We finished the year with total company revenue of $15.3 billion and operating income of $1.8 billion.
Our completion and production division finished the year with 15% operating margin, driven by activity improvement despite inflationary pressures.
Our drilling and evaluation division margins remained firmly in double digits throughout 2021 and achieved full-year margins of 12% for the first time since 2014.
In North America, Halliburton achieved 36% incrementals year on year as U.S. land activity rebounded and we maximized the value of our business.
We announced our science-based emission reduction targets, added 11 new participating companies to Halliburton Labs, and were named to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, which highlights the top 10% most sustainable companies in each industry.
Finally, we generated strong free cash flow of $1.4 billion and ended the year with $3 billion of cash on hand, even after the retirement of $685 million of long-term debt in 2021.
Total company revenue increased 11%, and operating income grew 20% sequentially.
Our completion and production division revenue increased 10% sequentially, and operating income increased 8%, with completion tool sales showing the highest third to fourth quarter improvement in the last 15 years.
Our drilling and evaluation division grew revenue 11%, which outperformed the global rig count growth for the quarter and delivered over 300 basis points of sequential margin improvement.
International and North America revenue grew 11% and 10%, respectively, due to strong year in sales and activity increases across all regions.
First, our board of directors increased our quarterly dividend to $0.12 per share in the first quarter of 2022.
Second, in order to accelerate debt retirement and strengthen our balance sheet, we are redeeming $600 million of our $1 billion in debt maturing in 2025.
When these notes are redeemed in February, we will have retired $1.8 billion of debt since the beginning of 2020.
In 2021, we brought to market over 50 new technologies, including our iStar Intelligent Formation and Evaluation Platform and the next generation of our iCruise system for harsh drilling environments.
Currently, 100% of Halliburton's drilling jobs run on a cloud-based real-time system to deliver data and visualization to our customers around the world.
Close to 60% of iCruise operations are fully automated, allowing for up to a 70% reduction in headcount per rig.
We will optimize the working capital required to grow our business and maintain our capex in the range of 5% to 6% of revenue.
International activity accelerated in most markets in the second half of the year and finished strong in the fourth quarter with a 23% rig count increase year on year.
In the fourth quarter, U.S. land rig count increased 84% year on year, and drilling activity outpaced completions as operators prepared well inventory for 2022 programs.
Given a strong commodity price environment, we anticipate North America customer spending to grow more than 25% year on year.
The North America completions market is approaching 90% utilization, and Halliburton is sold out.
Pricing for our fracturing fleets is moving higher across the board, both for our market-leading low-emissions equipment and our Tier 4 diesel fleets.
As a result, we expect to see over 30% incremental than our hydraulic fracturing business in the first quarter.
We recruit nationally and hire, train, and manage a commuter workforce that makes up to 80% of our personnel in some areas.
Total company revenue for the quarter was $4.3 billion, an increase of 11%.
Operating income was $550 million, a 20% increase compared to the adjusted operating income of $458 million in the third quarter.
Starting with our completion and production division, revenue was $2.4 billion, an increase of 10%, while operating income was $347 million, or an 8% increase.
In our drilling and evaluation division, revenue was $1.9 billion, an increase of 11%, while operating income was $269 million, or a 45% increase.
In North America, revenue increased 10%.
Revenue increased 7% sequentially.
In Europe, Africa, CIS, revenue increased 8% sequentially.
In the Middle East Asia region, revenue increased 16%, resulting from higher completion tool sales and wireline activity across the region, improved well construction services in Saudi Arabia and Oman, higher software sales in Kuwait and China, improved project management activity in India, and increased stimulation activity throughout Asia.
In the fourth quarter, our corporate and other expense totaled $66 million, which was slightly higher than expected due to an increase in legal reserves.
For the first quarter, we expect our corporate expense to be about $60 million.
Net interest expense for the quarter was $108 million, slightly lower than anticipated due to higher interest income from our cash balance.
Today, we announced our decision to redeem $600 million of the 2025 senior notes using cash on hand.
During the quarter, we recognized a noncash gain of approximately $500 million due to the partial release of a valuation allowance on our deferred tax assets.
Our normalized effective tax rate for the fourth quarter came in at approximately 23%.
Capital expenditures for the quarter were $316 million, with our 2021 full year capex totaling approximately $800 million.
In 2022, we intend to increase our capital expenditures to approximately $1 billion while remaining within our target of 5% to 6% of revenue.
Turning to cash flow, we generated nearly $700 million of cash from operations during the fourth quarter and delivered approximately $1.4 billion of free cash flow for the full year.
As a result, we ended the year with approximately $3 billion in cash.
In our drilling and evaluation division, we expect revenue to decrease in the mid-single digits sequentially, while margins are expected to be flat to down 50 basis points.

Summary:
Total company revenue for the quarter was $4.3 billion, an increase of 11%.