Halliburton-Baker Hughes Deal Will Only Prolong The Shale Drilling Downturn

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November 17, 2014 | Forbes | Christopher Helman

Forbes reports on the Halliburton and Baker Hughes deal. The oil service companies have been in negotiations since October and in November they announced the purchase to the tune of about $38billion.  With oil prices continuing to fall, this could be the first of many consolidations in the oil industry.  The deal won’t do much, Helman write, to help Exploration & Production companies deal with the pricing downturn. Halliburton and Baker are big players in providing steerable drilling and pressure pumping – both critical to hydraulic fracturing operations.  Together they could leverage greater market share by cutting prices.