Halliburton Co. swung to a profit in the first quarter as rising crude prices bolstered demand for hydraulic fracturing equipment and other oil field technology, though executives noted the impact of supply line constraints.
The Houston oil field service company on Monday reported its net income came in at $46 million, or 5 cents a share, in the first three months of 2018, up from a loss of $32 million, or 4 cents a share, in the same period last year. Revenue increased from $4.3 billion to $5.7 billion, rising sharply in North America.
“Activity in U.S. land remains resilient as our customers have a large portfolio of economically viable projects in today’s commodity price environment,” Halliburton CEO Jeffrey Miller said in a statement.
The company collected higher earnings despite writing down all of its remaining investments in Venezuela, absorbing a $312 million charge.
Halliburton’s North America sales jumped 58 percent to $3.5 billion, boosted by rising drilling and fracking activity in U.S. shale plays, while its international revenue increased 9 percent to $2.2 billion.
Its completion and production sales climbed 46 percent to $3.8 billion, and drilling and evaluation product and service lines rose 15 percent to $1.9 billion.
This article first appeared on the Houston Chronicle – an Energy Voice content partner. For more from the Houston Chronicle click here.