Schlumberger beat expectations with a rise in fourth-quarter profit on Friday as higher crude and natural gas prices drove demand for the world’s largest oilfield services company. Oil prices surged about 50 percent last year and are trading at seven-year highs on a COVID-19 vaccine-fueled demand recovery and tight supplies. The global rig count was 1,563 at the end of the fourth quarter, up around 42 percent from a year ago, Baker Hughes data shows. “Absent any further COVID-related disruption, oil demand is expected to exceed pre-pandemic levels before the end of the year and to further strengthen in 2023,” Schlumberger Chief Executive Olivier Le Peuch said. Current market conditions are “strikingly similar to those experienced during the last industry supercycle”, he added. Schlumberger expects 2022 capital spending of between $1.9 billion and $2 billion, versus just under $1.7 billion in 2021, and plans to increase spending in North America …
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