Nabors Industries, the Bermudian-domiciled energy technology company, has reported a net loss attributable to shareholders for the third quarter of $49 million, which compares with net income of $5 million in the second quarter.

The company said the third-quarter results included a charge, related to mark-to-market treatment of Nabors warrants, of $8 million, compared with a gain of $18 million in the second quarter.

Third-quarter adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation were $210 million, compared with $235 million in the previous quarter.

Nabors reported third-quarter operating revenues of $734 million, compared with operating revenues of $767 million in the second quarter.

Anthony G. Petrello, Nabors chairman, chief executive and president, said: "Drilling activity across our markets generally met our expectations. As we had anticipated in the Lower 48, rig count decreased in the third quarter but it appears to have bottomed, while leading-edge pricing also seems to have stabilised.

“The reduced drilling activity in the US did impact our Nabors Drilling Solutions and Rig Technologies results somewhat more than we expected. In line with our forecasts, international markets have continued to expand with higher pricing.”

He added: "During the quarter, we experienced challenges with our new build rigs and some of their critical components in Saudi Arabia, which resulted in deployment delays and significant downtime.

“We are addressing the quality assurance issues on these assets delivered by our third-party supplier. We expect our supplier's performance to improve rapidly as its local manufacturing experience increases.

"On the positive side, margins in our Lower 48 operation remained at higher levels than in any prior up cycle. During the third quarter, we saw the early signs of the expected market upturn. In preparation, we have 14 warm stacked rigs ready to return to work immediately at minimum cost, as soon as drilling activity turns around.

"In our International segment, multiple rigs commenced operations, contributing to an increase in sequential revenue. We are encouraged by the prospects for a significant number of additional rigs in our international markets through 2024 and beyond.”