The world’s largest oilfield services firm has decided that it should take an ownership stake in upstream oil and gas production, rather than simply provide the services for doing so. The new strategy is being closely watched as a potential model for the major oilfield services companies that have drilling prowess but struggle with lackluster activity in a world of $50 oil. Schlumberger has decided to put billions of dollars on the line to become an oil producer, not just a drilling servicer. Typically, Schlumberger and its peers provide equipment, or seismic testing, or well casing and fracking services, or the analysis of oilfield data, etc., while their clients—oil producers—have ownership over the oil and ultimately sell it into the market. By buying ownership into oilfields, Schlumberger can have “a say in drilling decisions, oilfield management and even on hiring other Schlumberger units for service contracts, the company has […]