HOUSTON: The world’s largest oilfield services company, Schlumberger, is spending billions of dollars buying stakes in its customers’ oil and gas projects — investing in the same ventures it supplies with equipment and expertise.
The new business model gives Schlumberger a say in drilling decisions, oilfield management and even on hiring other Schlumberger units for service contracts, the company has told investors.
The expanded operational authority saves Schlumberger from bidding for each of the many jobs that typically require separate contracts on a large drilling project — effectively locking out the firm’s competitors.
Schlumberger’s gamble could upend the service business model throughout the industry, as rivals including Baker Hughes say they are considering whether to adopt similar strategies.
The model can supercharge profits on a given job but also ramps up risk, giving the firm more exposure to global oil price swings and potentially big losses if individual projects fail. The downsides have some analysts questioning whether the traditionally conservative firm is taking on too many speculative projects too quickly.
Schlumberger already has taken hundreds of millions in write-downs or impairments on some of these joint ventures, according to its financial filings.
Traditionally, oil producers manage the risk and make the financial and operational decisions on projects; they pay service providers a fee to carry out individual jobs. Firms such as Schlumberger typically supply a wide variety of services, such as well design, along with technology and staff to run rigs.
Schlumberger declined to make executives available for interviews and did not respond to written questions about its production business.
Despite early setbacks, Schlumberger has committed cash to growing the division, called Schlumberger Production Management, since its launch in 2011. Last year, it generated $1.4 billion in revenue. It had investment of $2.6 billion as of June 30.
The company’s investments have the firm co-managing about 230,000 barrels a day of oil and gas output at the end of 2016 — about as much as one of the largest US independent producers, Pioneer Natural Resources.
This year, the company stepped up the financing role, opening a standalone investment fund to provide financing for the ventures. The company has not disclosed the size of the fund.
Such ventures require a breadth of skills and a tolerance for risk generally found at large integrated oil companies such as Chevron and Exxon Mobil.
Two of Schlumberger’s newest partnerships — a deepwater liquefied natural gas project off the coast of Equatorial Guinea and an Argentina shale development with YPF — involve decision-making and operational authority similar to that typically held by multinational oil producers.
As Schlumberger’s production business has grown, it has negotiated deals that include equity in oil and gas fields and as well as deals that give the firm payment based on oil and gas output, according to interviews with customers, partners, investors and former Schlumberger executives.
Schlumberger this year agreed to contribute $390 million for a 49 percent stake in a venture with YPF in Argentina’s Vaca Muerta shale field, which has attracted international oil firms including Chevron and Royal Dutch Shell.
Schlumberger Chief Executive Paal Kibsgaard has downplayed the potential for its production business to compete with its own oil company customers.
He described the enterprise as “a new avenue for project investments alongside our customers” in remarks to investors in April.
Executive Vice President Patrick Schorn also insisted this spring that the business is “not significantly changing the risk profile ... the biggest risk remains the cyclical nature” of the oil and gas industry.
Investors say Schlumberger, which held $6.22 billion in cash and short-term investments at June 30, is strong enough to handle any increased risks and the price volatility of its investments in long-term projects.
As both project manager and service provider, Schlumberger also has an enviable level of control over operations, said Mike Breard of Dallas-based wealth management firm Hodges Capital, which invests in oilfield service companies.
“I like the long-term aspect of it — the fact that they are telling frack crews where to work, and using their own equipment more efficiently than might be used by some other operator,” he said.
British-based natural gas explorer Sound Energy PLC was happy to give Schlumberger full rights to the service contracts on drilling projects in Morocco in exchange for a Schlumberger investment amounting to 27 percent of total costs, said the chief of British-based natural gas explorer.
Schlumberger will get 27.5 percent of revenue from the oil produced.
“We’re smaller and entrepreneurial. Schlumberger has the technical capability and cash. That’s the nature of the partnership,” Sound CEO James Parsons said in an interview.
The duo has completed three wells in Morocco and plans to drill three more by year end.
“It’s a $50 or $60 million bet for them so far,” Parsons said.
Schlumberger’s appetite for these ventures is spurring rivals to consider similar financing and services deals. Baker Hughes recently agreed to provide about $10 million in financing to Twinza Oil’s first offshore gas field in Papua New Guinea, supplying the cash to prove the merits of the field.
“It allows Twinza to have success in going out to raise financing,” Baker Hughes CEO Lorenzo Simonelli said.
Baker Hughes will not take a stake in the oilfield, unlike some of Schlumberger’s joint investments with producers.
In 2014 and 2015, Schlumberger took nearly $400 million in combined write-offs on oil production investments, including an Eagle Ford shale field in south Texas that struggled after oil prices crashed.
It also is owed about $900 million by Ecuador. In July, the South American country said it had negotiated a payment plan that includes an expanded contract that has Schlumberger agreeing to invest another $1 billion in the venture.
Schlumberger hasn’t commented on the South American nation’s disclosure. It previously acknowledged taking Ecuadorian bonds in lieu of cash for $150 million in bills. It also previously estimated its investment in the projects at up to $4.9 billion over 20 years.
The write downs have stirred some on Wall Street to question whether Schlumberger should take a more conservative path with its oil production partnerships.
The firm’s production division “used to focus on production management of well understood low-risk oil fields,” said Colin Davies, a Bernstein oilfield services analyst. “Now it has expanded into frankly somewhat more speculative ventures.”
