SLB edged past estimates for quarterly profit on Friday as strength in the overseas drilling market to meet the insatiable global appetite for oil drove demand for its oilfield equipment, offsetting weakness in North America.
Oilfield services firms have been kept busy as oil and gas companies reinvest their windfall profit, reaped when Russia invaded Ukraine, to secure more offshore and international sources.
International revenue rose 12% to $6.6 billion in the third quarter, compared with a year earlier. North America revenue climbed 6%, but declined sequentially due to reduced drilling activity in the onshore U.S. and the Gulf of Mexico.
SLB CEO Olivier Le Peuch said the results were "driven by sustained growth in the international markets, where we posted our ninth consecutive quarter of double-digit year-on-year growth".
"This was a good quarter, however, near-term North America could continue to disappoint relative to lower NatGas prices and higher costs and the strength in the MidEast/Asia is not sustainable," said Longdley Zephrin of The Zephrin Group
The company, formerly called Schlumberger, reported net income, excluding items, of 78 cents per share, for the three months ended Sept. 30, compared with the average analysts' estimate of 77 cents per share, according to LSEG data.
Shares of the company were down about 2% in premarket trading.
(Reuters - Reporting by Arunima Kumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)
