Halliburton profit jumps 83pc in second quarter

NEW YORK - Energy companies have become so aggressive about exploring for natural gas in the United States that Halliburton Co says its land-based drilling business will make up for a suspension of deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Houston petroleum services company yesterday reported an 83 per cent surge in second-quarter profits. The results beat Wall St expectations, and shares rose more than 5 per cent.

Halliburton is the first of several companies connected to the Gulf oil spill to report second-quarter financial results. The company was handling the cementing job on BP's well before it blew up on April 20.

The Government's moratorium on deepwater exploration in the Gulf "will usher in a new regulatory climate and will have a profound impact on how deepwater drilling is performed", Halliburton's chief executive Dave Lesar said. Drilling activity throughout the Gulf would slow down this year as drilling permits received more scrutiny from government regulators, he said. A few deepwater rigs had already left the Gulf for work in international waters.

Only about 6 per cent of Halliburton's US$8.15 billion ($11.4 billion) of revenue for the first half of this year came from operations in the Gulf of Mexico.

Meanwhile, its land-based operation has benefited from the rush to find natural gas in America's vast shale formations. The number of rigs searching for oil and gas in the US has jumped more than 70 per cent in the past 12 months, Baker Hughes Inc said.

Halliburton reported net income of US$480 million, or 53c a share, for the April-June period, up from US$262 million, or 29c a share, a year ago.

- AP