Halliburton Helped by Drilling Boost in U.S.
April 24 2017 - 9:06AM
Dow Jones News
By Joshua Jamerson
Stepped-up drilling for oil in the U.S. may have global
producers on edge about oversupply, but the increased activity in
the domestic energy sector is a boon for oil-field services firm
Halliburton Co.
The Houston company reported its first quarterly increase in
revenue since the fourth quarter of 2014, when oil prices fell off
and started to pressure production. The company said its results in
the first three months of 2017 reflected more activity in its
pressure-pumping and well-construction services.
Shares, which are down 17% in the past three months but still
sit 15% higher than a year ago, added 1.3% to $47.65 in premarket
trading Monday.
Halliburton Chief Executive Dave Lesar said activity in North
America "increased rapidly during the first quarter, which was
highlighted by our U.S. land revenue growth of nearly 30%,
outperforming the sequential average U.S. land rig count growth of
27%."
The number of U.S. rigs digging for oil is typically viewed as a
proxy for activity in the sector. After peaking at 1,609 in October
2014, low oil prices put downward pressure on production and the
rig count receded. However, the oil rig count has generally been
rising since last summer. In the latest week, the number of rigs
drilling for oil in the U.S. rose by five to 688, according to
oil-field services company Baker Hughes Inc.
While Halliburton is reaping the benefits of higher production
in the U.S., it is still pressured by international markets.
First-quarter revenue from the Eastern hemisphere fell 12% from the
fourth quarter.
"We are in the midst of a unique and challenging cycle with very
different dynamics between the North American and international
markets, " said Jeff Miller, Halliburton's president.
Over all, Halliburton reported a net loss of $32 million, or 4
cents a share, compared with a year-ago loss of $2.41 billion, or
$2.81 a share. Excluding certain items, such as the early
extinguishment of debt, the company said it earned 4 cents a share
in the latest period.
Revenue rose 1.9% to $4.28 billion. Analysts, polled by Thomson
Reuters, expected Halliburton to earn 3 cents a share on $4.26
billion in revenue.
Write to Joshua Jamerson at joshua.jamerson@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 24, 2017 08:51 ET (12:51 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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