SLB derives record revenues from the Middle East

SLB saw Middle East and Asia revenues rise by 18% in 2024, the strongest performance of any of its regions globally, with total full-year global revenue of US$36.29bn showing a 10% increase year on year

Revenue in the Middle East & Asia of US$3.38bn increased 2% sequentially in the fourth quarter, driven by strong activity in the United Arab Emirates, higher drilling in Egypt, and increased stimulation, intervention and evaluation activity in Qatar. These gains offset weaker performance in Saudi Arabia and Australia. Year on year, revenue grew 7%, reflecting robust activity in the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Kuwait, East Asia, China and Indonesia, partially offset by reduced drilling in India.

In terms of contracts awarded in the region, Petroleum Development Oman awarded SLB a five-year contract for well placement services throughout its Block 6 concession. SLB will provide multiple key technologies, including PowerDrive Orbit™ system and the PeriScope HD™ service, across a variety of gas and oil fields, for both development and exploration wells. Also in Oman, Daleel Petroleum LLC awarded SLB a five-year contract for advanced measurements-while-drilling (MWD) and directional drilling services in its Block 5 concession, with an expected delivery of more than 250 wells.

In terms of technology deployment, Kuwait, SLB and Kuwait Oil Company tackled significant challenges in the mature Bahrah Field by using an advanced openhole multistage completion design and OpenPath Flex acid stimulation service. The project achieved Kuwait's longest lateral at 13,800 feet, incorporating 29 treatment stages with up to three acid fracturing stages daily.

Digital technology highlights

Notable highlights in the digital technology sector included the award of a multiyear digital contract from Egypt’s Khalda Petroleum Company for Petrel subsurface software technology in addition to a long-term contract for seismic imaging and processing over the West Kalabsha and Shushan concessions.

In the low-carbon energy sector, SLB entered into an agreement with Aramco and Linde that paves the way for the development of a carbon capture and storage (CCS) hub in Jubail, Saudi Arabia, set to become one of the largest globally.

“2024 was a strong year for SLB as we successfully navigated evolving market conditions to deliver revenue and EBITDA growth, margin expansion and solid free cash flow,” said SLB chief executive officer Olivier Le Peuch.

“On a divisional basis, Digital & Integration led revenue performance, driven by increased demand for digital products and solutions, while Production Systems benefited from strong backlog conversion as customers continued to invest in maximizing recovery from existing assets.

“Accelerated adoption of our digital technologies marked a milestone year, highlighted by strategic collaborations with cross-industry leaders, the launch of the Lumi data and AI platform, new Performance Live centers to enable remote operations, and the achievement of fully autonomous drilling operations.

“While upstream investment growth will remain subdued in the short term due to global oversupply, we anticipate the oil supply imbalance will gradually abate. Global economic growth and a heightened focus on energy security, coupled with rising energy demand from AI and data centres will support the investment outlook for the oil and gas industry throughout the rest of the decade,” Le Peuch said.