UPDATE 2-Weatherford International Q3 profit falls

* Q3 EPS 11 cents vs 54 cents a year ago

* Q3 revenue falls 15 pct to $2.15 bln

* Shares drop 2.8 pct
(Adds comments from CEO and analyst, share price, byline)

By Braden Reddall

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Oilfield services company
Weatherford International Ltd (WFT.N) reported on Monday an 80
percent drop in quarterly profit, hurt by lower North American
revenue and one-off factors, sending its shares down nearly 3
percent.

Poor weather in Mexico and project delays elsewhere weighed
on Weatherford's third-quarter performance, though the outlook
was better for the current quarter as well as next year.

Chief Executive Bernard Duroc-Danner said the company aimed
to expand revenue outside the U.S. and Canadian markets in 2010
at three times the expected market growth rate of 10 percent,
driven by greater activity in Mexico and Iraq.

Weatherford has been cutting back on capacity in the North
American oil and gas market, where just over a quarter of its
revenue is generated after a sharp fall in the past year.

"Do not conclude that we do not like North America,"
Duroc-Danner told analysts and investors on a conference call.
"It is true we continue to try to be more efficient in North
America, but it should not be viewed as a retrenchment."

Third-quarter net income was $77.4 million, or 11 cents per
share, compared with $370.6 million, or 54 cents per share, a
year earlier, the Switzerland-based company said.

Income from continuing operations was $93 million, or 13
cents a share, excluding certain items. Revenue fell 15 percent
to $2.15 billion as its global rig count dropped 39 percent.

Analysts, who on average had targeted profit of 13 cents a
share on revenue of $2.15 billion, according to Thomson Reuters
I/B/E/S, expected the result to weigh on Weatherford shares.

"However, the probability of a major contract win in Iraq
before year-end (Nasiriyah) may be offsetting," Barclays
Capital analyst James Crandell wrote in a note to clients.

Weatherford shares were down 57 cents or 2.8 percent at
$20.01 on the New York Stock Exchange in midmorning, off an
earlier low at $19.47. The Philadelphia oil service index
.OSX, by contrast, was up 1.7 percent.

Weatherford said North America was primarily responsible
for its revenue decline, with revenue in the region decreasing
by 47 percent against a 52 percent decline in rig count.

U.S. natural gas prices hit their lowest level for nearly
eight years in September, and oilfield services executives do
not see demand in the country bouncing back quickly.

Among Weatherford's larger rivals, Halliburton Co (HAL.N)
reported on Friday a better-than-expected third-quarter profit,
helped by its performance outside North America
[ID:nN16319470], and Schlumberger Ltd (SLB.N) is due to report
earnings this Friday.
(Reporting by Braden Reddall in San Francisco and Ajay
Kamalakaran in Bangalore, editing by Matthew Lewis)