Oilfield services provider Schlumberger recorded a 38% drop in its fourth quarter 2019 profit and an increase in revenues when compared to the same period in 2018.

According to Schlumberger's 4Q 2019 report on Friday, the company's fourth-quarter revenue of $8.23 billion decreased 4% sequentially, but increased 1% year-on-year when the company's revenues were $8.18 billion.

The company's full-year worldwide revenue of $32.9 billion was flat year-on-year, with international revenue growth of 7%.

Schlumberger's income before taxes in 4Q 2019 dropped 30% to $452 million from $648 million in 4Q 2018.

The company's net income in 4Q 2019 totaled $333 million, a 38% drop compared to the net income of $538 million in 4Q 2018.

For the full year 2019, Schlumberger's posted a loss of $10.1 billion, compared to a profit of $2.1 billion in 2018.

Schlumberger CEO, Olivier Le Peuch, commented: “From a macro perspective, we ended the year with 2020 oil demand growth sentiment turning positive as uncertainty reduced following the progress made toward a US-China trade deal. The fall in the North America production growth estimate of between 400,000 to 800,000 bpd should continue to support the thesis for international investment. The recent escalation of geopolitical risk should set the floor for the oil price going forward. In the near term, we expect the OPEC+ production cuts agreed upon in December 2019 to limit investment and activity, particularly in the Middle East and Russia, during the first half of 2020. As the year progresses, the effect of slowing North America production growth is likely to cause tightness in the market and further stimulate international operators to step up their investments in the second half of the year and beyond.

“Based on this, we expect 2020 E&P capex spending growth rate in the international markets to be in the mid-single-digit range. We would therefore expect our international portfolio revenue to grow at the same pace or higher, excluding the effects of the Sensia and Drilling Tools transactions. The carved-out businesses in these transactions accounted for approximately 2% of our global revenue in 2019.

“International revenue growth will be more heavily weighted to the second half of the year with increasing offshore activity, improving activity mix from the early deepwater growth cycle, and increasing exploration work toward the end of the year and into 2021.”