Oilfield service shares rallied Monday as higher crude-oil prices gave investors reason to add to their bets on the sector.
Oil prices rose on what the market saw as a modest production increase from Saudi Arabia and concerns that output from Nigeria will decline. Light, sweet crude for August delivery rose $1.38 to settle at $136.74 [...]

Goldman Sachs upgraded the oilfield services sector to “Attractive” from “Neutral,” predicting strong profit growth due to greater drilling activity and high oil prices.
Analyst Charles Minervino expects earnings to grow in the double digits through 2011 as high oil prices lead to more rapid rig construction, and both drilling activity and the rates oil companies [...]

Oilfield services provider Smith International Inc. plans to buy W-H Energy Services in a deal valued at roughly $3.2 billion. The combination should broaden Smith’s offerings in key drilling services markets.
Smith will pay $56.10 cash and 0.48 Smith share for each W-H Energy Inc. share outstanding. Based on Smith’s closing price Monday, the deal values [...]

Investors on Friday rewarded Joy Global Inc., which makes mining equipment, for a fiscal second-quarter profit that easily topped Wall Street expectations. The stock peaked at a new year high.
Net income for the three months ended May 2 fell to $72.1 million, or 66 cents per share, from $77.6 million, or 70 cents per share, [...]

South Africa’s Nedbank Capital said on Wednesday it had acquired Mining Capital Equipment, a unit of U.S drilling services group Boart Longyear , through a leveraged buyout.
Nedbank Capital, a unit of banking group Nedbank , bought the unit for an undisclosed amount with black empowerment group Matasis Investment Holdings and management.
“The business is focused and [...]

Oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. will pay competitor National Oilwell Varco Inc.’s ReedHycalog division at least $100 million to settle a patent dispute.
ReedHycalog will get $70 million for past use of patented technologies and at least $30 million for future use. Baker Hughes said ReedHycalog agreed to pay royalties on certain Baker Hughes patents, [...]

Ford Motor Co. said it will double the number of six-speed automatic transmissions produced by the end of the year, and expects to install the more fuel-efficient gearboxes in 98 percent of its North American vehicles by 2012.
The transmissions, which will debut in 2009-model Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner crossover vehicles, offer 4 percent to [...]

Gasoline pump prices rose last week, but so did demand, according to a weekly survey by MasterCard SpendingPulse.
Demand increased 0.9 percent in the week ending April 11, compared with the week before. But looking at the comparable week from last year, demand was flat and remains near the bottom of the expected range.
“It’s not unusual [...]

National Oilwell Varco Inc. obtained a $3 billion line of credit to help pay for its $7.37 billion purchase of drilling products maker Grant Prideco Inc.
Commitments for the unsecured financing came from Wells Fargo Bank NA and a syndicate of other banks.
The credit line is expected to take effect next week, contingent on the closing [...]

The 9th International Mining and Machinery Exhibition, organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) In association with Ministry of Mines, Ministry of Coal, Government of India, focuses on the opportunities, both international and national, provided by the shift of mining companies towards customer satisfaction and expectations. It examines till the elements that make up The [...]