Continued steep declines in North American drilling activity pummeled Halliburton's first-quarter earnings. The oil-field services giant posted a $378 million (42￠/share) profit last quarter, down 35% from the $580 million (63￠/share) earned in the first quarter of 2008. Revenues fell 3% to $3.9 billion. "We experienced significant volume reduction and margin compression due to the steep downturn in North America drilling activity" during the first quarter of 2009, said Halliburton Chief Executive Dave Lesar. The North America rig count fell 30% over the quarter, with pullbacks concentrated in the Rockies, Texas' Permian Basin, and the US Midcontinent, he added.
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