Oilfield

A “strong performance” in North America and overseas failed to offset declines in product and software sales for leading oilfield services provider Schlumberger Ltd., which on Friday reported 1Q2010 earnings down 28% from the year-ago period.

ExxonMobil Corp. gave a signal to oilfield services companies last week to begin disclosing the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracing) operations at drilling sites.

ExxonMobil Corp. gave a signal to oilfield services companies this week to begin disclosing the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing operations at drilling sites.

ExxonMobil Corp. gave a signal to oilfield services companies this week to begin disclosing the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing operations at drilling sites.

Reduced natural gas drilling in North America may be enough to sustain unconventional production in the short term, but for the oilfield services sector, research and development dollars continue to be poured into more complex drilling technologies, which will be needed once activity resumes, the CEO of Schlumberger LLC said this week.

Schlumberger Ltd., the world’s largest oilfield services company, is laying off 1,000 contractors, operating staff and support personnel across North America because of the deteriorating conditions in the natural gas and oil sector. If market conditions don’t improve, the company warned it could reduce its workforce even more.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy’s Rocky Mountain Oilfield Testing Center (RMOTC) and Ormat Technologies Inc. have produced the first successful generation of electricity using geothermal hot water from a producing oil well in Wyoming, they said last week. The power can be used in oil/gas production, reducing costs and freeing capacity on the power grid.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy’s Rocky Mountain Oilfield Testing Center (RMOTC) and Ormat Technologies Inc. have produced the first successful generation of electricity using geothermal hot water from a producing oil well in Wyoming, they said this week. The power can be used in oil/gas production, reducing costs and freeing capacity on the power grid.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) Friday said it will not oppose on antitrust grounds a proposal by a group of oil and natural gas producers, oilfield service companies and the University of Texas to engage in joint research and development involving the application of nanotechnology to the exploration and production of oil and gas.