Middle East state spending throws lifeline to oilfield services

Oil majors may have slashed capital spending but national oil companies (NOCs) in the Middle East and North Africa show no sign of cutting investment, buoying oilfield services that the stock market has beaten down. Names such as Saipem (LSE: 0NWY.L - news) and Subsea 7 (LSE: 0OGK.L - news) notched up double-digit share price declines from June to December as oil majors put projects on hold or scaled back expenditure. Petrofac's order backlog was up 26 percent at the end of 2014, and its share p