The company sees growth in the shallow-water markets, followed by an expansion in deepwater spend in 2020. (Bloomberg) — Schlumberger Ltd. said parts of its international business are finally starting to recover, but the world’s biggest oil services giant warned that spending by U.S. shale producers will continue to shrink in 2019. American fracking faces “another challenging year,” the Paris and Houston-based company said Thursday. Elsewhere in the world, it sees growth in the shallow-water markets, followed by an expansion in deepwater expenditure in 2020. “The return of international growth, and in particular the return of offshore activity and exploration, is what we have been waiting for,” Chief Executive Officer Paal Kibsgaard told analysts and investors Thursday on a conference call. “The last year we had growth internationally was in 2014, so this is five years of waiting, so we are more than ready for this.” Schlumberger’s business outside […]