Chevron (CVX), (FSM), (AKS), (BTU), (TLM) (WLT) (DRQ) Ratings Changes

Ratings on shares of Chevron (CVX), Dril-Quip (DRQ), AK Steel Holding Co. (AKS), Peabody Energy Corp. (BTU), Fortuna Silver Mines (FSM), Talisman Energy (TLM), Walter Energy (WLT) and U.S. Steel (X) were adjusted by analysts.

Howard Weil upgraded shares of Chevron (CVX) from a "Market Perform" rating to an "Outperform" rating. They have a price target of $135.00 on the company.

ISI Group upgraded Dril-Quip (DRQ) from a "Hold" rating to a "Buy" rating.

Citigroup (C) downgraded AK Steel Holding Co. (AKS) from a "Neutral" rating to a "Sell" rating. They lowered their price from $5.50 to $3.50 on the company.

Bank of America (BAC) downgraded Peabody Energy Corp. (BTU) from a "Buy" rating to an "Underperform" rating. They lowered their price target from $32.00 to $22.00 on the company.

Dundee Securities downgraded Fortuna Silver Mines (FSM) from a "Buy" rating to a "Neutral" rating.

Credit Suisse (CS) downgraded Talisman Energy (TLM) from an "Outperform" rating to a "Neutral"rating.

Bank of America Walter Energy (WLT) Buy Neutral $45.00 $37.00

Citigroup U.S. Steel (X) Buy Neutral $30.00 $23.00

Chevron (CVX) (LPI) (CLF) (GSM) (MUSA) (OAS) Ratings, Price Targets

Chevron (NYSE: CVX), Laredo Petroleum Holdings (NYSE: LPI), Cliffs Natural Resources (NYSE: CLF), Globe Specialty Metals, Inc. (NYSE: GSM), Metals Holdings (NASDAQ: MUSA) and Oasis Petroleum Inc. (NYSE: OAS) ratings and price targets.

Jefferies Group (NYSE:JEF) reiterated its "Buy" rating on Chevron (CVX). They have a price target of $125.00 on the company.

Tudor Pickering initiated coverage on Laredo Petroleum Holdings (LPI). They placed an “Accumulate” rating on the company.

Cliffs Natural Resources (CLF) had its price target lowered by Longbow Research from $112.00 to $84.00. They have a “Buy” rating on the company.

Globe Specialty Metals, Inc. (GSM) had its price target lowered by Oppenheimer (NYSE:OPY) from $22.00 to $20.00. They have an “Outperform” rating on the company.

Metals Holdings (MUSA) had its price target raised by Dahlman Rose from $18.00 to $20.00. They have a “Buy” rating on the company.

Oasis Petroleum Inc. (OAS) was downgraded by SunTrust (NYSE:STI) from a “Buy” rating to a “Neutral” rating.

Cameron (CAM) (CVX) (BHI) (FES) (HAL) (WFT) Ratings, Price Targets

Cameron International (NYSE: CAM), Chevron (NYSE: CVX), Baker Hughes (NYSE: BHI), Forbes Energy Services Ltd (NYSE: FES), Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) and Weatherford (NYSE: WFT) ratings and price targets.

Cameron International (CAM) had its “Buy” rating reiterated by Sterne Agee. They have a price target of $57.00 on the company.

Chevron (CVX) had its “Underweight” rating reiterated by JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM).

Baker Hughes (BHI) had its “Buy” rating reiterated by Sterne Agee. They have a price target of $71.00 on the company.

Forbes Energy Services Ltd (FES) had its “Buy” rating reiterated by Canaccord Genuity.

Halliburton (HAL) had its “Buy” rating reiterated by Sterne Agee. They have a price target of $48.00 on the company.

Weatherford (WFT) had its “Buy” rating reiterated by Sterne Agee. They have a price target of $20.00 on the company.

Chevron (CVX) (PNRA) (BUD) (COG) (SRE) (REGN) Crushed Friday

Chevron (CVX), Panera Bread Company (PNRA), Anheuser Busch (BUD), Cabot Oil & Gas (NYSE:COG), Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) and Regeneron Pharms (NASDAQ:REGN) got crunched Friday.

