Drilling Giant Posts $11 Billion Loss

The world’s largest oilfield services provider, Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB), reported on Friday a net loss of US$11.38 billion for the third quarter, compared to a US$644-million profit for Q3 2018, after a hefty pretax charge of US$12.7 billion weighed on the most recently reported results. The pretax charge, driven by market conditions, is almost entirely non-cash and primarily relates to goodwill, intangible assets, and fixed assets, said Schlumberger, which also flagged continued slowdown in North America’s drilling growth. The slowdown…