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The world's second-largest oilfield services company.

Halliburton Company (HAL) Company Profile, News, Rankings | Fortune

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Halliburton

halliburton

Bernhard Warner

Global markets climb as investors focus on bank earnings and Yellen testimony

/2021/01/19/global-markets-climb-as-investors-focus-on-bank-earnings-and-yellen-testimony/

Olivia Rockeman

Scott Lanman

Bloomberg

From Disney to Shell, companies announced tens of thousands of job cuts over just one day

/2020/10/01/disney-allstate-shell-job-cuts-pandemic/

Monica Rodriguez

Halliburton CEO Reveals Leadership Lessons From the Oil Crisis

/2018/08/20/halliburton-ceo-leadership-oil-crisis/

Susie Gharib

Halliburton CEO Says Oil at $70 Is “Good Enough”

/2018/05/31/halliburton-ceo-jeff-miller-outlook/

 Jeff, many people say that the ultimate test of leadership comes in a time of crisis. And you certainly had your dose of that a few years ago, during the oil recession. Halliburton was forced to cut 35,000 workers. That's almost half of your workforce. What was the most important leadership lesson that you learned during that crisis? Let me start with that was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. The learning in that was having to do the next right thing, even when the next right thing may not be tasteful. It's just something that had to be done. How did you motivate your employees during that time? I mean, what did you do as a leader to encourage them so that they would keep coming to work? I mean, I was in the field a lot. We talked with our people a lot about what was happening in the business, why we were taking the steps that we were, and also the commitment to the company, in the sense that we're doing this for a stronger, sustainable business through this downturn. I understand that you have worked in pretty much every aspect of the oil business in your 20 years at Halliburton, from being out in the field all the way to finance. How did those years of experience help you to manage and lead during this crisis? Well, I think I have empathy for what everyone does in the company, or just about everyone. And everyone has a role to play. And all of those different jobs, the takeaway from that was how important each piece of that work is. And so at least I can communicate clearly and openly with people and appreciate what it is that they do. I also appreciate why what they do so important. I hear that you still go out in the field and you talk with workers. What do you get out of doing that? I love to get around that group and really hear what's on their mind, talk to them about what we're doing, and what their role is, and what we're doing as a company. Look, I think I make better decisions when I'm clear around what's not only what's really happening, but how it affects other people. You told me that you're a big believer in cutting edge technology at Halliburton. The things we talked about, like artificial intelligence, machine learning, Cloud, big data-- why is this so important to you? Look, technology is the heart and soul of our business, and really, our industry. And it's one of the reasons why oil itself is still so competitive as an energy source. And it's because technology is how we either make more barrels or lower the cost. And from a Halliburton standpoint, it's how we make returns. That's why shale oil today is even competitive at $40. It is because technology has allowed that cost to come down. It must be tough, hiring tech people, because there's so much demand for them. And you're competing against employers like Facebook and Google. What do you have to do to get these Silicon Valley types to work for an energy company? Well, first thing we have to do is show them how technical our industry is, to start with. And I think that you'd be amazed at the complexity of-- really, we drill through two miles of water, five miles of rock, we put a bit in a five gallon bucket, and we do that all remotely and in real time. I think that's exciting to technologists when we present our business that way. But it's clearly-- it's very competitive. Has this created a change-- a pivot in your company culture? Yes and no. I'd say yes from the standpoint of we're moving faster technically than we've ever moved. But the reality is so much of our culture is baked into execution. The technical people that have joined the company are very much enrolled-- and this may be a difference-- are very much enrolled in how we do what Halliburton does better. And that is a subtle, but important difference. And it makes it very exciting, because all of that talent is applied to something that is so important to our customer. As you look back on your long career, Jeff, both on all the jobs that you've had, but also on the personal side of your development, what would you say is the best leadership advice that you've ever received? And how did it shape you as a leader? Best advice hands down came from my grandfather, which-- three things. First, take the jobs that other people don't want-- funny one, but that's the first one. Second one, treat every job like it's your last job. And then finally, always be learning. And that is absolutely shaped my career. 

