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Higher costs squeeze North American margins for sector, but counterbalanced by increased profits outside US, where rig counts projected to climb eight percent in 2012
After riding high in 2010 and 2011 on drilling demand created by the North American shale boom and some recovery in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico following the Macondo incident, the major oilfield service companies saw their mid-year margins in North America shrink in 2012, while their costs rose. However, margins from activity occurring outside the U.S. are growing for companies in this sector, and rig counts outside North America are projected to be up eight percent in 2012, according to a recent report from IHS (NYSE: IHS), the leading global source of information and analytics.
Language:
English
