After hearing some rumblings about changes at Preferred Sands over the past week or two from industry contacts, we were able to contact new management and received a statement about the changes. Specifically, management told us: ….. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update… …
Read More »Latest Thoughts
US Onshore Drilling Outlook Remains “Fluid” Six Weeks Into 2019
Summarizing a leading land contract drillers’ rig count outlook, here are the most salient points from last week’s discussion…. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update… To read this update and receive our research newsletters, you must be a member. If you are new …
Read More »Our Top 10 Takeaways From The Last Mile Logistics Panel
Last week at the frac sand conference hosted by Petroleum Connection in Houston, we moderated a discussion among four last mile logistics experts. Together, the firms represented on stage touch more than 20 million tons of frac sand per year in various capacities. This panel was a rare chance to …
Read More »New Ownership Targets Appalachian Completions Demand With A Small Ohio Sand Plant
We heard some chatter about local sand in the Appalachia at the Petroleum Connection’s frac sand conference in Houston last week, so we caught up the plant’s new ownership to learn more about the site and their frac sand ambitions. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see …
Read More »In Other News…. People On The Move, Belt Tightening, Pumping Outlook, Litigation, & Earnings Takeaways
While we were traveling gathering market intelligence and meeting with clients this week, some new developments crossed our desk that are worthy of comment. So here are five short stories… There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update… To read this update and receive our …
Read More »Sideline Stuff: Market Intel That Matters From Our Conversations With Industry Folks This Week
This week in Houston, we attended and participated in the sold-out frac sand and logistics conference. As usual, Pete Cook and his team at Petroleum Connection did a tremendous job organizing this event. As is often the case at these events, some of the most interesting datapoints we heard sprung …
Read More »Reaction To The Most Controversial Frac Sand Presentation This Week
This week, Covia advanced an argument they have been making on the speaker circuit for several months now, urging customers to use NWS rather than succumbing to the cost savings temptation of local sand. They also introduced a new argument questioning a well performance metric that we’ve never seen challenged before …
Read More »E&P Budget Revision Risk Bites
This week, a negative revision risk we’ve been highlighting surfaced in the form of a swing from growth to contraction. After digesting, we zoom out to look at US spending trends as a whole. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update… To read this …
Read More »Improving Oil Price May Slow The Pace Of Drilling Rig Releases In 1Q19
In our weekly rig count update this week, we digest a 2019 outlook from a leading land drilling contractor. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update… To read this update and receive our research newsletters, you must be a member. If you are new …
Read More »Railing Local Sand Within Basin – We Continue Along This Train Of Thought
A couple weeks ago, we broke in with exclusive details on the first ever intra-basin rail movements of locally-mined Permian frac sand. In this post we take the analysis a step further as our prior reporting has triggered exploratory interest from many of our readers. There’s a lot more to …
Read More »Micro Proppant, HHP Orders, Direct Sourcing Details, Deflation, Majors In Shale, and Other Interesting Market Intel Tidbits This Week [Top 10 List]
Check out a top ten list of the latest market intel tidbits we rounded up this week… There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update… To read this update and receive our research newsletters, you must be a member. If you are new to Infill …
Read More »“Execution” Is Taking The Hand-Off From “Imagineering” In Completions Logistics [Last Mile Panel Preview]
Infill Thinking will participate in the Petroleum Connection’s sold-out Frac Sand Industry Update conference in Houston on February 6. Our founder, Joseph Triepke, will moderate the last mile & logistics panel at the event. Here is a preview of what’s on our mind headed into this discussion… There’s a lot more …
Read More »Heart Of Texas Railroad May Be Collateral Damage From The Brady Brown Shut Downs
The future of a piece of short line track has been jeopardized by the switch to local sand. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update… To read this update and receive our research newsletters, you must be a member. If you are new to …
Read More »1st Member Meetup Of 2019 In Houston 2/5/19
Well over 100 Infill Thinking members turned out for our various member meet-ups in 2018, which were enjoyed by all. We are looking forward to seeing you at our events around the oilpatch throughout 2019. Login to get the details on our first gathering of the year… There’s a lot …
Read More »In Other News… Outback Rumors, Polar Vortex, New Boxes?, WTX Toll Road Idea, +1 Unbundled E&P, B-Train Feedback, Blend & Extend, & More…
Eight quick hits crossed our desk early this week that are too important to ignore but didn’t quite warrant a full post. So here’s eight for the price of one! You’ll find all eight datapoints rounded up in this quick catch-all post below. There’s a lot more to this story… …
Read More »As Frac Sand Earnings Season Begins, Sentiment And Pricing Are Scraping The Bottom
What do you expect during frac sand earnings season? Here’s what we expect… There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update… To read this update and receive our research newsletters, you must be a member. If you are new to Infill Thinking, or your membership …
Read More »US Rig Count Is See Sawing – Down But Not Out So Far In 2019 With No Clear Trend Yet…
