By Tess Stynes
Schlumberger Ltd. (SLB) expects to post a pretax write-down of
$800 million for the fourth quarter, related to the oil-services
giant's plan to reduce the size of its WesternGeco marine seismic
fleet.
The company said in a regulatory filing Tuesday that it plans to
retire some older vessels, convert some others and cancel most of
its third-party charters owing to expectations that oil-and-gas
companies will reduce spending to explore for new sources of
energy.
As crude prices tumble, a number of big oil companies have been
shelving expansion plans and shedding operations with particularly
tight profit margins.
Schlumberger said the moves will reduce the WesternGeco marine
seismic fleet size to nine survey vessels and six source vessels,
compared with 15 survey vessels and eight source boats at the end
of last year.
In October, Schlumberger reported that its third-quarter
earnings rose 14% on revenue growth led by its North American
operations. The company plans to release its fourth-quarter
financial results Jan. 16.
Write to Tess Stynes at tess.stynes@wsj.com
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