Chevron (CVX) closed Friday at $95.19, plummeting $3.22, or 3.27 percent

Panera Bread Company (PNRA) closed at $108.97, declining $2.86, or 2.56 percent.

Anheuser Busch (BUD) ended the session at $51.04, falling $1.68, or 3.19 percent.

Cabot Oil & Gas (COG) closed at $70.19, down $4.11, or 4.11 percent.

Sempra Energy (SRE) ended the day at $50.31, dropping $1.41, or 2.73 percent.

Regeneron Pharms (REGN) closed Friday at $65.62, plunging $6.57, or 9.10 percent.

Chevron (CVX) (COP) (XOM) (PBR) (APC) Close Down as Oil Rallies Late in the Session

A late rally for oil prices wasn't enough to bolster giant oil stocks like Chevron (NYSE:CVX), ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP), Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM), Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) and Anadarko (NYSE:APC), which all closed down on Tuesday.

Other energy giants like BP (NYSE:BP), Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) and Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) did manage to close in positive territory.

Crude for July delivery settled at $99.09 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the first positive close in three days, gaining 8 cents. Earlier in trading the contract was down as low as $97.74. Oil is up by about 39 percent over the last year.

Brent crude for July delivery jumped $2.30, or 2 percent, to $116.78 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange.

The U.S dollar weakened against the euro, with the euro reaching $1.4696. The dollar also fell against the Swiss franc to 0.8327. Against a basket of major currencies the dollar declined to 73.506.

Even with the collapsing dollar it wasn't enough to have a significant impact because of the offsetting effect of the assumption OPEC will boost production, and an anemic economy is expected to reduce demand.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 19.15 points, or 0.16 percent, to close at 12,070.81. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 1.23 points, or 0.10 percent, to close at 1,284.94. The Nasdaq Composite Index declined 1.00 point, or 0.04 percent, to end the session at 2,701.56.

Anadarko closed Tuesday at $73.74, down $1.01, or 1.35 percent. Petrobras ended the day at $32.64, falling $0.34, or 1.03 percent. Exxon Mobil closed at $80.00, declining $0.29, or 0.36 percent. ConocoPhillips ended at $70.87, dropping $0.05, or 0.07 percent. Chevron closed at $99.47, losing $0.21, or 0.21 percent.

Ratings Updates for (CVX) (PTR) (STP) (GPRO) (AWR) from Analysts

Analysts made several changes or updates on ratings and price targets for Chevron (NYSE: CVX), Petrochina (NYSE: PTR), Suntech Power (NYSE: STP), Gen-Probe Incorporated (NASDAQ: GPRO) and American States Water Company (NYSE: AWR) today.

Jefferies (NYSE:JEF) reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Chevron (NYSE: CVX).

Jefferies initiated coverage on Petrochina (NYSE: PTR). They placed a “buy” rating on the company.

Ardour Capital cut their price target on Suntech Power (NYSE: STP) from $10.00 to $7.50. They have a “hold” rating on the company.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) downgraded Gen-Probe Incorporated (NASDAQ: GPRO) from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating. They have a price target of $85.00 on the company.

Ladenburg Thalmann initiated coverage on American States Water Company (NYSE: AWR). They placed a “buy” rating and a price target of $38.00 on the company.

Exxon (XOM) (COP) (CVX) Close Up as Oil Breaks $100 a Barrel

For the first day this week oil prices broke the $100 mark a barrel, sending the share prices of energy giants Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM), Conoco (NYSE:COP) and Chevron (NYSE:CVX) up by the end of the session.

Light sweet crude oil for July delivery jumped $1.73 to settle at $101.32 a barrel and July Brent crude climbed by $2.40 to settle at $114.93.

Also strengthening oil prices was a report from the Department of Energy on Wednesday saying U.S. commercial crude inventories rose by 600,000 barrels in the week ended May 20 against an expected 1.3 million barrel fall in crude stocks.

Gasoline inventories was up by 3.8 million barrels last week against an estimated 300,000 barrel jump.

Chevron closed at $103.25, gaining $0.98, or 0.96 percent. Exxon closed at $81.96, up $0.67, or 0.82 percent. ConocoPhillips ended the session up slightly at $71.97, rising $0.06, or 0.08 percent.