Schlumberger’s new business model bets on huge returns — but at higher risks
Schlumberger’s new business model bets on huge returns — but at higher risks
AI’s shift toward proactive healthcare
- Experts reveal how AI is reducing burnout and streamlining workflows
JEDDAH: Artificial intelligence is increasingly moving from the margins of healthcare innovation into its operational core. Rather than replacing clinicians, AI is being deployed to address persistent challenges across health systems, from administrative overload and staff burnout to fragmented data and inefficient patient flow.
Speaking to Arab News, Abbes Seqqat, chief executive officer of Rain Stella Technologies, and Eric Turkington, chief product officer, discussed how AI is already transforming healthcare delivery — and why its impact is most meaningful when embedded directly into clinical workflows rather than treated as a standalone tool.
Seqqat describes AI’s role as accelerating a structural shift in healthcare delivery. “AI is accelerating the shift in healthcare from reactive to proactive care, because AI fundamentally helps detect, analyze and predict,” he said, noting that many health systems lack the resources to perform these tasks at scale.
While AI use cases in healthcare are broad, Seqqat emphasized that the most effective applications today focus on operational and clinical fundamentals, including reducing administrative burden, identifying patient risks earlier, and capturing clinical data more reliably and in real time.
RST’s portfolio reflects this approach, spanning surgical data capture and workflow automation, cloud-based electronic medical records, and health information exchange. Across these systems, the common goal is improving data quality and usability so clinicians can spend less time managing information and more time delivering care.
According to Turkington, RST’s systems rely on a mix of established and emerging AI technologies.
“Across the portfolio, we are using a wide range of AI and predictive technologies, from voice technology to reliably capture clinician inputs, to large language models that analyze and act on collected data,” he said.
A key focus has been adapting AI to regional and clinical realities. Voice models, for example, have been trained on UAE and GCC accents and grounded in medical terminology to improve accuracy in real-world settings. RST also uses retrieval-augmented generation and multi-agent AI architectures, allowing different AI components to perform specialized tasks such as classifying surgical notes, identifying unusual events, or assisting with billing and coding, Turkington explained.
DID YOU KNOW?
• AI can detect, analyze, and predict patient risks faster than traditional methods.
• Systems like Equinox use voice input and predictive analytics to actively support clinical decisions.
• AI assistants provide real-time updates, automate documentation, and improve coordination in operating theaters.
One of the central concerns around AI adoption is whether it adds complexity to already demanding clinical roles. Seqqat argues the opposite should be the goal.
“For nurses and frontline staff, AI’s greatest contribution is removing the invisible administrative friction that leads to burnout,” Seqqat said.
In operating theaters, AI systems can replace manual coordination methods such as phone calls and whiteboards by providing real-time situational awareness. By automating updates, anticipating delays, and serving as an on-demand clinical notepad, AI reduces cognitive load and allows staff to remain focused on patient care, he explained.
RST’s voice-enabled assistant, Orva, is designed specifically for perioperative environments.
Turkington said it enables hands-free documentation and coordination, helping surgical teams manage schedules and resources more effectively.
By capturing live updates through voice input, Orva can surface delays, flag bottlenecks, and prompt coordination between departments. It also assists with documentation and coding, reducing errors and supporting more accurate reimbursement— an area where incomplete records often create downstream challenges.
Electronic medical records remain central to healthcare delivery, but Turkington noted that AI can move them beyond passive data repositories.
“We designed Equinox as an EMR that enables you to spend less time with the software and more time with patients,” Turkington said.
Through voice input, automated documentation from visual annotations, and AI-generated pre-visit summaries, the system can actively support clinicians rather than slow them down. Predictive analytics, such as identifying no-show risks or highlighting care gaps, further shift EMRs toward decision-support tools rather than administrative obligations.
Both executives stressed that AI’s effectiveness depends heavily on data access and quality. Seqqat pointed to interoperability as a prerequisite rather than an afterthought.
“AI is only as powerful as the data it can access,” he said, adding that fragmented records limit both clinical insight and system-wide learning.
Health information exchanges, such as RST’s Constellation platform, enable patient data to be viewed longitudinally across providers. AI can then assist with patient identity matching and population-level analysis, allowing trends and risks to be identified across large datasets.
Turkington shared an example from an operating theatre where AI helped prevent cascading delays. When a surgical case ran late, a nurse verbally updated Orva that the patient was ready to exit. The system alerted the recovery unit, analyzed schedule conflicts, and prompted management to reassign staff before delays affected subsequent procedures.
Opinion
This section contains relevant reference points, placed in (Opinion field)
By tagging the cause of the delay and feeding that data into predictive models, the system helped prevent similar issues in the future — without additional manual coordination.
According to Seqqat, the primary returns from AI adoption come from combining efficiency with financial accuracy. Streamlined workflows allow providers to treat more patients without compromising care, while improved documentation reduces revenue leakage.
Looking ahead, Seqqat sees AI becoming central to Saudi Arabia’s healthcare transformation. He described its role as advancing smart hospitals, predictive patient flow, and precision medicine aligned with Vision 2030 goals.
“The role of AI in Saudi Arabia’s healthcare sector is evolving from a supporting technology to a foundational pillar of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 transformation. Over the next few years, we expect to see AI move into the realm of smart hospitals, where predictive analytics optimize patient flow and AI-driven precision medicine leverages the Saudi Genome Program to provide hyper-personalized care. By unifying national health data and automating complex administrative workflows, AI will enable a more proactive, value-based healthcare model that improves patient outcomes and operational efficiency across the country.”
