Schlumberger optimistic over recovering oil demand

Schlumberger optimistic over recovering oil demand

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Global oil activity is picking up but US shale's recovery from last year's crude price crash remains subdued, Schlumberger, the world's biggest oilfields services company, said on Friday.

Following results from rivals Baker Hughes and Halliburton on Thursday, Schlumberger on Friday reported a fall in fourth-quarter revenue but beat analyst forecasts for net income and earnings per share.

All three companies, bellwethers for the global energy industry, are confident activity will gather pace through the rest of 2021.

"We continue to be encouraged by constructive macroeconomic drivers,“ said Olivier Le Peuch, Schlumberger's chief executive.

"While the world is still grappling with Covid-19 infection rates, vaccination programmes and fiscal stimulus packages are expected to support a rebound of economic activity and oil demand recovery through the year.“

Oilfield services companies are the oil industry's grunt workers, doing everything from drilling and fracking wells to installing pipes and turbines.

They also bore the brunt of last year's market crash, when US oil prices plunged below zero for the first time, forcing operators to curtail drilling and spending plans.

But prices have rallied more than 60 per cent since November to more than $60 a barrel and there are other encouraging