Oilfield services sector hoping for a global upswing

NORTH America remains the dominant driver of growth in the oilfield-services sector. But with new activity in the shales likely to flatten out next year, the big players are hoping renewed efforts to find oil and gas reserves outside the troubled North Africa region will bring them fresh business in the global market. In the shorter term, the companies with the heaviest exposure to the US and Canadian markets are making hay while the sun shines. That means that Halliburton, as the largest oilfield services provider to the North American market, has made a particularly buoyant start to 2011, while the likes of Schlumberger and Weatherford International have had to contend with their greater exposure to markets outside the region. But few executives at the big oilfield services companies are sounding too glum about their prospects. With oil prices well over $100 a barrel and uncertainty over future oil supply...