-Siemens is reportedly considering a counter-bid that could derail a possible merger between Sulzer and Dresser-Rand. Media reports indicated Siemens could vote on a bid — said to be more than $85 per share — next week. GE has also jumped into the fray, according to a report by the Financial Times
-The U.S. government has allowed ExxonMobil more time to wind down one of its Russian wells in the Arctic Circle. Via the Houston Business Journal, ExxonMobil must shut down its University-1 well in the Kara Sea due to U.S. sanctions on Russia.
-A federal appeals court on Thursday upheld the U.S. Chemical Safety Board’s (CSB) right to Transocean’s role in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster. Via the Associated Press, the court noted that the CSB has the authority to investigate the accidental release of hazardous materials from stationary sources. The board in June found fault with both BP and Transocean for the improper testing and failure of the Deepwater Horizon rig’s blowout preventer.
-BP is leading the charge to produce oil in seven-mile-deep reservoirs where the pressure could reach 20,000 psi, Bloomberg reports. The company could spend several billion dollars on a project to tap wells that could produce more oil individually than 1,000 U.S. shale wells combined. Drilling such deep wells requires new equipment — including redesigned screws to hold machines together — to ensure safety in conditions potentially more hazardous than those of the Macondo well that blew out in 2010.
