By Dhirendra Tripathi
Investing.com – Schlumberger stock (NYSE:SLB) fell 1% in Friday’s premarket as traders chose to book profits following the company’s fourth-quarter results.
The shares are just slightly off their year’s high of $38.53 made Tuesday.
Fourth-quarter revenue of $6.2 billion rose 13% year-on-year as record-high prices of crude and gas drove demand for its drilling equipment and services.
Booming economies, supply chain issues, cold weather and geopolitical tension in Europe and West Asia have all combined to keep supplies tight and energy prices high. Oil prices are currently trading at a seven-year high.
"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 Officer Olivier Le Peuch said.
Schlumberger's fourth-quarter adjusted net profit rose to $587 million, or 41 cents per share, easily beating estimates.
The North American business benefited from strong offshore and land drilling activity and increased exploration data licensing in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and the Permian.
Schlumberger’s board also approved a quarterly cash dividend of 12 cents per share.
Global oil drilling is recovering after rig counts plummeted to record lows in late 2020. Explorers around the globe are expected to almost triple the pace of spending hikes this year compared to 2021, Bloomberg quoted Evercore ISI as saying.
The worldwide rig count was 1,563 at the end of the fourth quarter, compared with 1,104 in 2020, Reuters said, citing Baker Hughes data.