Weatherford International has posted a net income of $125 million in the second quarter (Q2), an 8.9% margin, an increase of 12% or 65 basis points sequentially, and an increase of 52% or 246 basis points year-over-year.

 

Revenues for the second quarter of 2024 were $1,405 million, an increase of 3.5% sequentially and an increase of 10% year-over-year. Operating income was $264 million in the second quarter of 2024, compared to $233 million in the first quarter of 2024 and $201 million in the second quarter of 2023. 

 

Adjusted EBITDA was $365 million, a 26.0% margin, an increase of 9% or 124 basis points sequentially, and an increase of 25% or 314 basis points year-over-year. Diluted income per share was $1.66 compared to $1.50 in the first quarter of 2024 and $1.12 in the second quarter of 2023.

 

Cash flows

Second quarter 2024 cash flows provided by operating activities were $150 million, compared to $131 million in the first quarter of 2024 and $201 million in the second quarter of 2023. 

 

Adjusted free cash flow was $96 million, an increase of $14 million sequentially and a decrease of $76 million year-over-year. Capital expenditures were $62 million in the second quarter of 2024, compared to $59 million in the first quarter of 2024 and $36 million in the second quarter of 2023.

 

Girish Saligram, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented: “The One Weatherford team once again delivered excellent results on margins and adjusted free cash flow. Beyond the usual seasonal effects, we faced some revenue headwinds driven by weather events, social unrest leading to reduced activity in Colombia, and timing shifts in activity in some regions. 

 

Margin performance

“However, the strong margin performance demonstrates the operating intensity, portfolio differentiation and continued growth runway that we have in place. The second half of the year is poised to deliver mid-single digits sequential revenue growth over the first half, with total year adjusted EBITDA margins expected to be slightly north of 25%. Second half adjusted free cash flow is expected to be materially higher than the first, reaffirming our expectation of adjusted free cash flow of over $500 million for the year. These expectations are reflective of the continued strength in international and offshore activity, spearheaded by the Middle East/North Africa/Asia region, which demonstrated 9% sequential and 29% year-over-year growth in the second quarter.

 

“Based on the company’s operating performance over the past few years and with the confidence we have in our future, I am pleased to announce that our Board of Directors has approved the first-ever shareholder return programme in Weatherford’s history. This is another significant milestone in our journey of creating shareholder value and comprises an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and a $500 million share buyback authorisation programme over three years. 

 

“Our Board of Directors has declared our first quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share to be paid on September 12, 2024, to shareholders of record on August 13, 2024. Few would have predicted this scenario just a couple of years ago, but it is a testament to the dedication, commitment and passion of our 19,000 people across 75 countries and my utmost gratitude goes out to them for their relentless focus and execution.”

 

Operational highlights

Bapco Upstream, a subsidiary of Bapco Energies, awarded Weatherford a five-year contract to deliver Directional Drilling and Logging While Drilling Services in Bahrain.

 

Equinor awarded Weatherford a two-year frame agreement extension for delivery of Completions, Liner-Hangers, and Slot-Recovery services, including the AlphaV next-generation whipstock system, and supported by Weatherford’s Accuview downhole monitoring solutions.

 

CPOC (Carigali-PTTEPI Operating Company) awarded Weatherford a three-year contract for Tubular Running Services for the offshore Phase 6 Development project in the Malaysia-Thailand Joint Development Area.

 

Multi-year contracts

ENI awarded Weatherford three multi-year contracts for Tubular Running Services for onshore, offshore, and Carbon Capture & Storage projects across Europe.

 

A major operator in Europe awarded Weatherford a two-year contract to provide Wireline Services for a multi-well campaign in offshore Norway.

 

OMV Petrom awarded Weatherford a contract for the supply of Open Hole Zonal Isolation Equipment and related services for the Neptun Deep subsea development in the Romanian Black Sea, representing the first deep water development in this area, aiming to tap into substantial natural gas reserves.

 

A major European energy infrastructure company awarded Weatherford a one-year contract to provide integrated Plug and Abandonment services for offshore wells on an Underground Gas Storage Project.

 

A major operator awarded Weatherford a three-year contract for Drilling and Intervention Services for an Underground Sludge Storage Project to support its copper mining operations.

 

Technology highlights

Drilling & Evaluation (DRE)

Weatherford deployed its Victus Intelligent Managed Pressure Drilling (MPD) solution for offshore Saudi Aramco. The system provided precise dynamic testing, enabling faster drilling speeds and reducing drilling fluid losses.

 

In Kuwait, it deployed the Victus Intelligent MPD system to drill a well and cement a liner for KOC’s deepest well drilled in that field with complex reservoir conditions, where conventional methods would not have been feasible.

 

Well Construction and Completions (WCC)

Weatherford successfully deployed its enhanced Expandable Sand Screen (ESS) for a major operator in Sub-Sahara Africa. The enhanced ESS enables deployment, expansion, and tool retrieval in a single trip, eliminating the need for intermediate completion and saving cost by reducing the time and complexity of completion programmes.

The company completed installation of its first ForeSite Sense Fibre Optic monitoring system in a gas storage well for a major operator in the Middle East. The application will help ensure wellbore integrity, monitor for potential gas migration, and leak paths.

 

Production and Intervention (PRI)

An operator in the US awarded Weatherford a one-year contract for pumping units that included the supply of our Permanent Magnetic Motor (PMM) technology, which helps reduce energy costs and carbon footprint by utilising more efficient electric motors.

 

The company launched ForeSite EDGE 2.0, its next-generation scalable IoT-enabled automation solution enhancing customers’ advanced autonomous production optimisation in real time. This innovation harnesses high-frequency data processing and modeling at the well site to deliver autonomous production optimisation in real-time, thereby enhancing well production, reducing total cost of ownership, and minimising environmental impact and safety risks.--TradeArabia News Service