Halliburton profit beats as higher global drilling offsets weak N.America

Oct 24 (Reuters) – Halliburton’s (HAL.N) third-quarter profit beat market expectations on Tuesday as higher international drilling and equipment demand helped overcome weakness in North America.

The increased demand comes as oil and gas companies reinvest their record profits from the market disruption caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to intensify the hunt for new offshore and international sources.

“Everything I see today strengthens my conviction in the long duration of this upcycle. Against this backdrop, we expect continued demand growth for oilfield services in 2024 and beyond,” CEO Jeff Miller said.

International revenue rose 3% to $3.2 billion from a quarter ago on the back of Latin America strength.

But North America revenue fell 3% to $2.6 billion, mainly due to lower demand for its pressure pumping services onshore as well as weak maintenance and repair work in the Gulf of Mexico.

Energy producers were discouraged to raise output as U.S. WTI crude prices averaged $81.49 a barrel in the July-September quarter, down 12.7% from a year ago.

Halliburton shares were down 1% in premarket trading. The company and its rival Baker Hughes (BKR.O) had in July warned of weakening North America oilfield activity.

“The results look neutral. . . However, given the relative outperformance of HAL shares vs large-cap OFS (oilfield services firms) in the past month, the stock could modestly underperform large-cap peers today,” RBC Capital Markets analyst Keith Mackey said.

Larger rival SLB (SLB.N) on Friday beat third-quarter estimates on strong global oil drilling activity, but was hurt by North American weakness.

Houston-based Halliburton posted net income of 79 cents per share, for the three months ended Sept 30, compared with analysts’ average estimate of 77 cents, according to LSEG data

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