July 21 (Reuters) – Halliburton edged past Wall Street estimates for second-quarter profit on Tuesday as gains in its other international markets offset declines in the Middle East, but shares fell 4.3% in premarket trading on subdued demand in North America.
The Middle East conflict has dominated energy markets this year as repeated flare-ups keep a crucial oil-producing region on edge, even though oil prices have not skyrocketed as feared when the U.S. and Israel went to war with Iran in February.
Halliburton, which kicked off earnings for oilfield services companies, said quarterly revenue from the Middle East dropped nearly 11% to $1.3 billion, hit by lower oilfield activity in Kuwait, Iraq and Qatar.
The Middle East conflict would cut its second-quarter earnings per share by about 7 cents to 9 cents, the company had said previously, following a 2 to 3 cent hit in the prior period.
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.
The focus now shifts to Venezuela, where Halliburton has said it was discussing commercial terms with customers for operations after making visits to its existing facilities. Interest in Venezuela has ramped up dramatically since the U.S. captured former President Nicolas Maduro in January.
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 CEO Jeff Miller said the company had a strong international contract pipeline and expected to see demand growth for its services and technology across all regions.
Top oilfield services provider SLB is scheduled to report on Friday with Baker Hughes rounding out the quarterly reporting season on Sunday.
SUBDUED NORTH AMERICA
Halliburton’s revenue from North America came in flat at $2.28 billion, primarily due to lower specialty chemicals activity in U.S. Land following the sale of a portion of its chemical business and decreased drilling activity in the Gulf of Mexico.
TD Cowen analyst Marc Bianchi said investors were looking for more upside from North America activity and price.
“Continued Middle East conflict makes setup tricky, but NAm should be a tailwind,” Bianchi added, referring to the North American business.
Halliburton posted an adjusted profit of 55 cents per share for the quarter ended June 30, beating estimates of 54 cents, according to LSEG data.
Total revenue rose to $5.71 billion from $5.51 billion a year earlier.
(Reporting by Vallari Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)
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