As E&P spending continues to recover, land driller spending looks poised to embark on a fourth straight year of decline. Precision Drilling released their 2018 capex program on Monday. We analyze the numbers in this update… There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update… To …
Read More »Although Garden Variety Pad Rigs Are Sold Out, A $30mm “Mega-Pad-Ready” Newbuild Pitch Doesn’t Seem To Be Gaining Traction
A new type of land rig is being proposed to tackle mega-pads in the very deepest sections of the Wolfcamp. In this post, check out the latest on operator interest as well as the features that make this rig unique and cost about 30% more than the current shale-ready rig …
Read More »South Texas Drilling Permits Bounce Back Quickly Following A Brief Harvey Hiatus
In this update we examine drilling permit data for South Texas to infer how the storm and subsequent flooding has impacted drilling rig demand in the region. 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 »Most US Land Drillers Agree That Rig Count Will Be Flat Or A Smidge Higher Near-Term
In our latest US onshore rig count forecast (updated in April), we estimated that active drilling rigs would peak at 950 units this year. As we stand today with 934 rigs turning to the right, our prediction leaves only ~16 rig additions left until hitting a US drilling plateau in …
Read More »Recent History Says US Rig Count Will Roll Over In August If Oil Falls Sub-$40
With oil prices falling, it is worth noting what historical oil price / rig count relationships suggest about future drilling activity. In this update, we examine the oilfield reaction times that can be expected when oil prices move. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full …
Read More »Frac Sand Is A Substitute For Wells And Rigs. Lower 48 Surface Sprawl Is Going Underground [Charts]
Is frac sand replacing rigs? It would appear so in the US onshore recovery. As unconventional drilling and completion science evolves, the industry’s surface footprint per barrel of oil produced is shrinking. A growing sub-surface footprint (which we can measure with sand) is replacing the surface sprawl. With the US onshore …
Read More »More Rigs Have Been Activated In Reeves County This Year Than In The Entire Bakken
In the Permian Basin, horizontal drilling activity is up 101 rigs so far this year. This is more than 2x the next fastest growing play (Eagle Ford +41). In this week’s Infill Thinking rig count update, we get granular on Permian growth. We’ve ranked the counties across the Permian’s basin trifecta …
Read More »Tor Olav Troim Moves On Transocean’s Jackup Fleet As Expected
As Upstreamonline first reported and we discussed last week, Norwegian startup Borr Drilling has been sniffing around Transocean’s jackup fleet. On Monday, Borr Drilling put out a press release confirming the reports. The company says it has signed an LOI with Transocean for the purchase of 15 jackups. Transocean has not released …
Read More »Bifurcated Permian Basin Growth Will Set Off Redundant Construction Booms
We are all talking about the Permian Basin a ton these days. But is this too general now? As the entire industry descends on the region, it has bifurcated into two distinct geo-markets from a surface perspective… There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update… To read …
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