Halliburton posts international revenue growth, unlike Schlumberger

By Nivedita Bhattacharjee and Yashaswini Swamynathan

(Reuters) - Worldwide revenues rose for U.S. oilfield services provider Halliburton Co in the third quarter, the company said on Monday, contrasting with the slide in international markets reported by larger rival Schlumberger last week.

International markets are becoming more important for U.S. oil companies, as industry executives brace for the North American fracking frenzy to slow, or "tap the brakes," as Halliburton had put it in July.

"Our North American business is hitting on all cylinders and our international business proved resilient in a challenging environment," Chief Executive Jeff Miller said Monday after Halliburton posted its third quarter results.

Halliburton said it completed more oil wells and charged higher prices for fracking in North America, which makes up almost 60 percent of its overall sales.

That helped the company post a profit of 42 cents a share in the third quarter ended Sept 30, beating analysts' average estimates by 5 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

"The concern was that the company would beat sell-side numbers, but disappoint buy-side expectations," said Credit Suisse, pegging that estimate at 40 cents.

Houston-based Halliburton said revenue from North America surged 91 percent to $3.16 billion in the quarter, while international sales rose nearly 5 percent.

Cross-town neighbor Schlumberger, the world's largest oilfield service company, had reported a 2 percent drop in international revenues in the quarter, and warned of a weak fourth quarter.

Halliburton said revenue from completion and production from oil wells rose 63 percent to $3.54 billion in the latest quarter. Overall revenue rose 42 percent to $5.44 billion.

(Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan and Nivedita Bhattacharjee in Bengaluru)