To Find Oil, You Have to Drill
Established in 1926, Schlumberger Limited (Schlumberger) has become since that time the world market leader of the oilfield services with more than 115,000 employees working in approximately 85 countries, listed in New York, Paris, London, Amsterdam and Switzerland Stock Exchanges.
Based in Houston, Texas, USA, Schlumberger provides oil and gas companies with all the solutions of technology, information solutions and integrated project management to optimize the reservoir performances in exploration and production.
Focusing on the upstream sector, Schlumberger integrates all the strategic functions of the exploration and production through six subsidiaries with specific and complementary core businesses:
– WesternGeco to collect at the very early days of the exploration all the seismic data and perform the data analysis. WesternGeco is the world’s largest seismic company with solid market leadership in advanced acquisition and data processing services.
– MI-SWACO to come in following to optimize the drilling, completion and production in the wells, especially in challenging conditions of high pressure and high temperature.
– Smith Bits to share 14 years of experience and drilling records with the largest portfolio of drill bit for each type of well.
– Geoservices to focus on mud logging, drilling support and formation evaluation to provide the most accurate picture of the reservoir and the well to improve drilling performances
– Framo Engineering to go subsea in deepwater and high pressures for well control systems, processing and artificial lift systems with build-in reliable solutions
– NExT, standing for Network of Excellence in Training to facilitate the acquisition of new competences about the oil and gas exploration and about all the tool, processes and software developed by Schlumberger to optimize it.
Through its dedicated branded services, Schlumberger Oilfield Services offers the largest portfolio of integrated solutions for drilling operations, reservoir stimulation, well completion, interpretation and consulting services, project management.
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Schlumberger Key Figures
– 2011 Revenues: $39,54 billion
– 2010 Revenues: $27,44 billion
– 2009 Revenues: $22,70 billion
– 2011 Earnings: $4,77 billion
– 2010 Earnings: $4,26 billion
– 2009 Earnings: $3,15 billion
– 2011 Capital Expenditure: $4,01 billion
– 2010 Capital Expenditure: $2,91 billion
– 2009 Capital Expenditure: $2,39 billion
Schlumberger Projects and Business Highlights
November 2012, Schlumberger and Cameron have decided to merge their subsea interests in a joint venture called OneSubsea.
Through OneSubsea and with Cameron subsea expertise, Schlumberger expects to save time to adapt its technology to the deepwater market.
The subsea exploration is well on the way but is still a new world of innovation.
With this kind of challenges to access new resources, the international oil companies put their efforts upstream on the plateau production expansion and enhanced oil recovery (EOR) targeting up to 50 and 60% recovery rates from the reserves in place.
The development of the unconventionals, especially the tight oil and tight gas, require much more accurate drilling operations.
These new fields of exploration and production in shale gas, shale oil, or tight gas, are changing the relationships between the oil field services companies and the oil and gas companies themselves.
Instead of using massive infrastructures of several US$ billion as in conventional oil and gas, these unconventional resources give a much bigger role to the oilfield services companies such as Schlumberger.
The infrastructures are simple while their good use in respect with the reservoir conditions is essential to the production performances giving a dominant role to the oilfield services companies over the formal operator, as we can see in Argentina exemple.
With the discovery of the third world largest gas reserves Argentina appointed the local Head of Schlumberger to take the helm of the national oil company YPF.
This decision illustrates where is the critical expertise and who is taking the market leadership of the shale oil and shale gas exploration and production in a shift between the oil and gas companies and their field services companies such as Schlumberger.