Will Market Punish Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) Over Potential Liability in BP (NYSE:BP) Cement Job?

Some analysts are attempting to circle the wagons around Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) after the devastating conclusion from the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, concluded the cement mixture used to seal the Macondo well of BP's was unstable.

Questions as to whether or their indemnity agreement with BP will hold is being bantered about, along with potential exposure to lawsuits which could weigh on the company for years if Halliburton isn't able to wiggle its way out of this.

At this time there is uncertainty because of the mixed reports, with some implying the mixtures being tested were different than the actual mixture used by Halliburton, although independent tests from Chevron (NYSE:CVX) ended up with the same conclusion, that the mixture was indeed unstable and shouldn't have been used.

The worst case scenario so far is Halliburton could be on the hook for fines and/or fees as high as $2 billion. That wouldn't include paying BP anything or lawsuits which would inevitable come about from the incident.

Halliburton's job will be to counter the allegations and conclusions in order to clear themselves of wrongdoing. If they can't, there will definitely be far more liability incurred by them than just though a week ago.

BP (NYSE:BP) Losing Competitive Advantage to Chevron (NYSE:CVX), Exxon (NYSE:XOM) and Shell (NYSE:RDS-A) in Gulf Drilling

BP (NYSE:BP) rivals Chevron (NYSE:CVX), Exxon (NYSE:XOM) and Shell (NYSE:RDS-A) are using the misfortune of BP to quickly gain a wider competitive advantage in Gulf drilling as the troubled energy company has to focus on other battles and shoring up their reputation.

No government entity or official would likely grant BP a drilling permit in the Gulf of Mexico at this time, while the other companies are applying for permits to drill in the region.

Interestingly, Anadarko (NYSE:APC) has been given a free pass, as they've indicated they're ready to resume drilling in the Gulf even though they are 25 percent owners in the failed Macondo oil well, and their liability and responsibility in the matter is yet to be determined.

This is about resources, and since BP is by far the only company involved able to pay for damages, the others have in general ignored, although they may have to pay BP back before it's all through, although it's expected to be far below anything BP will have to pay.

BP will fall behind their rivals in the Gulf because of the Gulf oil spill, and their competitors will be smart to take advantage of the current conditions to extend their lead over them, which it looks like they're doing.

BP (NYSE:BP) Oil Spill Small Compared to Possible Shetland Scenario

Drilling near Shetland Islands in British waters could result in a bigger catastrophe than the BP (NYSE:BP) oil spill if an accident were to happen, according to Chevron (NYSE:CVX), who has a license to drill in the region.

According to a worst-case scenario, about 77,000 barrels a day could be released from the well if it ruptured. That's close to 25 percent more than that which escaped from the Macondo Well in the Gulf of Mexico.

Originally Chevron stated the worst that would happen would 35,000 barrels a day escaping into the North Sea.

Managing director of Chevron UK, Richard Cohagan, said the reason for the increased estimate is the high-pressure connected with the area.

"Deepwater Horizon has given us a new perspective on how bad things could be. When we looked at the core pressures and what seismic has shown us might be the producing interval, we calculated what the largest spill rate could be, said Cohagan.

"We actually came up with a very large spill rate in that condition of 77,000 barrels - actually more than BP's Macondo."

Oil companies have all been going over their operations after the Gulf oil spill.

ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM), Chevron (NYSE:CVX), ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) and Shell Oil (NYSE:RDS-A) Ads Point to BP's (NYSE:BP) Failure

Although the name of BP (NYSE:BP) hasn't specifically been mentioned, competitors ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM), Chevron (NYSE:CVX), ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) and Shell Oil (NYSE:RDS-A) have been putting ads in major newspapers, saying if wells were built and operated correctly in the first place, they wouldn't fail.

The headline of one of the ads say, “Engineer it. Build it. And make sure it is never needed.”

But in the fine print is where they make their key attack. It says, “While we don’t yet have all the facts regarding the incident in the Gulf of Mexico, we do know that such tragedies are avoidable. By starting with properly designed wells, by following established procedures and best practices, by conducting relentless inspections, tests and drills, and with frequent, thorough training of personnel, accidents like this should never happen.”

