Oil services firm SLB continues to expand in Russia as competitors withdraw – FT

SLB (NYSE:SLB) has continued to sign new contracts and recruit hundreds of staff in Russia, even after its largest U.S. rivals sold their Russian businesses following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Financial Times reported Friday.

Documents obtained by Global Witness and seen by Financial Times show that in December, SLB’s (SLB) Russian business signed a contract with Russian oil and gas institute Vnigni, which commits the company to help it build models of oil and gas deposits that can be used to develop projects.

FT said in the report that it identified more than 1,000 job advertisements posted by SLB (SLB) since December, seeking roles that range from drivers to chemists and geologists, and searches of Russian trademark and corporate databases show SLB Russian subsidiaries registered two new trademarks in July.

The world’s biggest oilfield services company formerly known as Schlumberger has been upfront in saying it has no plans to leave Russia, but SLB (SLB) said in July last year it was “halting shipments of products and technology into Russia from all SLB facilities worldwide in response to the continued expansion of international sanctions.”

But while such imports soon stopped, FT said Russian customs filings show SLB (SLB) continued to import materials from other sources, bringing in $17.5M of equipment between August and December 2023, the most recent date of available records, including $3.3M in categories that could be subject to controls if exported from the European Union to Russia.