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schlumberger (slb), the world's largest oilfield services company, is still expanding its business in russia. since the outbreak of the russia-ukraine conflict, the united states and european countries have launched multiple rounds of sanctions against russia, causing a large number of western companies to withdraw from russia. schlumberger, headquartered in texas, has become the only large western energy company that has not withdrawn from russia and continues to deploy business.

according to the financial times, schlumberger signed a new contract in russia in late august, recruited hundreds of new employees, and continued to deliver oil service products and equipment to russia through "transferring". schlumberger announced in july last year that it would stop shipping products and technology from all schlumberger facilities around the world to russia in response to the potential impact of us and european sanctions against russia.

the financial times searched russian trademark and corporate databases and found that schlumberger's russian branch registered two new trademarks in july this year.schlumbergermore than 1,000 job advertisements have been posted, with positions including drivers, chemists, geologists, etc., offering benefits including work meals, sports activities, participation in discounted stock purchase plans, etc.

the nonprofit global witness pointed out that in december last year, schlumberger russia signed a contract with the russian scientific research institute of geology and petroleum vnigni. according to the contract, schlumberger will help vnigni establish an oil and gas reserve model library to assist in the development of russian oil and gas projects.

obviously, schlumberger has no intention of leaving russia. in a statement, the company pointed out that given the scale of its business and the number of employees in russia, a complete withdrawal from russia would expose the company to significant risks. for development in russia, ensuring the overall security of employees, technology and assets is a key task.

as early as march this year, schlumberger ceo olivier le page said that despite the constant pressure from western countries and the "blockade" of russian crude oil and oil products, there is still no plan to withdraw from russia.

"as the world's largest oilfield services provider, we must conscientiously fulfill our contracts with our customers and have not decided to follow the example of halliburton and baker hughes and sell our business in russia," said olivier lepage. "in fact, the russian branch is operating independently and to some extent they can decide whether the operation should be terminated. this is actually protecting the company's assets, which is our top priority."

russia's kommersant newspaper pointed out that schlumberger is the world's largest supplier of hydrocarbon well construction, production and processing technology. it has cooperated with russian oil and gas companies such as gazprom, rosneft and lukoil for decades and has opened technical service centers in novosibirsk and tyumen.

ukraine claims that schlumberger's business deployment in russia indirectly helped russia generate billions of dollars in crude oil revenue. it is reported that schlumberger's global revenue last year was about 33.1 billion us dollars, of which 5% came from russian business. schlumberger's russian branch has a net asset of 600 million us dollars and currently employs 9,000 people in russia. last year's annual revenue was 27.3 billion rubles (about 298 million us dollars), an increase of 527 million rubles from 2022.

oilfield service providers undertake most of the heavy work in the global oil and gas industry, including road building, pipeline laying, drilling operations, extraction work, etc., and most importantly, they also provide complex technical solutions, which are critical to supporting the exploration and development of complex drilling operations.

in july last year, schlumberger announced that it would stop supplying products and technologies to russia, including exploration, integrated drilling services, cable logging, oil well services, valves, drilling systems, ground systems, etc.

but russian customs documents show that schlumberger's russian branch continues to import materials from other sources, introducing equipment worth $17.5 million between august and december 2023, of which $2.2 million of cables and chemicals are still related to schlumberger or other schlumberger subsidiaries. the company mainly delivers equipment to russia through resale.

the financial times of the united kingdom pointed out that the $16 million worth of equipment all came from asia because most of the equipment fell into product categories that the united states and europe regulated for russia.

schlumberger is reported to provide equipment to some large russian crude oil producers, including lukoil. in 2022 and 2023, schlumberger provided drilling tools and hydraulic packers to lukoil.

the industry believes that the withdrawal of western competitors from russia has left schlumberger with more room for development. halliburton, the world's second-largest oilfield service provider, and baker hughes, the world's third-largest oilfield service provider, successively sold their russian businesses to local oilfield service and management companies in 2022.

schlumberger pointed out that competition in the russian market remains very fierce, and it not only needs to bid together with local companies, but also needs to maximize asset value while providing services.

the united states has apparently turned a blind eye to schlumberger's continued expansion of its business in russia. a u.s. state department official made it clear that schlumberger has not violated the sanctions so far and the company clearly knows where the "border is."

in fact, the united states and european countries have avoided imposing comprehensive sanctions on russia's oilfield service business because they are worried that this will hinder fossil fuel exports and cause global oil prices to soar, thus undermining global economic stability. it is also for this reason that the united states and european countries have not imposed direct sanctions on russian crude oil, but have chosen to set price caps.

"western energy companies are still free to help russia produce oil," said leila stanley, senior investigator at global witness. "without foreign oilfield service companies, the russian oil industry will collapse."

schlumberger's technology and expertise can help russian oil and gas producers develop oil and gas projects at lower costs and risks. craig kennedy, former vice president of bank of america, believes that "russia has the ability to maintain production without these technologies, but the cost will be higher. but in essence, this (separation from foreign oil service companies) will not have a serious impact on the russian oil industry."

fortune business insights pointed out that the size of russia's oilfield services market was us$17.85 billion in 2022, increasing to us$19.04 billion in 2023, and is expected to reach us$27.59 billion by 2030, with a compound annual growth rate of 5.4% between 2023 and 2030.

the growth of oil and gas production and exploration in russia will drive the growth of the russian oilfield services market. yevgeny petrov, director of the russian federal mineral development agency, recently said that russia will focus on deep-sea oil and gas development and production in the next few decades to ensure the production level required by the country.