The four majors mentioned above are part of a partnership to build a rapid response system to limit the damage of an oil spill if it ever does happen again. They are together spending about $1 billion to develop it.

Other than those who had a direct stake or contractual connection to the Deepwater Horizon oil rig or Macondo oil well, this may be the first time others with no direct connection have entered into the public relations fray.

BP (NYSE:BP) Approved for South China Sea Oil Block

BP (NYSE:BP) announced Monday it has been approved for its acquisition of an interest in the 42/05 block in the South China Sea.

The government of China approved the acquisition of 40.82 percent in the block for Energy China, Ltd.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) has acquired the remaining 59.18 percent of the asset.

During the exploration phase of the project Chevron will be the operator, under the amendment agreements with China National Offshore Oil Corporation.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX), Total ((NYSE:TOT) Target Prices Lowered by The Benchmark Company

The Benchmark Company said they're lowering their target prices on Chevron (NYSE:CVX) and Total (NYSE:TOT), based on the "weakness in the overall equity market," along with a "gas-price-related reduction in" their "normalized liquid-natural-gas earnings estimate."

Chevron's price target was dropped from $98 to $94 a share, and Total's target price was lowered from $68.74 a share to $58.55 a share.

Benchmark maintained their "Buy" rating on Chevron, basing it on their "unchanged belief that the discounted normalized earnings-multiple valuation currently in place is unjustifiable given the superior strength and growth potential of the Company's robust and diversified upstream portfolio."

They also reiterated their "Buy" rating on Total, saying, "We reaffirm our Buy rating based upon our unchanged belief that the discounted normalized earnings-multiple valuation currently in place is unwarranted given the superior growth and return potential of the company's robust and highly diversified upstream portfolio."

Benchmark kept their "Market Weight" on the overall integrated major oil sector.

Citigroup (NYSE:C): Exxon (NYSE:XOM) Ready to Bid on BP (NYSE:BP)?

Citigroup (NYSE:C) recently talked about the need for BP (NYSE:BP) to conclude its permanent sealing of the Macondo well before companies may be interested in making a bid on them, and now that they're close to doing that, one of the obvious names associated with the possibility is ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM).

One other possibility related to a possible acquisition that has been thrown around, as far as oil companies go, is Chevron (NYSE:CVX), but if they made a bid, and Exxon was interested, they would have no chance if a bidding war ensued, as Exxon has almost exactly twice the market cap of Chevron, and could easily win a battle.

Another possibility is a Chinese company. Cash wouldn't be a problem there, but being government-owned, for the most part, it's highly unlikely the go ahead would be given if a bid was made.

There hasn't been specific indication from a competitive or antitrust standpoint whether or not there would be resistance to an Exxon bid, but if they did get BP, the size of the company would be extraordinary.

Once Exxon would take the BP assets and grow them, they could have a market cap of about $500 billion. As it is, they be well over $400 billion. And that's at a time they've been beaten down in share price because of the ongoing recession.

It would boggle the mind as to the powerhouse they would become, although it would come with a lot of baggage in BP, which they would have to deal with over a long period of time.

But with BP's shares down and their divesting of assets, there may not be a better season of time to get them at a bargain price.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Completes Deepest Canadian Exploration Well

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) announced it has completed the drilling of the deepest exploration well in Canadian history off the coast of Newfoundland.

The oil company said they were able to finish the operations without any safety problems. The drilling was in 2,600 meters of water.

Drilling on the project was finished last week, according to Chevron spokesman Leif Sollid, but the results won't be released for about two years, he added.

With the project going on in the midst of the BP (NYSE:BP) oil spill, Chevron was under tight scrutiny, and had to report daily to a safety team concerning the various tests to ensure safe drilling.

BP (NYSE:BP), Exxon (NYSE:XOM), Anadarko (NYSE:APC), Shell (NYSE:RDS-a), Chevron (NYSE:CVX), Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) Pulling Workers from Gulf

With Tropical Storm Bonnie due to hit the Gulf region Saturday, BP (NYSE:BP), Exxon (NYSE:XOM), Anadarko (NYSE:APC), Shell (NYSE:RDS-a), Chevron (NYSE:CVX) and Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) are pulling all non-essential workers from the area.

