Oct 23 (Reuters) - SLB beat Wall Street estimates for third-quarter profit on Friday, supported by strong North American oilfield activity, while signaling recovery in parts of the Middle East following conflict-related disruptions.
Repeated flare-ups in the US-Iran conflict, now in its eighth month, have pressured oilfield services companies with significant exposure to the region as customers delayed project decisions and ongoing operations were interrupted.
Revenue from the Middle East and Asia
rose 9% sequentially to $2.81 billion in the third quarter, even as it was down 6% from a year earlier. The Middle East is SLB's biggest market, accounting for 34% of total revenue in 2025.
Activity improved in Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, although certain countries experienced renewed disruptions during the final weeks of the quarter, the company said in a statement.
Latest data from Baker Hughes backed higher oilfield activity in the region. It showed total rig count, an indicator of future output, rose 4% sequentially to 504, while international rig count rose sequentially to 1,107 from 1,056.
In North America, quarterly revenue rose 24% to $2.40 billion, driven by strength in US oil and gas drilling activity.
"Combined with significant activity increases in Venezuela and expanding momentum across our Core, Digital and Data Center Solutions businesses, we see a very compelling outlook for 2027, with further upside as Middle East activity recovers," said CEO Olivier Le Peuch.
In August, Reuters reported that SLB and Venezuela's state-run PDVSA had signed a contract that granted the US company access to oilfield data from the country with the world's largest crude reserves.
SLB in August acquired cooling equipment maker Kelvion for $4.1 billion, expanding its data center business amid an AI-driven boom in power and cooling infrastructure demand.
The company posted an adjusted profit of 64 cents per share for the three months ended September 30, compared with analysts' estimate of 62 cents, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Total revenue in the quarter came in at $9.45 billion, topping estimates of $9.28 billion.
(Reporting by Sumit Saha, Additional Reporting by Anushree Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)
