New York, Jan 9, 2026, 06:12 EST — Premarket
SLB shares were up about 1% in U.S. premarket trading on Friday as the White House prepares to meet oil companies, traders and drillers on Venezuela, keeping the sector in focus. The oilfield services firm’s stock was around $44.86 after closing up 4.9% at $44.43 in the prior session.
The Venezuela push matters because it could pull service firms into early repair and drilling work — or fizzle under politics and cost. “Investors will want to see long-lasting stability and good fiscal terms,” said David Byrns, a portfolio manager and senior investment analyst at American Century Investments. Helmerich & Payne President Trey Adams struck a cautious note, saying the firm needs “to make sure that the timing is right” before moving rigs into the region. reuters.com
European traders Vitol and Trafigura have also been drawn in, and Vitol has received a preliminary U.S. licence to begin negotiations tied to Venezuelan oil imports and exports, sources familiar with the talks told Reuters. “U.S. majors are central to production, but large international trading houses bring global reach,” said Jean-Francois Lambert of consultancy Lambert Commodities. reuters.com
Oil prices have not cheered the prospect of extra barrels. U.S. crude settled at $55.99 a barrel on Wednesday and Brent ended at $59.96, Reuters reported, as traders weighed the Venezuela deal and looked ahead to the U.S. employment report due later Friday.
Broker notes have been mixed but active. Susquehanna raised its price target — a broker’s estimate of where the stock could trade — on SLB to $52 from $42 and kept a Positive rating, pointing to flat U.S. rig counts, a measure of active drilling rigs, and “frac spreads,” a rough tally of how many fracking crews are working. TipRanks
Thursday’s jump came on heavier-than-usual volume, with about 20 million shares traded, above SLB’s 50-day average near 15 million, MarketWatch data showed. Halliburton rose 5.9% and Baker Hughes gained 2.8% in the same session.
But the downside case is easy to sketch. Canada and Brazil have urged a Venezuelan-led transition, while the U.N. rights office condemned the U.S. intervention as a violation of international law — more uncertainty that can slow investment decisions and delay contract awards.
SLB is the world’s largest oilfield services provider, selling drilling and production services and equipment to oil and gas producers globally. For traders in the stock, the question is how quickly any Venezuela work would show up in orders, and whether broader international activity can hold up if oil stays soft.
The next clear company catalyst is Jan. 23, when SLB is scheduled to release fourth-quarter and full-year results and hold its earnings call at 9:30 a.m. U.S. Eastern time. Analysts tracked by Zacks expect earnings of about $0.74 per share.