In the case of BP, that will interrupt the drilling of the relief well, which is close to being completed, and operations to permanently seal the Macando oil well near at hand.

The containment cap will remain in place, although monitoring of it will be put on hold. It seems to have held solidly, and shouldn't pose a problem while the storm passes through the area.

If it picks up in strength, which is possible when it hits the warmer waters, more workers could be evacuated from the Gulf.

BP's (NYSE:BP) Alaskan Assets May Be On the Block Again

After some movement on other assets BP (NYSE:BP) is selling to raise capital to fund its liabilities in the Macondo Well oil spill, reports are they may be opening up talks again concerning assets it holds in Alaska, including the Prudhoe Bay oil field, which they hold a 26 percent stake in.

BP couldn't get the deal done with Apache (NYSE:APA), which seemingly wasn't willing to pay the price BP wanted, with approximately $1 billion separating the parties. BP had asked for about $10 billion and Apache was holding strong at close to $9 billion.

They did sell other assets to Apache earlier in the week for $7 billion, which were located in Egypt and North America.

This week BP also let it be known assets in Vietnam and Colombia were also for sale, which has generated significant interest, especially the Vietnam assets.

A number of government-owned oil companies are always looking out for energy assets to acquire, so BP will get a good price for those the choose to sell, even though it is known they need the cash badly.

Prudhoe Bay also had the sticking point of the right of first refusal from existing partners in the project, which include oil giants Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE:XOM), ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) and Chevron Corp. (NYSE:CVX). Exxon and Conoco have equal stakes of 36 percent and Chevron a small 2 percent stake.

Exxon (NYSE:XOM), Shell (NYSE:RDS-A), Chevron (NYSE:CVX), ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) Developing Rapid-response Deployment System

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM), Chevron Corp. (NYSE:CVX), ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) and Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDS-A) announced they are working together to develop a rapid-response system to combat any future oil spills.

The four companies are contributing $250 million each toward the $1 billion project, which will be able to be used at depths up to 10,000 feet, and capture or contain up to 100,000 barrels a day; something that would have stopped the BP (NYSE:BP) oil spill from spreading across the Gulf.

Alan Jeffers, an Exxon spokesman, said this about the new effort, “Exxon Mobil is taking the lead on the engineering construction phase, but the plan is to set up a non-profit organization that will ultimately manage this. It’s still in the development stages, but we’re going to ask others to join and those who choose not to join can have access to the equipment via commercial arrangements.”

The new organization created from the effort will be non-profit, and will be called the Marine Well Containment Co.

It isn't called a rapid-response system for nothing, as it'll be able to be deployed within a period of 24 hours.

Engineers from the four companies mentioned above are working on developing the system.

Apache (NYSE:APA), Chevron (NYSE:CVX), KUFPEC in KOGAS Deal

Chevron (NYSE:CVX), Apache (NYSE:APA) and Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Co (KUFPEC), have made a deal with Korea Gas Corporation for the purpose of acquiring liquefied natural gas.

The liquefied natural gas will be acquired from Australian-based Wheatstone project in Western Australia, according to the companies involved.

KUFPEC and Apache, who have equity stakes in the fields which supply Wheatstone, have plans to sell 5 percent of those stakes.

KOGAS has committed to acquiring 1.5 million tons of liquefied natural gas annually, with 75 percent of the gas provided by Chevron, which operates Wheatstone, and close to 25 percent from KUFPEC and Apache.

The assets being sold by Apache and KUFPEC are from the Julimar and Brunello fields, which account for the 5 percent mentioned above. When completed, KOGAS will have a 5 percent stake in the overall Wheatstone project.

Chevron (NYSE:CVX) Sent Bill from Salt Lake County for Utah Oil Spill

Chevron (NYSE:CVC) received the first of what will be more bills, as they were billed $53,49.31 by Salt Lake County to cover work related to cleaning up the small oil spill.

This covers all the work, said the county in a statement, from between the oil spill and June 24. County emergency services coordinator, Jeff Graviet, said there will probably be more expenses to pay for in connection to the incident.

Much of that will come from the ongoing monitoring of air quality by the health department and cleaning up of birds.

For the city, Salt Lake City has already sent a bill for close to $125,000 for up to June 12.

Fines for the oil spill will be determined later said regulators.