据海湾商业新闻网5月26日休斯顿报道，由于美国页岩领域的开支紧缩使得这家全球顶级油田服务提供商的钻井作业和水力压裂作业大幅减少，标准普尔全球公司(S&P Global Inc.)日前下调了斯伦贝谢公司(Schlumberger Ltd .)的债务评级。

标普全球公司周五表示，斯伦贝谢公司的债务评级已从AA-下调到了A+，这是第5最高投资级别。斯伦贝谢公司的最大竞争对手哈里伯顿公司的前景被这家评级公司从稳定下调到了负面。标普全球公司表示，在股东的压力下，勘探和生产企业正在控制支出，从而降低了对油田服务的需求。

标普(S&P)分析师德赫尼·基利上周五在给投资者的一份报告中写道，油田服务公司将无法再像他们在2014年那样产生高营业利润率。他说，油田服务行业已经发生了根本性的变化，这是因为勘探和生产公司实现了永久性的效率和生产率提高，同时投资者情绪也要求勘探和生产公司控制现金流和限制产量增长。

2014年开始的石油市场暴跌对石油服务行业造成了沉重打击。作为回应，北美客户减少了支出，现在他们面临必须向投资者返还更多现金的棘手问题。石油服务公司贝克休斯公司上周五发布的另一份报告显示，美国在用的石油钻机数量已降到了一年多来的最低水平。

斯伦贝谢公司和哈里伯顿公司的代表拒绝置评。

李峻 编译自 海湾商业新闻

原文如下：

Schlumberger suffers credit hit as oil clients stick to cuts

Houston. Schlumberger Ltd had its debt rating lowered by S&P Global Inc. as belt-tightening in the US shale patch translates into less drilling and fracking work for the world’s top oilfield services provider.

The rating was cut a notch to A+, the fifth-highest invest grade, from AA-, S&P said on Friday. Its biggest rival, Halliburton Co., had its outlook revised to negative from stable by the ratings firm. Under pressure from shareholders, exploration and production companies are keeping spending in check, which is reducing demand for oilfield services, S&P said.

‘Oilfield services companies will no longer be able to generate the high operating margins they did in 2014,’ Carin Dehne-Kiley, an analyst at S&P, wrote Friday in a report to investors. ‘The oilfield services industry has fundamentally changed due to permanent efficiency and productivity gains realised by E & P companies as well as investor sentiment calling for E & P companies to live within cash flow and limit production growth.’

Oil services were hit hard by the steep sell-off in the oil market that started in 2014. North American customers cut back in response and now face an urge to return more cash to investors. A separate report from oil servicer Baker Hughes on Friday showed the number of rigs drilling for crude in the US fell to the lowest in more than a year.

Representatives for Schlumberger and Halliburton declined to comment.