Today, lower oil prices are the new normal—how has this affected the approach to well completion operations in unconventional plays?

Lower oil price per barrel has challenged both operators and service companies to become even more efficient. From the service company point of view, this implies re-assessing every angle of the business, but it also provides an opportunity to improve in many fronts to remain competitive. Some of these examples include the extensive use of data analytics to optimize anything from asset utilization to equipment performance to maintenance cycles. But it has also been a great opportunity for vertical integration on some specific aspects of the supply value chain.

Besides efficiency, what are some other considerations that operators may not have thought about?

Operators have been challenged with very difficult circumstances in terms of oil price over the past few years. Cost efficiency has been one of the main deciding factors in choosing a service company. As oil prices improve, the conversation will migrate from pure cost efficiency to overall effectiveness of the service provided. This opens the door for a more comprehensive discussion, where the operator has the opportunity to evaluate cost versus benefit of the services provided through specific variables like NPT, deferred production, and actual production. This context, I believe Schlumberger can be very successful in a market that is measured by effectiveness rather than pure cost efficiency.

Can you describe some methods that ensure better stimulation effectiveness?

In the most simplistic definition, stimulation effectiveness is measured by the oil output relative to the cost of the service. So, in other words, it is a way of measuring return on investment. As OneStim, we have an opportunity to influence the effectiveness of the treatment using various methods:

• Our optimized process loop, which is centrally controlled and coordinated, ensures timely delivery of all materials and resources required to provide the services.
• OneStim has a very disciplined and systematic approach to training, which leads to very competent people providing the best service delivery to our customers. Having well-trained and competent personnel results in less NPT and hence more effective treatments for our customers.
• Through its extensive chemistry, hardware, and equipment technology portfolio, OneStim can significantly impact the overall effectiveness of treatments by improving well performance and overall efficiency.
• Through a broad supply network that includes important elements of vertical integration, OneStim can ensure supply of essential materials for the provision of our services while remaining cost-efficient.

What influenced Schlumberger’s decision to form OneStim?

The business dynamics of unconventional plays in North America land are unique. The scale of this market is enormous, and the frequency and intensity of the operations is very fast-paced. In this context, service companies must execute more-efficient operations for customers. OneStim is Schlumberger’s response to such challenge. Through greater scale and vertical integration of products and services, OneStim will streamline the completion-to-production cycle in the North America land unconventional market.

Unconventional North America land operations is a such wide, diverse market. In what ways does OneStim address this?

We recognize that unconventional operations in North America is a big market, and that customers may have preferred vendors or providers for particular services. In some cases, they are already vertically integrated. The advantage that OneStim brings is the ability to adapt to meet customer requirements—whatever they may be. If a customer happens to need only one of our services products, whether it’s completions or PDP, we can accommodate them. We can also provide multiple services or the whole spectrum of services as well. Our strength is in our ability to adapt to our customers’ needs.

How has Schlumberger’s recent purchase of Weatherford hydraulic fracturing fleets and its pumpdown perforating (PDP) business affected OneStim?

Schlumberger's first 'red' fleet of acquired Weatherford assets. The asset purchase transaction will allow OneStim to accelerate deployment of both hydraulic fracturing and PDP fleets. This asset purchase represents a significant footprint expansion and market share advancement in our pressure pumping and pump-down perforating businesses in North America land. It also reinforces our commitment and focus in our ambition to be the preferred choice for our customers.

What is OneStim’s vision for the future? How will it achieve this vision?

Our vision is simple: OneStim will be our customers’ number one choice in unconventional stimulation by providing safer, more-efficient, and competitive services delivered by the best people in the industry. We will deliver on this promise in three ways. The first is by being flexible, agile, and collaborative. In this way, our influence will change how efficiently and effectively operators complete and stimulate wells. Second, OneStim will deliver more productive and engaging interactions between teams, enabled by state-of-the-art digital technology. Lastly, OneStim will take advantage of aligned services and centralized management to achieve better utilization of resources, leading to accelerated growth not only for Schlumberger in North America, but for our customers as well.