Page 8 - NorthAmOil Week 42 2021

NorthAmOil PERFORMANCE NorthAmOil

Halliburton narrowly beats third-

quarter earnings estimates

GLOBAL OILFIELD services giant Halliburton has beaten the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
analyst estimates with its third-quarter results, “I see a multi-year upcycle unfolding,” Miller
which were announced this week. stated. “Structural global commodity tight-
The company posted net income of $236mn, ness drives increased demand for our services,
or $0.26 per share, for the quarter, up from a net both internationally and in North America. I
loss of $17mn in the same quarter a year ago. believe Halliburton is uniquely positioned in
The result also marked a slight increase on earn- both markets to benefit from this improving
ings of $227mn in the second quarter of 2021. environment.”
Adjusted income of $0.28 per share, excluding In the company’s earnings call, he added that
special items, narrowly beat analyst expectations he expected adoption of integrated and bundled
of $0.27 per share. contracts to continue growing as customers
Halliburton’s revenues, at $3.86bn, also rose pursue performance improvements in the face
both on a sequential and annual basis. Increases of increasing operational challenges in many
were reported both across the company’s North regions. Looking at North America, Miller noted
American business and internationally. In North the bifurcation between public and private com-
America, the increased revenues came despite pany activity, which he said had continued in the
some impact from Hurricane Ida in the US Gulf third quarter of 2021.
of Mexico, which made landfall in late August, “Public E&Ps remain committed to their
significantly disrupting oil and gas operations in spending plans for 2021 while private operators
the region. continue to take advantage of a strong commod-
The result comes as oil prices remain strong ity price environment,” Miller said. “As expected,
and demand rises, helping to boost activity. completions growth moderated in the third
Halliburton’s chairman, president and CEO, Jeff quarter as operators shifted their focus from com-
Miller, expects these trends to continue as coun- pletions to drilling activity. Just like in the interna-
tries around the world ramp up economic activ- tional markets, customer urgency and demand for
ity again following waves of lockdowns related to our services keep growing in North America.”™

POLICY

Core of Biden’s climate plan likely to be cut

US THE centrepiece of US President Joe Biden’s Programme (CEPP). The US needs fossil fuels
climate plan is likely to be cut because of oppo- to remain energy independent, he says, and util-
sition from a single senator who has ties to the ities do not need to be rewarded for an energy
coal industry. transition they are already making.
According to reports, White House aides are That’s although climate experts say the tran-
currently scrambling to rewrite Biden’s $3.5 sition is too slow, and carrots and sticks are
trillion proposal without the Clean Electricity needed.
Performance Programme, which would have Manchin says he wants a climate plan to
rewarded utilities for switching to low-carbon be “technology neutral” and not favour car-
power and penalised them for not doing so. The bon-free fuels.
opposition of moderate Democratic Senator Joe “This is absolutely the most important climate
Manchin – from the coal and natural-gas state policy in the package,” Leah Stokes, an expert
of West Virginia – is the primary reason they on climate policy, who has been advising Senate
are doing so. Democrats on how to craft the programme, told
On October 19, it appeared that Biden’s aides the New York Times regarding the CEPP. “We
had pared back his package to $2 trillion. fundamentally need it to meet our climate goals.
In the evenly divided Senate, where Dem- That’s just the reality. And now we can’t. So this
ocrats have exactly half of the 100 seats, Man- is pretty sad.”
chin’s support for the current reconciliation plan The CEPP was unveiled by the House Energy
is necessary. But Manchin says he cannot sup- and Commerce Committee on September
port the $150bn Clean Electricity Performance 9. The programme would require utilities to

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