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SLB strives to boost regional standing

25 September 2025

 

US-based oil field services provider SLB hopes that its recent acquisition of fellow American firm ChampionX will strengthen its position in the oil and gas industry in the Middle East and North Africa region (Mena).

In July, New York-listed SLB, formerly known as Schlumberger, completed the all-stock acquisition of ChampionX, a firm that provides technology and services for exploration and production. The transaction was valued at approximately $7.75bn.

“This is obviously a very strategic acquisition for us. It strengthens our leadership in the production and recovery space, which is a growing and less cyclical market,” Abdellah Merad, SLB’s executive vice-president of core services and equipment, tells MEED in an interview.

“ChampionX will actually complement our technology portfolio in production and recovery. It comes with what I call a leading production chemistry portfolio – it is the leader in that domain. But it also comes with a wide range of artificial lift technologies, right from ESPs [electrical submersible pumps] to sucker rod pumps,” he says.

“[ChampionX] has a wide range of artificial lift technologies that are going to be very useful in production, and also modular digital solutions. So that is very exciting for us,” he notes.

Mena market focus

Merad says the acquisition is well suited to the Mena region, where an increasing number of mature oil and gas fields are creating specific challenges. The combined SLB and ChampionX production solutions will “help optimise production, improve recovery and extend asset life” –  a key advantage as Middle East fields enter maturity, he explains. 

Given that the region is facing asset lifecycle challenges and is moving into developing unconventional hydrocarbons resources, leveraging ChampionX will be particularly relevant in markets such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE, he adds.

With ChampionX’s portfolio at its disposal, SLB hopes to bring a three-fold benefit to its Middle East customers. “We will optimise production performance, that is maximising asset potential and recovery. 

“We will also, through this combination [of portfolios], reduce operating costs such as cost of ownership, and extend asset life.

“And then, our mission is also to enhance the customer experience by improving the reliability of the equipment that we provide, offering our chemistry knowledge and improving responsiveness. 

“We are making sure that we apply these aspects to our portfolio across the globe and, in particular, in Mena,” Merad says. 

He adds that SLB’s presence in countries such as Oman and Iraq will also be enhanced by the acquisition of ChampionX. “With the technology capabilities that we have and the addition that we are bringing into the SLB family, in my opinion, we will have a strong offering for operators [in those markets]. 

“We have a strong presence in the Middle East. Champion X is also present in the region – it’s not a new region for them – so I think the combination of the two will be very positive. We’re bringing a lot of new capabilities.”

Adnoc Drilling relationship

SLB has been forging a productive relationship with the oil and gas drilling business of the UAE’s Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc Drilling) since last year. 

SLB and Adnoc Drilling, along with US firm Patterson-UTI International Holdings, signed a term sheet in May 2024 to enter into a partnership for the creation of an unconventional drilling services company known as Turnwell Industries. 

Turnwell began operations by picking up a major contract from Adnoc Group. Valued at approximately $1.7bn, the contract covered the provision of drilling, appraisal and associated services for the recovery of unconventional oil and gas resources across 144 wells in Abu Dhabi’s Al-Dhafra region.

In May this year, SLB divested a 70% stake in its onshore drilling rig business in Kuwait and Oman, comprising eight fully operational land rigs under contract with the national oil companies of both countries. Through this transaction, Adnoc Drilling gained access to earnings, cashflow and returns from two operating land drilling rigs in Kuwait and six in Oman.

“The transactions are aligned with what we are trying to do in the region,” says Merad. 

“Aligning with a leading drilling contractor like Adnoc Drilling, which wants to become a regional champion, and providing our drilling capabilities and also our digital solutions, is something that just makes a lot of sense for us. We felt that actually the combination of the two is going to bring a lot of value to our customers.”

We’ll be able to bring the two portfolios together and redefine the production and recovery space
Abdellah Merad, SLB

Presence beyond Mena

ChampionX, which was also listed on the New York Stock Exchange prior to its takeover, holds a significant market share in North America, which SLB is keen to leverage, according to Merad. 

“SLB will be able to leverage and provide its production technology services to the North American market, as well as to our customers internationally, where our footprint is obviously very large. 

“We’ll be able to bring the two portfolios together and redefine the production and recovery space. That’s really our intention: not only elevating performance and production recovery, but redefining it.”

ChampionX’s footprint covers 38 countries, with a workforce of about 6,400 people. “A significant number of these people – I think about 250 – are PhD holders in chemistry. There are another 400 scientists. Plus, the company has significant manufacturing capabilities across the world,” Merad says. “So, there are a lot of things that we will be able to leverage and a lot of value that I expect we will create.”

With ChampionX’s technology, expertise and global footprint, SLB aims to optimise production, extend asset life and deliver greater value to customers in Mena and beyond. 

https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/14739395/main.gif
Indrajit Sen

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