Schlumberger

A surge in hydraulic fracturing capacity between April and June sent Schlumberger Ltd.’s North American revenues up 18%, with U.S. land revenue jumping 42% from the first quarter, a rate that was nearly double the increase in the onshore rig count.

Schlumberger Ltd. has begun to rapidly pull idled hydraulic fracturing equipment off the stacks and is rehiring people in North America to build on a long-awaited recovery for the oil and gas business.

Schlumberger Ltd. and Weatherford International plc are signaling a knife fight for North American pressure pumping market share after forming a partnership aimed at No. 1 operator Halliburton Co.

Healthier commodity prices are sending oil and natural gas producers back to work, which sets the stage for Schlumberger Ltd. (SLB) to begin a push for higher prices for its services, CEO Paal Kibsgaard said Friday.

Schlumberger Ltd. posted a 31% sequential increase in its U.S. onshore drilling and measurements revenue during the third quarter, driven by a rising rig count and technology sales for super laterals, but the outlook for 2017 still remains hazy, CEO Paal Kibsgaard said Friday.

Schlumberger Ltd.is collaborating with a subsidiary of Malaysia’s state-owned Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas) on a deepwater multi-client survey in Mexico’s Campeche Basin in the southern Gulf of Mexico. The agreement would license to Petronas part of a wide-azimuth survey conducted by Schlumberger’s seismic business, WesternGeco. The project, Schlumberger said, follows the Mexican government’s decision to license offshore and onshore areas to private entities (see Daily GPI, Sept. 12). More than 80,000 square kilometers, or close to 31,000 square miles, of data have been acquired in the southern Gulf over the last 12 months, the oilfield services operator said.

The global oil supply is tightening, and markets should move closer to balance by the end of this year, but it’s too early for “any improvement in price” to affect exploration investments because operator confidence and balance sheets still need to be repaired, Schlumberger Ltd.’s operations chief said Tuesday.

The oil and gas industry has finally “reached the bottom” of the downcycle, Schlumberger Ltd. CEO Paal Kibsgaard told investors Friday during the international oilfield services (OFS) giant’s 2Q2016 earnings call.

Schlumberger Ltd.led a $23.5 million investor round for Hayward, CA-based Alphabet Energy to help the company expand production of its Power Generating Combustor (PGC) system, which helps to reduce natural gas flaring. Alphabet, whose investors also have includedEncana Corp., said Schlumberger participated withGM Ventures, Osceola Capital Management LLC, TGP, Claremont Creek Ventures and the California Clean Energy Angel Fund. Alphabet is commercializing a waste heat recovery technology initially developed at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The PGC system is designed to eliminate the need for diesel- and natural gas-powered generators and electrical grid connections at well pads to reduce fuel, rental and maintenance costs, and to eliminate emissions. Alphabet also has opened a Houston office to keep pace with energy industry demand for remote power generation solutions.