Free Republic

Just about everyone right now wants to know where President-elect Donald Trump stands on Iran, and what fate lies ahead for the nuclear deal and the easing of sanctions that have energy companies’ mouths watering—not the least of them oilfield services giant Schlumberger, which has just hedged its bets that sanctions are history despite heavy rhetoric to the contrary. Schlumberger has signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Iranian South Oil Company for the development of oilfields in Iran’s southern Khouzestan province, making it the second Western energy major to return to Iran after the lifting of most sanctions....

Energy industry layoffs have moved into six figures, a number bolstered by the decision of Schlumberger Ltd. (SLB) to cut 10,000 people. The company's financial results made the decision nearly inevitable. Schlumberger's earnings for 2015 included a revenue fall off of 27% to $35.5 billion. EPS dropped from $5.75 in 2014 to $3.37 this year, a plunge of 39%. Fourth-quarter results were worse. Revenue dropped 39% to $7.7 billion and EPS fell 57% to $0.65. The company did pick layoffs over investor benefits. Schlumberger will buy back $10 billion in shares under a new share repurchase program and approved a...

Schlumberger, the world's largest oilfield service provider, said it plans to cut its global workforce by another 11,000 jobs over coming months. Schlumberger has slashed its worldwide workforce by 15 percent total. The company, which has headquarters in Houston, Paris and Hague, announced its plans last week, part of sweeping layoffs across the oilfield service industry as drilling rig counts in North American plummet amid low oil prices. Competitors Halliburton and Baker Hughes have also announced layoffs. Schlumberger, which employed 126,000 worldwide at the height of oil prices last summer, did not provide specifics as to where layoffs would occur...

HOUSTON – Oil field services firm Schlumberger announced Thursday it plans to ax another 11,000 workers, kicking off what could be a second major wave of layoffs across the oil industry. The move will bring Schlumberger’s layoffs up to 20,000 employees, roughly 15 percent of its workforce, since it began paring back its payroll earlier this year to cope with low oil prices. The nine-month oil slump has cost the energy industry more than 120,000 jobs so far, according to oil field staffing firm Swift Worldwide Resources. Oil equipment companies have been forced to fine-tune their workforce as they promise...

Following Schlumberger's 9,000 lay-offs announced last week and Baker Hughes' 7,000 earlier this morning, Halliburton said today that it will execute workforce reductions similar to its peers during the first quarter. Halliburton COO Jeff Miller said: "We have already taken the initial steps on headcount internationally. As North America (NAM) activity falls, we will make adjustments in the US as well. We expect our headcount reductions to be in-line with our primary competitors. We will minimize discretionary spending. There is likely to be more restructuring in first quarter as we put initiatives in place to temper the impact of the...

The drop in the price of oil will cost 9,000 workers at Schlumberger Ltd. (SLB) their jobs. The company disclosed: In response to lower commodity pricing and anticipated lower exploration and production spending in 2015, Schlumberger decided to reduce its overall headcount to better align with anticipated activity levels for 2015. Schlumberger recorded a $296 million charge associated with a headcount reduction of approximately 9,000. Unfortunately for the workers, the oil services company had good reason. Although fourth-quarter revenue rose 6% to $12.5 billion and operating income by 7% to $1.9 billion, the company believes the situation has deteriorated:

One thing that makes the energy sector so intriguing is the constant overlap between markets and politics. In many ways, energy security is synonymous with national security, and the supply and demand needs of the oil market can make the most unlikely bedfellows. One country that has been at the center of energy and politics for decades has been Israel. For years the country has been dependent upon foreign energy sources, but a major discovery by Noble Energy (NYSE: NBL ) and its partners has turned this situation on its head. Let's look how this massive natural gas find could...

Energy companies are lining up for their shot to drill in the Dakotas and Montana after a new government report revealed that a massive geological formation stretching across the states contains twice the oil and three times the amount of natural gas than was originally believed. While the new estimate is drawing smaller companies to the game, the larger players like Schlumberger, Halliburton and Continental Resources are pushing forward with ambitious multi-year plans to stake their claim in the industry. Continental recently announced a five-year plan to triple its production by 2017. The company’s growth is based on success in...

The Obama administration reportedly is considering former Clinton administration official Jamie Gorelick, among others, to become the next director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The Wall Street Journal’s Evan Perez first reported the news last week, citing “U.S. officials” familiar with the situation. Gorelick served as vice chairman of the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) when the government-sponsored enterprise began bundling subprime loans into securitized financial instruments. Prior to that, she served as deputy attorney general in the Clinton Justice Department under then-Attorney General Janet Reno from 1994 to 1997. ... But Gorelick is perhaps best known...

OKLAHOMA CITY – Details about the final days and hours aboard the doomed Deepwater Horizon oil rig could very well be in the Tulsa, Okla. office of Schlumberger Oilfield Services in the form of mud logs, computer data and other vital drilling-related information, according to an oil-industry insider who spoke to Oklahoma Watchdog this week but did not want to reveal his identity. And as for the folks at Schlumberger, they aren’t talking, at least when it comes to the gritty details. Stephen Harris, the Schlumberger spokesman who told Oklahoma Watchdog last week that investigative reporter Wayne Madsen “made up”...

Is energy merger the first domino? Deal between Schlumberger and drill bits maker may be a catalyst for diversification among companies here Schlumberger, the world’s largest oil field services company, announced an $11 billion merger Sunday with Houston-based drill bits maker Smith International, in a mammoth deal for the sector that could touch off a new round of mergers with the potential to reshape Houston’s corporate landscape. With the all-stock merger, Smith International, which employed more than 3,700 people in Houston around this time last year, will be subsumed into the giant international conglomerate because of its expertise in...

Sacked for sheep sex prank   Baa-baric ... sheep  By THOMAS WHITAKER Published: Today   TWO British oil workers have been sacked after simulating sex with sheep due to be slaughtered for a Muslim festival. The animals were being killed for 30 foreign workers to celebrate Eid Al Adhha in the Algerian oil town Hassi Messaoud. The men, who have not been named, were reported by stunned restaurant workers and guards — then sacked by their employer, US industrial giant Schlumberger. They were accused of “sheep violation”. A spokesman for the company — which provides services to oil firms...

Four big international companies, including the oil giant Exxon Mobil, said yesterday that they would give Stanford University $225 million over 10 years for research on ways to meet growing energy needs without worsening global warming. Exxon Mobil, whose pledge of $100 million makes it the biggest of the four contributors, issued a statement saying new techniques for producing energy while reducing emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases were "vital to meeting energy needs in the industrialized and developing world." Many scientists and environment experts said the Stanford project was likely to be a valuable new assault on a serious environmental...