Schlumberger Ltd. (SLB), the world’s largest oilfield-services provider, said second-quarter profit rose as increasing crude prices drove more U.S. onshore drilling. Net income rose to $1.34 billion, or 98 cents a share, from $818 million, or 68 cents, a year earlier, Schlumberger, based in Houston and Paris, said in a statement on Business Wire today. The company was expected to earn 85 cents a share, the average of 13 analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The average number of active oil and gas rigs around the world rose to 3,163 in the second quarter, up 15 percent from 2,762 a year earlier, according to Baker Hughes Inc. Crude prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange averaged $102.34 a barrel in the quarter, a 31 percent gain from the $78.05 average a year earlier. “Relative to last year, they’ve had huge revenue growth,” Scott Burk, an analyst at Canaccord Genuity in New York, who rates the shares a “hold” and owns none, said before the earnings were released. “They’ve seen margin contraction internationally while margins have actually risen pretty dramatically in the U.S.” The earnings statement was released before the start of regular trading on U.S. markets. Schlumberger rose $2.55, or 2.9 percent, to $90.96 yesterday in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares, which have 33 buy and six hold ratings from analysts, fell 7.4 percent during the second quarter. (Schlumberger will hold an earnings conference call starting at 9 a.m. New York time accessible at EVTS .) To contact the reporter on this story: David Wethe in Houston at dwethe@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Susan Warren at susanwarren@bloomberg.net

Source