Reported by Art Mass

The CEO of the world’s largest oil field services company said on Friday that  his industry could see a wave of mergers and takeovers if the North American market remains depressed during the second half of 2009.

 ”If North America remains bumping along the bottom for the next six months, you’ll see some consolidation in the industry,” said Schlumberger Ltd. (SLB) Chief Executive Andrew Gould.

He told analysts in a financial call that his company was always “open for a good opportunity” in terms of acquisitions, but what the company can buy is “quite limited.”

The profits for oil-services companies have seen their profits shrink from a reduction in drilling and development activity in the wake of lower energy prices, particularly in North America. In addition, several of the oil and gas operators clients of the service firms have been seeking and, in many cases, successfully renegotiating service contracts at lower prices. Gould told Dow Jones that “ most of the re-negotiations were done in the first half of the year.”

Schlumberger has principal offices in Houston, Paris and The Hague.