The early-2019 rig count continues to see saw. Are we at inflection or are we not? We discuss… There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update… To read this update and receive our research newsletters, you must be a member. If you are new to …
Read More »High Roller Keeps Rolling… Meet The New Old Permian Dune Sand Miner
Construction is in the advanced stages on two new High Roller Sand plants, a story that broke first here back in September. This week, we got the latest scoop on this outfit that keeps rollin’ rollin’ rollin’ rollin’… There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full …
Read More »Aggressive Dune Sand Adoption Has Practically Carved UP’s Frac Sand Carloads In Half
Big but not surprising. That’s how we’d characterize the UP’s frac sand news this week. We break it down, providing plenty of Infill Thinking context for reference. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update… To read this update and receive our research newsletters, you …
Read More »In Other News… People On The Move, Building Spec Frac HHP?? EOG’s Bet Pays Off, The Brady Bunch, & Davos Datapoints…
In addition to the in-depth Infill Thinking research updates published this week, 7 quick hits crossed our desk that we believe are worth a mention. So here are some digestible nuggets of market intel. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update… To read this …
Read More »Some Member Feedback On The Potential Last Mile Bill And An Intriguing B-Train Photo
We’ve said it before, we’ll say it again: Infill Thinking readers are the smartest folks in the industry. Following our exclusive, investigative report earlier this week on draft legislation that could have a profound impact on the Texas last mile logistics marketplace, we heard feedback from quite a few plugged-in …
Read More »5 Things To Know From Halliburton’s 2019 Outlook Commentary On Tuesday Morning
This morning, Halliburton hosted their 4Q18 earnings call providing commentary on the 2019 outlook and their strategy. We’ve boiled down the hour-long call into these five bullet point takeaways with broader market implications. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update… To read this update …
Read More »Texas Swing: A Game-Changing Last Mile Logistics Bill Has Been Drafted. Here’s What We Know… [Exclusive]
Rumblings are growing louder about a potential new Texas law that could carry some weight in how sand travels in Texas’s last mile market (pun intended). In this exclusive report, check out what we’ve learned about the potential legislative change. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see …
Read More »2019 US Onshore E&P Budgets Starting To Fade In Aggregate [Updated Table]
Some of the most important numbers of early-2019 are trickling out and we’re tracking them here so you don’t have to. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update… To read this update and receive our research newsletters, you must be a member. If you …
Read More »Press Release From The Defendant Confirms Analysis Of The Case Docket Last Week
Last Thursday, Infill Thinking broke the news about a ruling in a key last mile logistics battle after digging through court records to uncover an unsigned order from a judge. Today, other channels are also reporting this news as one of the parties involved has spoken out. There’s a lot more …
Read More »Boom Goes The Dynamite: This Was The Worst Week For US Onshore Drilling In Nearly Three Years
In our Friday morning newsletter and a post on Thursday, we previewed this Friday and next Friday’s rig count releases as two of the most important to monitor all year. We noted that the rig count surprisingly hadn’t fallen in reaction to crude prices and pointed out that if it …
Read More »Schlumberger: US Onshore Will Play Second Fiddle To International OFS Growth Rates In 2019 For The 1st Time In 4 Years
Oilfield earnings season is underway. We provide our key takeaways from the first earnings call of the season, boiling down an hour-long call into a 5-minute read of pithy points. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update… To read this update and receive our …
Read More »DEVELOPING: Did A Crucial Last Mile Legal Battle Just Come To A Close?
There’s some big news breaking in one of the longest running completions logistics legal battles. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update… To read this update and receive our research newsletters, you must be a member. If you are new to Infill Thinking, or …
Read More »This Friday And Next Are The Most Important Baker Hughes Rig Count Releases Of The Year
Rig count still matters and we frame thinking about the next couple releases in this update. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update… To read this update and receive our research newsletters, you must be a member. If you are new to Infill Thinking, …
Read More »Railing Local Permian Frac Sand WITHIN The Basin Just Got Real [Exclusive Details]
Last October, we published research introducing the idea of railing locally-mined West Texas frac sand within the Permian Basin. At the time, we wrote that the concept could gain traction in 2019. It has gained traction. We’ve learned new and exclusive details about the concept’s adoption… log in to read. There’s …
Read More »Direct Sourcing Adoption Trends [Chart Of The Day]
Direct sourcing in the supply chain may feel like it’s been around forever since “everybody’s doing it” now. But it’s actually still very new and the repercussions are still reverberating. In the wake of a flurry of direct sourcing headlines in recent weeks, we thought it’d be interesting to put …
Read More »Last Mile Yard Driveby Confirms Shingle Swap, Closing The Loop On A Recent Infill Thinking Report
In mid-December, Infill Thinking drew a conclusion based on a sighting of physical evidence we observed in the field. This week, we close the loop on that report with additional photographs (and this time they are conclusive, not speculative). There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the …
Read More »How Long Can Lower 48 Derricks Defy Gravity?
