Schlumberger sold its Well Services of Iran unit to Hong Kong's Nima Energy in 2010, as Western firms were required to exit Iran ahead of sanctions.
A 39% drop in revenue and accounting charges led to a loss of $1.02 billion (minus 81 cents/share) for 4Q2015.
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"A lot of the low-hanging fruit we have already picked", Kibsgaard said in a conference call.
While oil prices rebounded slightly yesterday, they're still around $30 a barrel and the pain is being felt here in Houston.
Schlumberger Ltd Chief Executive Paal Kibsgaard said a significant recovery in oilfield activity was not expected until 2017, and he indicated that the company might struggle to meet analysts' estimates for its current-quarter profit.
It said it streamlined costs and cut 10,000 jobs during the last three months of 2015 "in anticipation of extended activity weakness in the first half of 2016". It warned on Thursday that it does not expect a turnaround anytime soon. One usual bright spot, a year-end surge in multi-client seismic license sales, was "largely muted compared to previous years", Kibsgaard said.
Kibsgaard also confirmed Schlumberger has a new partnership with Bermuda-based Golar LNG to develop gas reserves with the help of Golar's floating liquefied natural gas assets.
The company has a market capitalization of $82.22 billion and a PE ratio of 24.70.
Schlumberger will buy back $10 billion in shares under a new share repurchase program and approved a $0.50 per share quarterly dividend.
As a result of Schlumberger's workforce reduction and expanded incentivized leave of absence program during Q4 2015, the company recorded a $530 million charge during the period, as well as a non-cash $1.6 billion pretax impairment charge for fixed assets, inventory write-downs, facility closures, contract terminations, and other asset impairments.
For the year, the company reported profit of $2.07 billion, or $1.63 per share.
On November 17, 2015, Schlumberger received unconditional approval from the U.S. Department of Justice regarding the proposed merger between a wholly owned subsidiary of Schlumberger Limited and Cameron International Corporation (Cameron).
Schlumberger posted revenue of $7.74 billion in the period, which fell short of Street forecasts.
Full-year revenues fell 27% to $35.5 billion year-on-year, following sharp cuts to its spending on drilling.
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Oil services giant Schlumberger is buying $10 billion of itself
