Business is thriving for the major players serving the oil drilling and well interventions market across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region Halliburton, in its latest round of results, highlighted the region as integral to some of its core operating segments, including completions and production and drilling and evaluation.
Its revenues for the combined Middle East and Asia region for the fourth quarter of 2024 hit US$1.6bn, an increase of 7% sequentially. The increase was primarily due to higher stimulation activity and increased fluid services in the Middle East, higher completion tool sales in Kuwait and the UAE, as well as improved drilling services throughout Asia. At Schlumberger, revenues for the combined Middle East and Asia region climbed to US$3.38bn for the same quarterly period. Year on year, this marked a 7% revenue growth, reflecting robust activity in the UAE, Iraq and Kuwait, as well as parts of Asia. In particular, the company cited “strong activity” in the UAE, higher drilling in Egypt, and increased stimulation, intervention and evaluation activity in Qatar, though these gains were partially offset by a weaker performance in Saudi Arabia and also Australia.
Schlumberger also flagged a series of contract wins in Oman, another territory that is yielding positive results. Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) awarded the company a five-year contract for well placement services throughout its Block 6 concession. This will entail providing multiple technologies, including the PowerDrive Orbit system and the PeriScope HD service, across a mix of gas and oil fields, for both development and exploration wells. Also in Oman, Daleel Petroleum LLC awarded it a five-year contract for advanced measurements-while-drilling (MWD) and directional drilling services on Block 5, with an expected delivery of more than 250 wells.
“Schlumberger was able to secure this award through market-leading fit-for-basin MWD, LWD and rotary steerable system technologies, which have improved well delivery efficiencies and service quality reliability,” it stated in its results summary. In Kuwait, the company also highlighted a project with Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) to tackle challenges in the mature Bahrah field using an advanced openhole multistage completion design and OpenPath Flex acid stimulation service. The project achieved Kuwait's longest lateral at 13,800 feet, incorporating 29 treatment stages with up to three acid fracturing stages daily. The work features a host of state-of-the-art drilling tools and technologies.
“Kinetix software enhanced fault isolation, while DataFRAC services provided comprehensive exploratory area assessments, improving the geomechanical earth model. These innovative methods, including the use of a frac tree for isolation, eliminated HSE risks associated with isolation tools and set a new benchmark for operational efficiency and safety in acid fracturing operations,” Schlumberger noted. Baker Hughes, which released its Q4 and full-year results on 30 January, called 2024 a “momentous year” and said it expected much of the same in 2025. The same day it announced an order by Tecnicas Reunidas for six gas compression trains and six propane compressors on the third expansion phase of Aramco’s Jafurah unconventional gas field in Saudi Arabia.
