Fracking Slump Deepens as Schlumberger Walks Oil `Tightrope'
- Oil-service provider sees another North American sales drop
- Company’s stock tumbled to lowest since 2009 on Tuesday
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The North American fracking market -- already expected to be a downer for the holidays -- is turning out to be even worse than expected, according to the world’s biggest oil-service provider.
Schlumberger Ltd. expects sales in the U.S. and Canada to drop 15 percent in the final three months of the year compared with the third quarter, the company said Tuesday. A trio of factors including a plunge in crude prices, exhausted exploration budgets and maxed-out pipelines in America’s busiest field is prompting oil companies to let go of frack crews.