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Halliburton reported a better-than-expected quarterly adjusted
profit as oil producers put more rigs back to work in North
American shale fields.
Shale producers, encouraged by a rise in crude prices after a
slump of more than two years, have been drilling and completing
more wells in North America.
"Despite the positive sentiment surrounding the North American
land market, it is important to remember that our world is still
a tale of two cycles," Chief Executive Dave Lesar said in a
statement.
"The North America market appears to have rounded the corner,
but the international downward cycle is still playing out."
International markets are yet to recover with most oil companies
reluctant to increase spending on expensive deepwater and mature
oilfields.
Net loss attributable to Halliburton widened to $149 million, or
17 cents per share, in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, from
$28 million, or 3 cents per share, a year earlier.
The current quarter included impairment and other charges of
$169 million, compared with $282 million last year.
Excluding items, the company earned 4 cents per share in the
latest reported quarter, beating the average analyst estimate of
2 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
The company's revenue fell 20.9 percent to $4.02 billion,
missing analysts' estimate of $4.09 billion.
(Reporting by Arathy S Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju
Samuel)
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