Oilfield Service Majors Aren’t Pulling Out Of Russia

• Schlumberger, Halliburton, and Baker Hughes have not announced their withdrawal from Russia.
• FT: The current sanctions against Russia ban new investments of U.S. and EU companies in Russia’s energy, but they do not restrict the existing operations.

The three biggest international oilfield services firms remain in Russia, not following nearly all Western oil majors that have said in recent weeks they would quit their Russian joint ventures and projects and would quit trading Russian oil. 

While BP, Shell, and ExxonMobil raced to announce they are withdrawing from all their operations and stakes in companies and joint ventures in Russia following Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, Schlumberger, Halliburton, and Baker Hughes have not announced such moves, the Financial Times reports. 

The three oilfield services firms, the world’s largest, did not respond to FT’s requests for comment on their Russian business. 

Schlumberger, Halliburton, and Baker Hughes are partners with the biggest Russian oil and gas firms, including state-controlled Rosneft and Gazprom Neft. 

The current sanctions against Russia ban new investments of U.S. and EU companies in Russia’s energy, but they do not restrict the existing operations, according to FT. 

“It’s much easier for them to operate under the radar because they are not directly exploiting or exporting oil and natural resources,” Audun Martinsen, head of energy services research at Rystad Energy, told FT, commenting on the oilfield services firms’ business in Russia. 

For Schlumberger, the world’s largest oilfield services firm, Russia currently represents approximately 5 percent of its global revenue, chief executive officer Olivier Le Peuch said last week in an update on the outlook for the quarter ending March 31, 2022. 

“Consequently, based on what we see today, and taking into account that Russia currently only represents approximately 5% of our global revenue, we continue to believe that increased activity and pricing will drive simultaneous double-digit growth—both internationally and in North America—that will lead our overall 2022 revenue growth to reach the mid-teens,” Le Peuch said about Schlumberger’s expected performance this year.

Early this month, after Russia invaded Ukraine, protesters gathered in front of Schlumberger’s offices in Sugar Land in Houston to demand that the world’s biggest oilfield services firm stop doing business in Russia, the Houston Chronicle reported. 

By Tom Kool for Oilprice.com

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