Schlumberger Ltd. (SLB), the world’s largest oilfield-services provider, said second-quarter profit rose as customers increased their quest for crude outside the U.S. and Canada onshore market. Net income climbed to $1.4 billion, or $1.03 a share, from $1.1 billion, or 81 cents, a year earlier, Houston-and Paris- based Schlumberger said in a statement today. Excluding a $21 million after-tax charge related to merger costs, the company beat by 5 cents the average of 29 analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Sales climbed 16 percent to $10.4 billion. Schlumberger discontinued its distribution segment and earlier quarters have been restated, the company said. The number of active oil rigs globally climbed 6.6 percent to an average of 3,372 during the quarter. Oil drilling increased even as prices fell 8.8 percent to average $93.35 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange in the second quarter, down from $102.34 a year earlier. “International is definitely the driver,� said Laurence Balter, who oversees $100 million including Schlumberger shares for Fox Island, Washington-based Oracle Investment Research. “This little dip in oil, where everybody’s predicting a global slowdown, is all dollar related and has nothing to do with true demand,� he said in a telephone interview before the statement. The international rig count is expected to climb more than 10 percent this year compared with 2011, Chief Executive Officer Paal Kibsgaard told analysts and investors on an April 20 conference call. International Growth Schlumberger generated $6.4 billion, or 66 percent, of sales beyond North America in the first quarter, the largest percentage of oilfield-service revenue from outside the region, compared with its three biggest competitors. The region that includes Europe, Africa and Russia reported sales of $2.97 billion. “Sounds like Russia and the North Sea are coming back pretty nicely,� John Lawrence, an analyst at Tudor Pickering Holt & Co., who rates the shares a buy and owns none, said today in a telephone interview. “I think they’re well positioned there. It’s a fairly good market.� The Europe, Africa and Russia region had an operating profit margin of 20 percent. Lawrence said he was expecting 18 percent for the quarter. Schlumberger helps companies drill for oil and natural gas, including using hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, to free the fuel from shale formations. The company has discontinued its distribution segment with the sale of its Wilson unit and its stake in CE Franklin Ltd. (CFT) The earnings statement was released before the start of regular trading on U.S. markets. Schlumberger fell 0.2 percent, to $68.64 yesterday in New York. Schlumberger has risen 0.5 percent so far this year. To contact the reporters on this story: Jessica Resnick-Ault in New York at jresnickault@bloomberg.net; David Wethe in Houston at dwethe@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Susan Warren at susanwarren@bloomberg.net

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