Leading oilfield service provider Halliburton Company ( HAL - Analyst Report ) – together with Caterpillar Inc. ( CAT - Analyst Report ) and U.S. energy firm Apache Corporation ( APA - Analyst Report ) have joined hands for developing dual-fuel technology mainly to provide power to the pumping equipment used for hydraulic fracturing purposes. The innovative technology uses a mixture of natural gas and diesel, of which the usage of natural gas is the maximum. The system also emits low carbon dioxide due to the maximum natural gas usage by keeping the fuel efficiency and power at par with the diesel engine.

The development utilizes 12 pumps of 24,000 horsepower capacity and is among the largest scale dual-fuel projects in the oil and gas industry.

Halliburton along with Caterpillar – a producer of mining and construction equipment, have worked together to equip Halliburton’s new and most versatile Q10 pumps with the dual-fuel capacity.

Houston, Texas-based Halliburton is one of the largest oilfield service providers in the world, offering a variety of equipment, maintenance, and engineering and construction services to the energy, industrial, and government sectors. The company operates under two main segments, namely Completion and Production, and Drilling and Evaluation.

Halliburton currently retains a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), implying that it is expected to perform in line with the broader U.S. equity market over the next one to three months.

Despite certain issues in North America – characterized by depressed natural gas fundamentals and cost inflation – the long-term prospects for the company’s business remain robust. Halliburton is among the top three players in each of its product/service categories and is present in all major hydrocarbon-producing regions of the world and also enjoys strong relationships with both publicly-traded and national oil companies worldwide.

On the flip side, the North American land rig count may plateau in the near future as growth in highly-productive horizontal drilling has led to a natural gas supply overhang and relatively weak natural gas prices in the U.S. market. This is likely to be only partially offset by the continued growth of oil- and liquids-rich reservoirs. A slowdown in U.S. land drilling is expected impair Halliburton’s business.