The oilfield services company Schlumberger reported a $2.3 billion loss in the fourth quarter as one-time tax charges and write-downs offset strong revenue growth.
Schlumberger's revenues jumped 15 percent to$8.2 billion in the fourth quarter, up from $7.1 billion during the same period in 2016. Excluding the one-time charges, Schlumberger said, it would have earned $668 million in the fourth quarter, up 15 percent from $581 million in the third quarter.
Schlumberger, however said it is scuttling its less profitable WesternGeo seismic business, including more than a $1 billion write-down charge, and also taking another nearly $1 billion write down on the loss of value of its business in Venezuela, which is rapidly decreasing its oil production amid geopolitical and economic turmoil. The company also took another temporary loss on one-time taxes on foreign earnings that are being moved to the U.S. as part of the nation's new tax law.
For the full year, Schlumberger posted a $1.51 billion loss versus a bigger $1.69 billion loss in 2016.
Still, Schlumberger is continuing to expand in the U.S. along with the ongoing shale boom, including the recent $430 million acquisition of Weatherford International's pressure pumping and hydraulic fracturing fleet.
For all of 2017, Schlumberger's activity in the onshore U.S. skyrocketed by 82 percent from the oil bust year of 2016. That jump followed the surge in drilling rigs added to oilfields last year, said Chairman and CEO Paal Kibsgaard.
"Over the past three years of unprecedented market downturn, we have proactively sought to strengthen our technology offering and our market presence in key markets around the world, with the expansion of our hydraulic fracturing presence in North America land being the most recent example," Kibsgaard said.
Schlumberger said it's also experiencing growth in Saudi Arabia and Latin America, although declines were seen in Europe and Africa.
Kibsgaard said he's expecting more global growth in 2018 with overall industry spending increasing up to 20 percent in North America and about 5 percent internationally - the first overseas growth in four years.
As for the elimination of the WesternGeo seismic acquisition business, he said the projection is the product line will fail to meet Schlumberger's profit return expectations going forward.
"We have therefore taken the difficult decision to exit the marine and land seismic acquisition market, and instead turn our WesternGeco product line into an asset-light business, built on our leading position within multiclient, data processing, and geophysical interpretation services," he added.