Schlumberger economist sees recovery start in 2010
DAMMAM, Saudi Arabia, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Oilfield services firm Schlumberger (SLB.N) expects recovery to begin in its rig activity next year but any upturn will be well below the 2008 peak, the company's chief economist said on Sunday.
"Going into next year, ... I think the bottom of the curve has happened in the second and third quarter this year, so we should be going in a up mode," Kamel Bennaceur said on the sidelines of an oil and gas event in Dammam, on Saudi Arabia's Gulf coast.
"In terms of worldwide activity, we will still be far from the peak that we saw in 2008," he said.
Bennaceur said Latin America would present some encouraging signs and the Russian market would experience some recovery. Rig activity in the Middle would be about the same level or slightly higher, he said.
"We had different markets where we really suffered, one of them was in North America and the second one was the Russian market. Outside of that, the drop was about 20 percent compared to the peak that it has reached last year," Bennaceur said.
"If we go to the forecast of companies next year pretty much their spending is going to be about the same level or slightly up compared to this year ... so I think it's a beginning of a recovery ... It (recovery) is going to be early next year," he said.
Oilfield service companies were hit hard as oil and gas producers slashed spending this year. Firmer oil prices have helped stabilize spending in some areas, but natural gas prices globally have been too low to justify drilling many wells.
(Reporting by Reem Shamseddine)
