A well test via the Wisting Central II horizontal appraisal well in the Barents Sea has recorded a flow rate of more than 5,000 boe/d and has therefore proved the viability of shallow horizontal drilling needed to develop Wisting field, OMV AS reported. Source: News

Halliburton Co. and Baker Hughes Inc. intend to “vigorously contest” a lawsuit filed Apr. 6 by the US Department of Justice that seeks to block their proposed merger. Source: News

US commercial crude oil inventories, excluding those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, declined 4.9 million bbl during the week ended Apr. 1 from the previous week’s total, according to the US Energy Information Administration’s Weekly Petroleum Status Report. Source: News

Light, sweet crude oil prices for May delivery rallied late in the Apr. 4 trading session to end the day with a gain, settling just below $36/bbl, while Brent also ended the day in positive territory, closing at nearly $38/bbl. Source: News

Idar Eikrem has been appointed executive vice-president and chief financial officer of Kvaerner ASA. Source: News

SIBUR has completed a process of organizational and staff changes, including the transfer of a number of management functions to the regional level. Source: News

Neil McCulloch and Terry Savage have been appointed cochairmen of Oil & Gas UK where they will respectively represent the operator and contractor communities. Source: News