For the past six months, Baker Hughes has publicly rethought its involvement in the pressure pumping business. Now a material transaction is possible before year-end. The initiative is part of the big push underway by all of the Big 3 oil service companies to lighten their asset bases. Said another way, the Big 3 …
Read More »Here We Grow Again
As we initiate our weekly rig count update here at Infill Thinking, it is nice to be writing about growth again for the first time in two years. Since the May 27, 2016 bottom, the US land rig count is up 154 rigs or +41%. Recent growth has been largely driven …
Read More »Did You Catch Halliburton’s Big Tone Shift? It Signals A “Roll Up Your Sleeves” Sort Of Recovery Ahead
An important tone shift in how Halliburton addressed investors Wednesday morning foreshadows a different type of recovery ahead. Reading between the lines, we’ve dubbed the upcycle of the future a “roll up your sleeves” recovery. What will oilfield companies have to do to achieve prior KPIs in the recovery ahead? We discuss that and more… There’s …
Read More »In Just One Day, Saudi Commits To More New Drilling Than The US Operators Have In Four Months
Saipem won 30 years of new land rig backlog in Saudi Arabia today. In the US, we estimate about 28 rig-years of land drilling backlog have been added in total since the bottom. We compare the Saudi and US drilling markets, and estimate backlog created in the young and tender recovery. …
Read More »3 Quick Thoughts: A Leading Indicator Falls, Safety Pays, and Land Rig Reactivations
A quick round-up of three stories flying below the radar that we find important lessons in: i) a leading indicator of Norwegian mature field development just plummeted, ii) H&P just paid an injured rig hand $72mm, and iii) Patterson-UTI is finding it easy to return idle land rigs to work. …
Read More »Patterson-UTI Deal Reveals Continued Build Over Buy Strategy Despite Cheap Rigs
This may sound a little bit counter-intuitive, but bear with me: Patterson-UTI’s acquisition today signals that its build vs. buy strategic preference remains in tact. That’s because Patterson acquired a rig technology company this morning even though hundreds of idle land rigs are for sale as cheap as 15 cents on the dollar of build cost. …
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