Schlumberger (SLB)

Business in Russia

The world’s biggest oilfield services company has no plans to exit Russia two years after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, despite western pressure to curb the flow of petrodollars to the Kremlin’s war machine. Olivier Le Peuch, chief executive of SLB, told the Financial Times the company had taken no decision on whether to follow its two biggest rivals Baker Hughes and Halliburton in selling its Russia operations and is honouring its contracts with customers. The world's largest oilfield services company, Schlumberger (now called SLB), continues to work with Russian oil producers, which has displeased American lawmakers: in October 2024, more than 50 congressmen addressed a letter to the Joe Biden administration and demanded sanctions against SLB, which, according to them, supports the functioning of Vladimir Putin's war machine. After the publication in January 2025 of the most extensive sanctions package against the Russian oil industry, banning the provision of oilfield services to persons in Russia from February 27, 2025, Congressmen Lloyd Doggett and Jake Auchincloss told the Financial Times that SLB must leave the country, otherwise it risks violating new restrictive measures.

Decision trail

Decision date 14/07/2023 · Reference ↗

Initially promised to suspend investment and technology deployment to its Russia operations. But the company increased its market share in Russia and is expanding. The National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NACP) has included the leading global oil company SLB (formerly Schlumberger), headquartered in the USA, on the list of international sponsors of the war. On July 14, 2023 SLB announced that it is halting shipments of products and technology into Russia from all SLB facilities worldwide in response to the continued expansion of international sanctions. SLB-based oilfield services provider SLB has said it has no current plans to end its operations in Russia despite the ongoing conflict with Ukraine and resulting Western pressure. The world's largest oilfield services company SLB is expanding in Russia after its main Western competitors exited the market in the wake of a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Documents obtained by the analytics firm Dallas revealed the company – formerly known as Schlumberger – continued transferring proprietary drilling technology to Russian manufacturers as recently as February 2025, just weeks after the new restrictions took effect.

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Status history since 2022

1. 03/08/2026 — operating · Imported from KSE LeaveRussia

Exposure profile