Schlumberger sheds US shale
Major oilfield services player reshuffles portfolio to cope with dearth of work and spiralling costs
Oilfield services heavyweight Schlumberger is lowering its footprint in US shale, offloading a majority stake in its North American fracking business to smaller rival Liberty Oilfield Services for $448mn. The merger will create the second largest fracking provider in North America, with Schlumberger retaining a 37pc stake. Schlumberger boasts over half a century in the shale patch. The oilfield services firm has operated pressure pumping businesses in the region since 1949 when the technology was first created. But the capital-intensive nature of shale has driven an exodus in recent years. Peers Baker Hughes and Weatherford divested their stakes back in 2014 when oil prices last collapsed,
Also in this section
13 March 2026
Brussels is again weighing a cap on gas prices amid the Hormuz crisis, but the measure could backfire by deterring the LNG cargoes Europe urgently needs
12 March 2026
Emergency oil stocks provide a last line of defence to oil market shocks, so the IEA’s unprecedented 400m bl release represents something of a double-edged sword
12 March 2026
LPG could rapidly expand access to clean cooking across Africa and prevent hundreds of thousands of deaths from indoor air pollution each year, but infrastructure shortages and regulatory barriers are slowing investment and market growth
11 March 2026
Missiles over Dubai and disruption in Hormuz are testing the emirate’s reputation—and shaking the energy hub at the centre of the Gulf economy
