North America, and US shale in particular, has been the key driver of earnings growth at top two oilfield services firms Schlumberger and Halliburton since revenues bottomed out in 2016. As US drilling slows amid capacity constraints, can other regions pick up the pace?
For global number one Schlumberger the share of earnings accounted for by the firm’s home North American market soared from 24% in 2016 to hit a record high of 37.8% in Q2 this year (MEES, 27 July). But the North America share dipped to 37.5% of Schlumberger’s $8.5bn earnings for Q3 (see table). With CEO Paal Kibsgaard flagging up a “rapid softening” in US fracking activity, both the firm’s overall earnings and the US share can be expected to fall further in the current quarter. (CONTINUED - 1248 WORDS)
