Halliburton Co. (HAL) executives Wednesday said they would seek to reduce the number of employees and the amount of time it takes to drill shale wells in North America, even as they export the technology to markets outside the U.S.

The second-largest oilfield services company after Schlumberger Ltd. (SLB) seeks to keep the cost of its drilling services down to help keep natural-gas drilling active amid a major glut of the commodity.

At the Houston-based company's annual analyst meeting, David Adams, vice president of production and enhancement, said the company will reduce the number of workers needed at each shale drilling site by 35%. Doing that will in turn allow Halliburton to reduce costs associated with transporting workers to jobs as well as cutting down on some of the equipment needed at each site.

Halliburton also plans to trim the time it takes to complete each onshore well by 25%, Adams said. "That tells us we'll have 25% more toys to play with and go after new revenue," he said.

Jim Brown, president of the company's Western Hemisphere division, said that the company expects significant international growth through the export of shale technology. Recently the company undertook a hydraulic fracturing job in Argentina and Halliburton won a contract to drill the first well in Mexico's portion of the Eagle Ford shale, Brown said.

That rock formation, which stretches into southern Texas and has been the target of numerous high-profile acquisitions in the U.S., is rich in oil and liquid natural gases, which trade at a premium over dry gas, or methane.

Company officials also said they see potential for shale drilling jobs in Europe and India.

Meanwhile, the company has forecast rapid growth in its deep-water drilling activity, particularly in Angola and Brazil.

Jonathan Lewis, senior vice president of drilling and evaluation, said Halliburton will beat the industry's growth rate by 25% over the next three years "irrespective of what that growth rate maybe."

Chief Financial Officer Mark McCollum said Halliburton will try to close the gap with its larger rival Schlumberger while becoming "the lowest cost service provider in the world."

Shares of Halliburton closed up $1.66, or 5%, at $34.88 on Wednesday, $1.01 off the 52-week high they reached last month after the company posted third-quarter earnings that doubled from the prior year.

-By Ryan Dezember, Dow Jones Newswires; 713-547-9208; ryan.dezember@dowjones.com
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