Energy Biz Replay: Chevron BUYS Eastern Europe, TransOcean’s Prospects BRIGHTER

Barron’s nominates Atwood Oceanics, Inc. (NYSE:ATW) and Lufkin Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:LUFK) as “two great oil services stocks with takeout potential.” Each company currently is going through a transformation into a larger worldwide player, but shares of each have experienced problems over the past year, in part because of volatility in oil prices and also higher costs.

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Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) is quietly snapping up huge areas of land across eastern Europe. A company spokesperson comments that “It’s like Goldilocks. The shale has to be at the right depth, have the right organic content and be in the right geological window. That’s what we believe we’ve identified in eastern Europe.”

Transocean Ltd. (NYSE:RIG) reports to analysts that it is “making progress” towards a Deepwater Horizon resolution, although it set aside $750 million more in an estimated loss contingency. The firm says it signed $7 billion in new contracts in July, and is benefitting from improvements in contract terms. In addition, Transocean predicts a lower level of out-of-service days in the third quarter.

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