Halliburton CEO pleased with 3Q result given industry ‘devastation’

Halliburton, one of the world’s biggest oilfield services providers, has returned to third-quarter profit.

The U.S.-based company on Wednesday said its net income for the quarter was $7 million, up from a net loss of $53 million in the corresponding quarter of 2015. The result

Year on year revenue fell to $3.83 billion from $5.58 billion in the third quarter of 2015. Revenue was flat compared to the previous quarter which ended on June 30, 2016.

Dave Lesar, Chairman and CEO of Halliburton said he was pleased with third quarter results “given the devastation our industry has faced over the last two years,” referring to the sharp drop in oil prices in 2014.

“These results reflect the hard work and determination of our organization. While the recent cycle has provided its fair share of challenges, we out-executed even against the very high expectations we place on our organization,” Lesar said.

Lesar said that the company’s result was boosted by North America business as utilization improved on the rig count growth. He also said that the result was helped by the company working on its surface efficiency model and “relentlessly” managing costs.

According to Reuters, the result is a surprising one, as its analysts had on average expected Halliburton to report a loss of 6 cents per share and revenue of $3.90 billion.