Halliburton CEO Talks About Difficulty Laying Off Half His Workforce

Leadership

Halliburton is rebuilding and rehiring after recovering from the oil crisis.

[ MUSIC ] Jeff, we can see things are really looking up at Halliburton just based on the newest rankings on the Fortune 500. Halliburton is now number 146 on the list, that is up dramatically From just a year ago where you were 173, what's the biggest reason behind that growth? First is to mark the recovery in North America, and I'll tell you the second reason it's really just the execution by Halliburton, and then we were early into the recovery and it's saying reallly strong performance throughout 17 and continueing in the 18. And certainly a higher oil prices have to be a big factor here. They're already above $ 71 a barrel. Where do you expect them to be over the next 12 months? I expect that it probably trades in a range in the mid, somewhere in the $ 60, the $ 70 range, which is good enough by the way. That is such a recovery from what we had in 14, 15, 16, what's encouraging though is that supply and demand look like it's back in balance. And so what you see is a little bit of reaction, at least today around unrest, globally. But the fundamentals are what seem to be in place and that's encouraging and gives me a lot of comfort that we trade in sort of this $ 60 range. Well, as you just said, there is considerable concern about Oil supplies coming out of the Middle East, especially from Iran, but also Saudi Arabia has been talking about deep production cuts so that it can boost prices. I mean, how soon could we see $ 100 oil? You know, I'm going to bet against $ 100 oil, and I don't know that that's healthy for anyone. Always could happen. But you always see happen when prices get far above sort of the norm, production comes on and it has a way of bringing price back into line over time. What about on the co- side of [ UNKNOWN ] oil field businesses? As you buy new equipment to keep pace with increased production especially in Shell, Will you have to raise prices for your customers? We have raised prices for our customers. And we're planning to continue to do that to really recover from what was the deepest downturn we've ever seen. And so, over the last three years as activity fell away and prices fell, there was a natural improvement or increase in prices that The entire service sector needs to stay healthy, and so, we're doing that. And we've been doing that over the last probably year and a half. You told analysts recently that you have a lot of cost pressures. You mentioned things like higher labor costs because the job market's so tight. You mentioned higher prices for steel. Railroad disruptions, high price of trucking. When you add all this up are you going to have to charge more your customers more because of all these other things beyond just the natural economics of the oil industry? Yes. We're seeing A tightness in the marketplace. I feel like how a burden is uniquely positioned to manage that but broadly speaking all of that cost becomes part of the equation. How much higher? Can't say you know it's one of those things that That we'll manage it as we go along. It's hard to say how much higher. Tell us a little bit about the new technologies that are coming to the oil business. Things like artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, data analytics. How much can these new technologies lower your cost? Well we think dramatically, and over time. And I think put so We're really excited about it at Halliburton and some of the things we are doing today or solving problems around maintenance. And, how to better utilize our equipment with big data. It has proven very powerful. When we drill wells we have to take a lot of data and the ability to Compute that quickly at a much lower cost is going to be impactful in finding more barrels. Where to place the bit when we drill underground, the ability to think at the bit as opposed to translate all of that data to surface. It will allow us to drill a more accurate wellbore. It'll be more productive over time. We're seeing that the energy indudstry's also making a shift to renewables, battery power, wind, solar. How interested is Halliburton into moving into that part of the industry? We're an all- services company, and so we're always Taking steps to reduce our own emissions, but we are going to stay in the oil fields sector in terms of oil and gas and being a services company. Well let me ask you this way, Haliburton is coming up on its 100 year anniversary. So let's say looking out five years from now. What will [ UNKNOWN ] look like? Five years from today they will describe [ UNKNOWN ] has the most collaborative oil services company that engineering solutions that lower their costs per barell oil equivalent. That is important. That is the value proposition of [ UNKNOWN ] today. And that is one that survives the different cycles. It makes us who we are. And so when I think about What we do with that value proposition is we deliver the highest returns in the industry. And so, there are parts of the market that we will enter over time, but only when we know we can make leading returns. [ BLANK_AUDIO ]

Halliburton CEO Discusses Oil Prices and Company's Recession Recovery

Jeff Miller talks with Fortune's Susie Gharib about his company's future in a shifting energy landscape.