After nearly a century, the world’s largest oilfield service company has decided it is time for a new name. Schlumberger announced today that it will now be known simply as SLB, matching its ticker symbol on the New York Stock Exchange.
The company emphasized that its new branding is intended to reflect its “vision for a decarbonized energy future” and a focus on “energy innovation.” SLB has also adopted a new logo and corporate motto: “For a balanced planet.”
“Our new identity symbolizes SLB's commitment to moving farther and faster in facilitating the world's energy needs today and forging the road ahead for the energy transition. It’s a bold challenge. But the legacy of our people, technology, and performance are unmatched, and we are ready to answer this challenge,” said SLB CEO Olivier Le Peuch in a statement.
SLB shared in its statement that going forward its business will revolve around four key areas: new energy systems, industrial decarbonization, digital products, and its legacy oil and gas business.
On oil and gas, SLB said it will continue to innovate and develop new technologies that drive efficiencies while lowering carbon and methane emissions. SLB added that it will also maintain its “fit-for-basin approach” which involves tailoring certain upstream technologies for specific regions.
Regarding new energy systems, SLB is seeking to expand its reach into hydrogen production and geothermal energy. This business unit will includes SLB’s capital venture firm Celsius Energy which uses geoenergy technologies to provide zero-carbon heating and cooling for buildings. Also included is SLB’s hydrogen-focused joint venture Genvia that launched last year in France to integrate electrolyzers with steel and cement plants.
The industrial decarbonization plank of SLB’s business plan includes the continued development of software for emissions reporting and scenario planning for heavy industries. SLB and Saudi Aramco began working on the first iteration of this sustainability platform a year ago to measure and report baselines, targets, emissions, offsets, and carbon credits. SLB’s work in carbon capture, utilization, and storage will also play a big role in its decarbonization business.
Software development and digitization has represented a major thrust of SLB since Le Peuch took over as chief in 2019 and that will remain the case as the company pursues its new vision. As an example, SLB noted its recent introduction of an enterprise cloud-based software built for the OSDU, or the Open Subsurface Data Universe, which is the oil and gas industry’s largest open source platform.
SLB’s name change comes after a number of other upstream companies have made similar decisions to rebrand in an effort to align more closely with the goals of the global energy transition.
In 2019, rival Baker Hughes ditched its famous blue color scheme in favor of a green logo to reflect its ambition to become a net-zero emitter by 2050. Last year, French supermajor Total changed its name to TotalEnergies as part of its strategy to become a broader energy company.
Founded in 1926 in Paris, SLB operates in more than 100 countries and employed around 92,000 people representing more than 160 nationalities at the end of 2021.
