Oilfield services provider Schlumberger Ltd. reporting a nearly 13 percent jump in profit driven by robust spending among customers searching for new sources of crude and natural gas. Unless the global economy goes into the tank, Schlumberger said it expects continued brisk spending on exploration and production as energy companies try to benefit from high [...]

Schlumberger Ltd announced that its shares jumped Friday after the oilfield services provider said its second-quarter profit rose 13 percent and issued a bullish outlook. Analysts praised the results. The stock rose $4.72, or 4.9 percent, to $101.50 in late-morning trading.
The Houston-based company said high oil and natural gas prices led to heavier spending [...]

Schlumberger Ltd told the press that a better-than-expected jump in quarterly profit on Friday and the world’s largest oilfield services company gave an upbeat outlook for energy companies’ spending on oil and gas exploration that helped push its shares up 4 percent. Schlumberger Chief Executive, Andrew Gould, Citing customer response to higher prices, he repeated [...]

Oilfield service shares rallied Monday as higher crude-oil prices gave investors reason to add to their bets on the sector.
Oil prices rose on what the market saw as a modest production increase from Saudi Arabia and concerns that output from Nigeria will decline. Light, sweet crude for August delivery rose $1.38 to settle at $136.74 [...]

Goldman Sachs upgraded the oilfield services sector to “Attractive” from “Neutral,” predicting strong profit growth due to greater drilling activity and high oil prices.
Analyst Charles Minervino expects earnings to grow in the double digits through 2011 as high oil prices lead to more rapid rig construction, and both drilling activity and the rates oil companies [...]

A Lehman Brothers analyst raised his price targets on 37 companies in the oil services and drilling sector, seeing a strong recovery in 2008 and 2009 for North American natural gas drilling along with significant international growth over the next few years.
Analyst James Crandell’s top picks in the sector are Weatherford International Ltd., Halliburton Co., [...]

Oil industry services provider Halliburton Co. was upbeat Friday despite a 40 percent decline in fourth-quarter profit, citing heavy demand for its oilfield equipment and personnel and predicting more of the same for 2007.
Earnings fell to $658 million, or 64 cents per share, compared with $1.1 billion, or $1.04 per share, during the same period [...]

Schlumberger Ltd., the world’s largest oilfield services company, said on Friday its fourth-quarter earnings rose 71 percent on a strong performance in its seismic business and forecast “significant” growth in 2007.
Income from continuing operations rose to $1.13 billion, or 92 cents per share, from $660 million, or 54 cents per share, a year earlier.
The earnings [...]

Oilfield services provider Schlumberger Ltd. said Friday its fourth-quarter profit soared despite seasonal weather-related weakness thanks in part to price increases and stronger activity in most of its markets.
Its shares rose more than 4 percent in morning trading.
Net income rose 71 percent to $1.13 billion, or 92 cents per share, from $660.6 million, or 54 [...]

With the price of oil down sharply from its mid-summer highs, some investors who put money into energy-sector exchange traded funds have slipped up as well.
Despite a small bump late last week, the price of crude oil has fallen about 22 percent from its July peak of close to $80 a barrel and pulled stocks [...]