshore oil and gas natural gas oversight, which made 59 recommendations on improving offshore safety, to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar last Wednesday, but fortunately for producers not all of of the recommendations must be met before the deepwater moratorium in the Gulf of Mexico is lifted.

Senior Interior Department officials submitted a major report reviewing offshore oil and gas natural gas oversight, which made 59 recommendations on improving offshore safety, to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar Wednesday, but not all of of the recommendations must be met before the deepwater moratorium in the Gulf of Mexico is lifted.

North America’s onshore natural gas markets continue to show signs of improving, and the rig count is forecast to be strong in the near term — all positive factors for the oilfield services market, Barclays Capital analysts said last week.

North America’s onshore natural gas markets continue to show signs of improving, and the rig count is forecast to be strong in the near term — all positive factors for the oilfield services market, Barclays Capital analysts said Tuesday.

Natural gas and oil industry fundamentals are improving “in stride” with the global economy, and with rising economic expectations, energy market sentiment remains “relatively positive,” industry consultant Ernst & Young LLP reported last week.