(Reuters) – U.S. oilfield technology firm Baker Hughes said on Wednesday it expects spending on drilling and well completion in North America to fall in 2024 as commodity prices remain volatile.
Shale producers have looked to reduce drilling to counter weak prices. Many U.S. oil producers are pumping only enough oil to keep production flat and turning over more profit to investors.
“In North America, activity continues to lag, and we are now anticipating no meaningful recovery in activity during the first half of the year,” CEO Lorenzo Simonelli said in a post-earnings conference call.
Baker Hughes said it now expects North America spending to be down in low to mid-single digits in 2024.
Rival Halliburton, which has a larger exposure to North America, had said on Tuesday that it expected stable activity in the continent.
Baker Hughes said it expects first-quarter revenue between $6.10 billion and $6.60 billion, the midpoint of which was below analysts’ estimates of $6.51 billion, according to LSEG.
The current-quarter results would be impacted by a seasonal decline in international revenue as well as a slow start in U.S. land, the company said.
Shares of the company, which were down 3% at noon, hit an over six-month low of $29.66 earlier in the session.
In 2024, the company expects international oilfield spending to grow in high single-digit, down from its earlier projection of low double-digit growth.
Meanwhile, first-quarter revenue from the industrial and energy technology unit, which supplies LNG equipment alongside other technologies, is expected to be sequentially down and in the range of $2.40 billion to $2.65 billion.
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