Halliburton Company (HAL:NYSE)

Halliburton Company has been awarded the integrated turnkey drilling contract in South Ghawar. Located approximately 200 kilometers (124 miles) from the city of Dhahran and the contract would involve work in Uthmaniyah, Haradh, Hawiyah and Shedgum. The five-year contract, with an option for an additional five-year period, calls for the provision of drilling rigs, directional and horizontal drilling, logging while drilling, cementing, mud engineering, wireline logging, completion, perforating, and other well construction activities, including engineering and management of the entire drilling operations. The project is expected to utilize three to four rigs, and will involve between 153 and 185 oil production, water injection and evaluation wells. This contract is Saudi Aramco's first-ever award for an integrated turnkey drilling contract and is an important part of Saudi Aramco's plan to explore new avenues of collaboration with major oil field services providers.

Landmark, a brand of Halliburton Company launched GeoGraphix(R) Discovery(TM) 3D software, the new Microsoft Windows PC-based offering incorporating interactive visualization tools from Microsoft's Xbox(R) gaming console and the 64-bit capabilities and performance of the new Microsoft Windows 7 operating system. Using this new member of the GeoGraphix product family Discovery 3D software users will have an immersive, game-like experience when developing geologic interpretations. GeoGraphix Discovery 3D software is one of the first oil and gas solutions leveraging the Microsoft Windows 7 operating system as well as the latest DirectX(R) graphics technology, combined with Microsoft Xbox gaming technology. The resulting product vastly improves the way geoscientists interact with and manipulate 3D subsurface models, allowing for faster, more accurate interpretations and decisions.

A raft of lawsuits filed across the country by soldiers and contractors who say they were sickened by 'burn pits' in Iraq and Afghanistan have been transferred to a federal judge in Maryland. The suits against Halliburton Co. and its former subsidiary, KBR Inc., allege a variety of waste-from batteries to medical detritus, including human remains-was tossed and torched in huge, uncovered holes near army bases. The plaintiffs, who hope to become a class of thousands, say the hazardous smoke from these sites caused ailments from rashes to upper respiratory problems to cancer. Some of the 22 suits also allege the defendants did not properly treat water or provided substandard food.