Oil field service company Halliburton announced Wednesday net income of $170 million for the first quarter of 2021. This compares to a net loss for the fourth quarter of 2020 of $235 million and adjusted net income for the fourth quarter of 2020, excluding impairments and other charges, of $160 million.
The company said reported operating income was $370 million in the first quarter of 2021 compared to reported operating loss of $96 million and adjusted operating income of $350 million in the fourth quarter of 2020, excluding impairments and other charges.
“I am pleased with our first quarter performance, which demonstrates the benefits of our strong operating leverage in a recovering global market,” Chairman, President and CEO, Jeff Miller said. “We achieved total company revenue of $3.5 billion and operating income of $370 million, representing increases of 7% and 6%, respectively, compared to revenue and adjusted operating income in the prior quarter.”
He said the first quarter marked an activity inflection for the international markets, while North America continued to stage a healthy recovery. “I expect international activity growth to accelerate, and the early positive momentum in North America gives me confidence in the activity cadence for the rest of the year,” he stated.
Drilling and Evaluation revenue in the first quarter of 2021 was $1.6 billion, an increase of $154 million, or 11%, when compared to the fourth quarter of 2020, while operating income was $171 million, an increase of $54 million, or 46%.
The company these increases were primarily due to higher software sales globally, improved drilling-related services and wireline activity in the Western Hemisphere and Norway, and increased project management activity internationally, which were partially offset by lower drilling-related services in Asia.
“Latin America revenue in the first quarter of 2021 was $535 million, a 26% increase sequentially, resulting primarily from increased activity in multiple product service lines in Argentina and Mexico, as well as higher fluid services in the Caribbean,” Halliburton said. Partially offsetting these improvements was reduced activity across multiple product service lines in Colombia.
The company has been steadily expanding its activities in Guyana since setting up operations in 2015 which has seen the establishment of state-of-the-art facilities, including one of the largest mud plants in the hemisphere, and expansion of its local workforce.
Halliburton has also said it is aiming to have 100 percent of its operations serviced from Guyana in 2021 and expects this move to result in a major increase in its in-country purchases, by at least 50 percent, while expanding regional opportunities for local businesses.
Halliburton has been providing a range of drilling and completion services to ExxonMobil, and currently 90 percent of their operations are being serviced from Guyana.
