Company news in brief

SLB: New wave of oil projects

Oil and gas companies have increased exploration of frontier areas in countries such as Namibia, Surinam and Guyana, and that will create a new wave of future projects, SLB CEO Olivier Le Peuch said.

"We have seen a rebound in exploration over the past two or three years," he said at a conference in Houston, Texas. SLB is the world's largest provider of oilfield services.

He pointed to developments in countries like Namibia as setting the next frontier for exploration. That country, which has yet to produce any oil and gas, expects first production from major offshore finds by 2030.

Companies are also focusing exploration efforts around areas where there is already existing infrastructure, Le Peuch said.

Majority of new oil production will come from the US, Canada, Guyana and Brazil in the near-term, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said last week.

In Guyana, Exxon Mobil anticipates bringing oil production to 1.2 million barrels per day by 2027, around 12 years after it drilled its first exploration well off the shores of the South American country. – Reuters



Boeing must improve quality

The head of the US Federal Aviation Administration said Boeing must improve safety culture and address quality issues before the agency will allow the planemaker to boost 737 MAX production.

The FAA in late January took the unprecedented step of telling Boeing it would not allow the company to expand 737 MAX production in the wake of a mid-air emergency on an Alaska Airlines jet earlier in the month.

FAA administrator Mike Whitaker told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday that the agency has not begun discussions yet with Boeing about hiking 737 production, and said the agency will only permit an increase when Boeing is "running a quality system safely."

Whitaker said he has the tools to hold Boeing "accountable and fully intend to use them."

Boeing did not immediately comment.

Whitaker said Boeing is allowed to produce 38 of the 737 planes per month, but actual current production "is lower than that"; he did not elaborate. – Reuters



Tencent posts weak revenue growth

China's Tencent Holdings posted a weaker-than-expected 7% rise in fourth-quarter revenue on Wednesday as its gaming revenue shrank, and said it was expecting to at least double its share buybacks this year.

The world's largest video game company and operator of the WeChat messaging platform reported revenue of 155.19 billion yuan (US$21.56 billion) for the three months ended Dec. 31.

Tencent's core gaming business suffered a notable slowdown in the fourth quarter. Gaming revenue in China declined 3% to 27 billion yuan, while international gaming revenue increased only 1% to 13.9 billion yuan, or declined by 1% when excluding currency fluctuations.

The company also said intends to at least double the size of its share repurchases from HK$49 billion in 2023 to over HK$100 billion (US$12.78 billion) in 2024. Its shares had fallen some 16% over the past year to Tuesday's close.

For all of last year, Tencent’s revenue rose 10% to 609 billion yuan, which trails expectations at 612.2 billion yuan. - Reuters