Schlumberger, Liquid Robotics in JV

The world’s largest oilfield services provider, Schlumberger Limited (SLB - Analyst Report) and Liquid Robotics, Inc, the manufacturer of automated technology for gauging ocean data, have come together to form a 50:50 joint venture (JV) — Liquid Robotics Oil & Gas.

The joint venture intends to merge the Wave Glider technology of Liquid Robotics with oil and gas expertise and industry knowledge of Schlumberger to deploy more of the start-up's maritime robots for the oil and gas industry. Wave Gliders, which functions in remote parts of the ocean, is equipped to quantify things such as fish population and oil spills. It is also the world’s first wave-powered, autonomous marine vehicle.

Sunnyvale, California-based Liquid Robotics will supply fleets of Wave Gliders jointly with key engineering, piloting and maintenance know-how. The joint venture will hold sole distributorship rights of Wave Glider products and services to global oil and gas consumers.

Schlumberger management is particularly thrilled about the capabilities offered by the exclusive Wave Glider platform in respect of seismic, subsea and environmental monitoring to the offshore exploration and production areas.

Wave Gliders is capable of operating offshore for about a year devoid of any crew, fuel or a dedicated support vessel in course of their undertaking and thus provide a game-changing competency to offshore operators. It has been widely used by scientific, defense as well as industrial patrons to achieve significant insights into the marine environment.

Liquid Robotics received a funding of $20 million from Vantage Point Capital Partners together with an investment $2 million from Schlumberger, a year prior to the formation of the Houston-based joint venture.

Schlumberger is a leading oilfield services company, providing technology, project management and information services to the global oil and gas industry. The company supplies technology, project management and information solutions that optimize customers performance in the oil and gas industry.

Schlumberger, which ranks ahead of Halliburton Company (HAL - Analyst Report) as the biggest member of the oilfield services contingent, holds a Zacks #4 Rank, which is equivalent to a Sell rating for a period of one to three months. Longer term, we maintain a Neutral recommendation on the stock.