Halliburton Scores Drilling Services Contract from Petrobras

Halliburton has secured a contract from Petrobras for integrated drilling services across several offshore fields in Brazil.

Halliburton will provide its iCruise intelligent rotary steerable system (RSS) to reduce well time and place wells accurately, and its automation and remote operations platform to improve well construction consistency and performance, the company said in a news release.

The company said it plans to provide its ultra-deep resistivity service to position production boreholes and map reservoirs. To address the technical limits of drilling fluids in offshore areas, It will also deploy its BaraLogix real-time service to reduce lost time through advanced hydraulic software, surface measurement automation, and predictive analytics.

The contract scope includes drilling services for development and exploration wells over a three-year period, according to the release. The financial details were not disclosed.

The contract, expected to begin in 2025, represents Halliburton’s largest service contract with Petrobras, and significantly expands the company’s drilling services footprint in the pre-salt and post-salt areas for both development and exploration wells, it said.

Halliburton also plans to introduce solutions such as the Reservoir Xaminer formation testing service, which it said detects structural reservoir complexities and “drives more informed decisions in drilling, completion, and production”.

“This contract demonstrates Halliburton’s strength in deep and ultra-deep offshore drilling and well construction,” Waldomiro Mendes, Halliburton senior area manager for Brazil, said.

Last month, Halliburton Energy Services and Coterra Energy Inc. introduced autonomous hydraulic fracturing technology called Octiv Auto Frac in North America.

The Octiv Auto Frac service, which is part of the ZEUS platform, automates the execution of stage deliveries. Coterra is the first operator to fully automate and control both their hydraulic fracturing design and execution, according to an earlier Halliburton news release.

The Octiv Auto Frac service adds new capabilities to Halliburton's Zeus intelligent fracturing platform and its leading electric pumping units and Sensori fracture monitoring service, the company said, adding that the initial rollout of this service led to a 17 percent increase in stage efficiency. Based on the results, Coterra deployed the Octiv Auto Frac service to its remaining completion programs that Halliburton executes in the Permian Basin.

Halliburton launched the Octiv Auto Frac service in September 2024. It is an addition to the Octiv Intelligent Fracturing Platform and was developed to digitize and automate workflows, information, and equipment across all aspects of the company’s fracture operations.

Octiv Auto Frac is the first-ever automation service that enables customers to execute their fracture design without human intervention, according to a separate statement, which stated that the technology automates thousands of decisions while pumping, based on customer job designs and pre-job control inputs, with constant response to dynamic stimulation conditions.

Halliburton recently reported net income of $615 million for the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to $571 million in the previous quarter. The figure is below the $667 million reported for the corresponding quarter a year ago. 

Halliburton's total revenue for the fourth quarter of 2024 was $5.6 billion, compared to $5.7 billion for the third quarter of 2024. Operating income was $932 million for the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to $871 million for the third quarter of 2024, Halliburton said in an earnings release.

To contact the author, email rocky.teodoro@rigzone.com