The US onshore rig count per Baker Hughes GE was up 2 rigs last week to 1,052 active. What gives? There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update… To read this update and receive our research newsletters, you must be a member. If you are …
Read More »Another Day, Another New Chesapeake Vendor
They’re coming in so fast that it’s hard to keep up… don’t worry, we’ve got it documented, mapped, broken down, and analyzed for you here. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update… To read this update and receive our research newsletters, you must be …
Read More »Of Spending And Sand [Chart Of The Day]
Today, we extend our coverage of the 2019 oilfield outlook by responding to a question readers have recently asked us about the addressable market for frac sand. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update… To read this update and receive our research newsletters, you …
Read More »Transition Timeline: The Birth Of An Unbundled E&P Showers Sand Firms With Contracts
If you pay close attention to the sand and logistics space, then you have probably noticed that lots of specialized firms are press releasing contracts with one particular operator lately. Why? How? What’s next? If you are wondering, you oughta read this. There’s a lot more to this story… Login …
Read More »Who Does Smart Sand’s Revenue Come From? [Chart Of The Day]
In light of recent contract enforcement news, we constructed this time series on a sand producer’s key customers. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update… To read this update and receive our research newsletters, you must be a member. If you are new to …
Read More »5 Things To Think About For The 2019 US Oilfield Service Outlook [Macro Musings]
WTI at $42 on Christmas Eve was something that that almost no one expected on Halloween. The chief debate that oilfield suppliers are grappling with in early-January is how macro volatility will impact 2019 E&P capex spending, and as such, jolt the addressable US onshore market. We provide analysis in …
Read More »Budget Exhaustion Gave Fracing The Flu, But Drilling Didn’t Even Catch A Cold [Chart Of The Day]
After much hand wringing over the budget exhaustion trend, onshore drilling escaped relatively unscathed into the new year. We discuss that and what’s next… There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update… To read this update and receive our research newsletters, you must be a …
Read More »Smart Sand Stands By Their Word On Contract Enforcement. Sues Schlumberger.
Well, you’ve got to hand it to this CEO for being a man of his word. We break down the latest contract news in the oilfield service space as things are getting ugly amid market deterioration. Don’t miss our bullet point analysis of the implications of this news. There’s a …
Read More »In Other News… People On The Move, Permian Fire & Ice, Frac Contract Reveal, Debt Covenant Compromise, & Oilfield Survey Takeaways…
In addition to the deeper Infill Thinking research updates published this week, a few other quick hits crossed our desk that are worth a mention. So here are five short stories… There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update… To read this update and receive …
Read More »It’s Early, But Here Are The Most Important Things Oilfield Service Customers Have Said About 2019
Equally as important as the 2019 spending program figures being released this season is the accompanying management commentary. In fact, this is actually more important than the headline numbers in some cases. We discuss what has caught our eye so far in the 2019 planning season and also provide readers …
Read More »‘Tis The Season… To Miss Truck Drivers. There’s An All-Out Last Mile Scramble Underway As 2018 Draws To A Close
Just before the ball drops ushering in the new year, we are hearing about widespread supply chain disruption from seasonal driver shortages leaving frac crews unsanded in Texas. In this report, read full analysis including what’s going on, why, where, why it matters, and what’s next. There’s a lot more …
Read More »Early Indications Pointed To Low-Single-Digit Growth For US Onshore In 2019, IF Crude Rallies Back Into The $50s [Data Table]
What’s in store for the oilfield service addressable market in 2019? We’ve got must-see data and analysis in this update as the outlook for next year is floating in uncertain waters at this point in time. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update… To …
Read More »The Top Infill Thinking Updates Of The Year 2018
During a busy 2018, Infill Thinking shipped approximately 100 e-newsletters, issued upwards of 350 research updates, and hosted 7 member meet-ups around the oilfield. Membership on InfillThinking.com increased 50% in 2018, and our team grew too with key hires on our research desk and member relations department. We also launched a …
Read More »One Last DSL Headline Before The Year Is Out: CBD Attacks TCP Lapse
Environmental protection groups are seizing upon a lapse in a legal compromise (a lapse that Infill Thinking broke the news about five weeks ago) in their latest effort to apply pressure to the Feds to list the lizard as an endangered species. Punching above its weight, the little dunes sagebrush …
Read More »Transload Truncation – Devon Squeezes Oklahoma Terminal
We break down the latest renegotiation in the frac sand industry, one of many we believe are either culminating or ongoing as a volatile year winds down. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update… To read this update and receive our research newsletters, you …
Read More »Musings On Frac Sand Hauling From The Cab Of A Small Carrier [Guest Post]
It isn’t always easy being small in a big space, but in the frac sand trucking business, small isn’t always bad, either. Our guest author today formed a sand hauling outfit with just a couple trucks in early-2015, just as oil prices began to plunge. Today, he is running 40 …
Read More »It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Optimization [An Oilfield Christmas Carol]
Click The Play Button Below And Crank Up The Volume https://www.infillthinking.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Its-Beginning-to-Look-Like-Optimization-Infill-Thinking.mp3 As You Listen… Adapting Christmas classics to oilfield trends is a holiday season tradition here at Infill Thinking. Last year was Twas The Frac Before Christmas. This year we found inspiration in the carol It’s Beginning To Look A Lot …
Read More »DUCs Have Doubled Since The EIA Began Tracking Them
In this week’s weekly rig count update, we take a look at trends in DUC inventory. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update… To read this update and receive our research newsletters, you must be a member. If you are new to Infill Thinking, …
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