About

Two Simple Goals

Infill Thinking was created in 2016 with two simple goals in mind:

1. Write informed, thought-provoking stories and analysis that smart O&G business professionals need but can’t find  anywhere else.
2. Write for readers. When a publisher works primarily for renewals instead of sponsors, readers win with high quality, unbiased analysis.

There is an ocean of free O&G content available to you these days. But this information explosion is full of pitfalls and hidden costs.

The Infill Thinking model is different. Unlike larger industry publishing houses, Infill Thinking depends more on reader support than sponsors. Sponsorship is only offered on a product that reaches non-paying subscribers, accounts for <7% of our revenue, and we only work with 3-4 sponsors that won’t influence our research findings. That means this publication’s interests are aligned with yours. You want high quality, ad-free, unbiased information in a pleasing format. Infill Thinking is here to provide that to paying members.

When it comes to content quality, the subscriber model is superior to relying on web traffic, advertising, or recruiting services to pay the bills. Web traffic models incentivize content providers to focus on tricks that generate page views (like annoying slideshows, page splits, and numerous short stories instead of thought pieces). We believe our high quality content will bring in enough smart subscribers so that Infill Thinking can grow its research capacity. And that’s exactly what’s happened since launch. Ownership has continuously reinvested subscription revenue to improve the product delivered to Infill Thinking subscribers and expand our research house. 

Tired Of The Same Old Story?

We’re guessing you are tired of the in-your-face advertising that comes with most O&G reporting. We’re also guessing you don’t benefit much from the same old press releases and recycled mainstream stories delivered by dozens of publishers without any context. We’re assuming you don’t like slideshows, click-bait, nosy questionnaires, headhunters, or “special offers” in your inbox.

Here’s Our Big Bet

We’re betting an exclusive community of elite O&G pros will pay a few bucks a month to have an edge in the market. We’re betting a steady stream of uniquely thoughtful analysis and reporting is worth supporting. We’re betting you’ve been looking for a transparent, focused publisher that writes for you, not for sponsors or web traffic. And we are betting you will see significant value in an uncluttered presentation free of aggressive advertisement and corporate influence.

Putting Readers Before Revenue

Infill Thinking is a thought platform dedicated to readers with an interest in oilfield services, drilling, and E&P. Our promise to subscribers is: 

1. Only write thoughtful, impactful reports that you actually want to read;
2. Present timely, useful information in a clean, pleasing format free of aggressive ads;
3. Deliver research, news, and analysis specific to your business that helps you outperform;
4. Maintain our independence, deriving the vast majority of our revenue from subscriptions;
5. Never bombard you with click bait, press releases, generic newswire stories, or aggressive advertising;
6. Never send junk mail or sell or rent out your personal information to any third party. All we ask for is your basic contact info to activate your subscription — no annoying  questionnaires to fill out here. Secure payments are handled by a trusted third party with a strong track record of protecting your information (see our payment policy).

Helping You Cut Through The Noise

We are here to bring high quality analysis and reporting into the oilfield. At Infill Thinking you’ll be able to explore the leading edge oilfield market trends that directly impact your business. You won’t find the same old news you can find everywhere else. In fact, we encourage readers to visit other sites for the daily newsflow and visit Infill Thinking when they want to understand the trends that drive the headlines.

Simply put, Infill Thinking is here to be the new must-read for O&G professionals. Help support this resource by subscribing today. We know you’ll be glad you did!

Independent Coverage Is Hard To Find

It’s very difficult to find truly independent coverage of O&G in today’s markets. Ever increasing sponsored content and paid promotions create conflicts of interest.

We’ve seen first-hand the pressure this puts on writers and analysts. The stories you see in many trade rags are influenced by sponsors. Further, the constant need to generate more ad space means more low quality stories pushed to readers.

And don’t forget all the financial analysts writing on the web. Investors that write online are almost always talking up their own books. Meanwhile, Wall Street research reports lean bullish and have for many years as the ratings histories show. And much of the flow on social media is also self-serving. 

Then there’s the cost of good reporting. Larger publications often rely on generalist writers or inexperienced ones who are cheaper but fail to understand the nuances of their subjects. This is because when advertising revenue is your primary source of income, the business model incentivizes quantity over quality. We’ve all read outsider stories that misuse industry terminology (for example the all-too-common mistake of calling E&P companies “drillers”).

Red Adair said it best: “if you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.” Just as this saying applies to well blowouts, so to does it apply to your knowledge source.

Unbiased Analysis Is A Worthwhile Investment

At Infill Thinking, we are taking analytical independence to a whole new level. It is something we take very seriously. And it is something we will not compromise. To this end:

1. Companies do not pay us, comp us, or gift us for any conclusions we publish on InfillThinking.com. Never. Period.
2. We do not allow companies to buy newsletter ad campaigns targeting the inboxes of our paid subscribers. This means no email blasts or sponsored content etc. reaches paying subscribers.
3. We do not sell our subscriber list or personally identifiable information to advertisers.
4. We carefully select a limited number of sponsors for Free Thinking – our weekly newsletter containing dated content to non-paying subscribers. These sponsors are listed on the home page of our website for full disclosure. Companies that seek to influence our writing are banned from sponsoring Free Thinking. Companies we select for this sponsorship recognition are also recognized with unobtrusive placement on our homepage. We will only work with a limited number of carefully chosen sponsors at a time and none account for a material portion of company revenue. We will only work with sponsors that have demonstrated high ethical standards (i.e. no pressure to produce biased analysis). Email [email protected] to be considered.
   • We have two sponsors for our unpaid newsletter at this time: CIG Logistics and Industrial Tax Consulting were carefully selected to sponsor our free newsletter because we believe these firms provide a quality service to industry and maintain high ethical standards.
5. Our staff does not regularly trade or make a habit of owning the individual stocks of the public companies that work in the sectors we cover. We do make exceptions to this rule in cases where the overall market / oilfield sector becomes extremely oversold in bouts of panic selling (i.e. the 2008, 2014, or 2020 oil price collapses). In these situations, we may buy in solidarity with the industry we believe in, and in these circumstances, we are less focused on the competitive landscape within the sector (i.e. we aren’t picking companies to beat their peers) and instead may opportunistically purchase shares of companies in the space to support and gain exposure to the sector in general. Our belief in the long-term fundamentals of the oilfield business remains strong, and we make exceptions to our no-trade policy to express this belief when investors panic sell the bottom of downcycles. In addition, we may have some indirect ownership by way of retirement accounts, but we have no control over the stocks in those funds.
6. We disclose all consulting business we have conducted recently with any company we write about in any story that mentions said company. Consulting is a small part of our business, which you can learn more about here.
7. Infill Thinking has no outside investors. It is 100% owned by the founder, and the only boss we answer to is our readers.
8. We do not accept gifts with a market value exceeding $150 from company representatives. We have deemed $150 to be a reasonable threshold that covers “swag” we might pick up at a conference or an occasional meal hosted by management teams.
9. We don’t accept “all expenses paid” offers from companies when we visit the field to gather market intel. We pay the vast majority of our travel costs, including our airfare from HQ to the city nearest the location of our visit. We do rarely accept reasonable and “non-extraordinary” travel assistance from companies during some (not all) trips. These exceptions to the norm may include things like: provision of PPE during site visits, meals with staff on location, boarding in company hotel blocks or man camps, or transportation around the field. When traveling to remote locations, we may: rideshare with management in a vehicle they have paid for; accompany management on charter aircraft they own or lease; or ride on company paid for charter buses. When we do accept travel accommodations, we strive to keep the value received from any single company on any given trip below $300. During the travel we have conducted so far, company assistance is the exception not the norm.