Halliburton profit jumps

Halliburton Co, the world's second-largest oilfield services company, reported a forecast-topping 54 percent jump in profit on Monday as a US onshore drilling boom showed no sign of cooling off.
High oil prices have led oil and gas producers to plunge billions of dollars into developing fields such as the Eagle Ford shale in Texas, creating a tighter market for equipment that allowed Halliburton to push through price rises.
The second-quarter results show Halliburton benefited from its leadership in the North American market in the pressure pumping technology that enables producers tap shale fields.
"It was both top and bottom lines, and a significant component was pricing," said Roger Read, an analyst with Morgan Keegan & Co. Halliburton said the North American boom was likely to last beyond this year, helped by the move away from natural gas drilling toward developments that benefit from high crude oil prices.
Second-quarter net profit climbed to $739 million, or 80 cents per share, from $480 million, or 53 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, the company earned 81 cents per share, topping the 74 cents per share that analysts had on average forecast, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.