Schlumberger Limited (NYSE:SLB) shares gained around 1% in Thursday’s early deals as investors welcomed news of huge new contracts with Venezuela’s national oil firm.
Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA) is kicking off a US$3.2bn programme which is being called “one of the world’s largest drilling projects”.
PDVSA reportedly plans to drill a total of 480 new wells in the Orinoco region, targeting an extra 250,000 barrels of oil per day over the coming 30 months.
It is reported that Schlumberger will be involved in 80 wells where there is ‘extra heavy’ oil.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Schlumberger is the on only public company among the three contractors for the major project, though it added that the terms of the deal including those relating to payment guarantees are still be negotiated.