Mapping it out: Schlumberger boss Andrew Gould
Schlumberger to axe more jobs
Schlumberger boss Andrew Gould said he expects the company's WesternGeco seismic unit to remain in the black this year despite a substantial cut in client spending, but added more job cuts are on the cards.
Gould said the company, which announced plans in January to cut 5% of its 87,000-strong workforce, would probably make headcount cuts of a similar size in the coming months.
Shares of the world's largest oilfield services company rose 9.9% to $45.63, reversing a sharp sell-off on Friday after a Citi analyst said oilfield service companies could announce profit warnings this week.
Gould, whose comments are watched closely by the industry because of Schlumberger's size and global reach, said the contraction in natural gas supply necessary for a price recovery would be complicated by increasing supplies of liquefied natural gas and US shale gas production.
"The probability of rapidly increasing supply means that the down cycle will last longer than for oil," Reuters quoted Gould as telling the 2009 Howard Weil Energy Conference in New Orleans.
Gould also said Schlumberger would have $2.9 billion in capital expenditures for 2009. The company had said in January it expected $3 billion in 2009 capex - including $800 million for WesternGeco, which measures prospective oil and gas reservoirs - down from a total of nearly $4.1 billion in 2008.