Report: More oil services mergers unlikely

10-Sep-2009

A recent high-profile merger in the oil services sector is unlikely to result in much similar activity, according to a recent report.

This week, the CEO of Schlumberger, a leading oil services firm, was quoted as saying that his company was unlikely to engage in any mergers of the kind recently announced by Baker Hughes and BJ Services Company.

"The big companies are unlikley to consolidate because almost all of them have antitrust issues," Andrew Gould was quoted as saying in a Reuters report. The wire service also quoted Gould as saying that merger activity is far more likely among smaller oil field services companies.

Last month, Baker Hughes and BJ Services Company made news with a $5.5 billion merger plan. At the time, Baker Hughes Chairman Chad Deaton said that the deal would add "products, technologies and talented people" that would help customers "unlock value in their reservoirs."

The deal was announced on August 31 and will see BJ Services shareholders owning about 27.5 percent of Baker Hughes' stock shares.

Breaking news brought to you by the Oxford Princeton Programme, specialists in energy courses. This and other related topics are part of the forthcoming course Overview of the Petroleum Industry on 12 October, 2009 in Singapore.