Schlumberger reports 7 percent revenue growth

French oilfield engineering group Schlumberger announced full-year results for 2014 that show its revenue increase by seven percent last year to $48 billion. The firm’s pre-tax operating income was 13-percent greater at $10.6 billion.

In a statement, Paal Kibsgaard, Schlumberger CEO highlighted the firm’s North American operation as a key growth driver. North American revenue increased by 16 percent in 2014. Meanwhile, the firm Middle East & Asia Area revenue saw growth of four percent.

“The strength of these results demonstrated the resiliency of our business portfolio in the face of activity challenges in 2014 in Brazil, Mexico, and China; reduced spending in deep-water, exploration and seismic activity; unrest in Libya and Iraq; international sanctions in Russia; and the accelerating fall in the price of oil toward the end of the year,” Kibsgaard said.

“The combination of these headwinds reduced revenue growth by more than $1 billion, or 2 percent, yet revenue still increased 7 percent as a result of strong tailwinds in Argentina, Ecuador, Sub-Saharan Africa, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and North America that combined with market share gains, drove overall performance.

Schlumberger’s record revenue performance in North America was thanks to continued efficiency improvements and new technology uptake from clients using pressure pumping as well as the recovery of activity in the US Gulf of Mexico.

Kibsgaard added that Schlumberger was focusing on what it could control in response to the current uncertain business environment.

“We are convinced that performance must now be driven by an accelerated change in the way we work through our transformation program. The delivery of new technology that improves the performance of our customers’ reservoirs; the increases in efficiency and reliability that reduce overall finding, development and production costs; and the opportunities for growth from more integration—are all significant drivers of our own and our customers’ performance.”