Fire erupts at Schlumberger facility in Angola - state oil firm

LUANDA (Reuters) - A fire erupted at a facility used by U.S. oil services company Schlumberger NV at Angola's oil logistics hub in the capital Luanda, the chairman of state-run oil company Sonangol said on Wednesday. Schlumberger, the world’s largest oilfield services group, said in a statement that a fire hit one of its Luanda facilities at about 9 a.m. local time and that all employees and contractors at the facility had been safely evacuated. There were no injuries and a fire brigade responded, it said. Employees from oil majors BP and Total were also evacuated from the area, a source told Reuters. "There is a large fire at the Schlumberger facility in Sonils," Sonangol Chairman Carlos Saturnino told a news briefing on the company's financial results and oil production. "We don’t know much more at present but should have more information by this afternoon," he said. The extent of the fire could not be independently verified by Reuters. In January, Schlumberger reported a net loss of $1.51 billion, down from $1.69 billion in 2016. (Reporting by Stephen Eisenhammer and Herculano Coroado; Editing by James Macharia and Jeffrey Benkoe)