Schlumberger Ltd. (SLB) will pay $1.7 billion for a stake in Eurasia Drilling Co. (EDCL), a bet by the world’s largest oilfield services provider that economic sanctions won’t hold back Russia’s energy industry.
Schlumberger has an option to buy the rest of the company’s shares three years after the deal closes.
Even while announcing an increase in revenue for 2014 and a 25 percent increase of quarterly dividend to investors, Schlumberger announced last week that it was cutting approximately 9,000 jobs. -