July 21 (Reuters) - Halliburton edged past Wall Street estimates for second-quarter profit on Tuesday, as steady demand for its oilfield equipment in Latin America, Europe and Africa offset declining activity in the Middle East due to the Iran war.
The Middle East conflict has dominated energy markets this year as repeated flare-ups keep a crucial oil-producing region on edge, even though crude oil prices have not skyrocketed as feared at the start of the war in February.
The company, which kicked
off the earnings season for oilfield services providers, said revenue from the Middle East dropped nearly 11% to $1.3 billion during the second quarter, primarily due to lower activity in Kuwait, Iraq, and Qatar.
In Latin America, revenue increased nearly 15% to $1.12 billion, helped by increased stimulation activity in Argentina and Mexico and higher completion tool sales in Mexico.
Improved activity across service lines in the North Sea and increased well construction activity in Namibia and Egypt buoyed revenue from Europe and Africa to $1.02 billion.
Halliburton's total revenue rose to $5.71 billion from $5.51 billion a year earlier.
Shares of the company were down 3.3% before the bell.
On an adjusted basis, Halliburton reported net income of 55 cents per share for the three months ended June 30, narrowly beating analysts' expectations of 54 cents per share, according to LSEG data.
Earlier this year, the company had said the Middle East conflict would cut its second-quarter earnings per share by about 7 cents to 9 cents, following a 2 to 3 cent hit in the prior period.
Top oilfield services provider SLB is scheduled to report on Friday with Baker Hughes rounding out the quarterly reporting season on Sunday.
(Reporting by Vallari Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)
