Schlumberger’s Q1 revenue fell 6.7 per cent to $5.6 billion

Schlumberger Limited, the world's leading supplier of technology to the oil and gas industry, yesterday reported first quarter revenue of $5.60 billion, a decline of 6.7 per centfrom $6.00 billion in the first quarter of 2009.

It had revenues of $5.74 billion in the fourth quarter of 2009.

Oilfield services revenue of $5.10 billion was down 1 per cent sequentially and 6 per cent year-on-year.

The company's  first-quarter net income dropped to $672 million, or 56 cents a share, from $938 million, or 78 cents, a year earlier.

This included charges of $40 million for the reduction in future tax deductions for retiree medical benefits as a result of the passage during the quarter of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in the United States, and charges of $35 million for transaction costs in connection with the Smith International, Inc. merger and the Geoservices acquisition.

''First-quarter revenues registered a marginal sequential decline as a strong performance in North America and continued strength in the Middle East and Asia offset an overall decline in product and software sales from the high levels of the fourth quarter and a sharp drop in the North Sea and Russia due to drilling efficiency and adverse weather,'' Schlumberger Chairman and CEO Andrew Gould said.