This morning, the Norwegian Financial daily Finansavisen reported in no uncertain terms that Aker Group, owned by Kjell Inge Røkke, is about to sell Aker Solutions to Halliburton. We have detailed analysis of the possibility including a cliff hanger question you don’t want to miss… There’s a lot more to this story… Login …

Unconventional drilling in the Permian’s Midland and Delaware Basins has been increasing at a breakneck pace since 4Q16. Horizontal rigs going back to work on Midland and Delaware formations alone account for 1/3rd of the total increase in Lower 48 rig count since September 30, 2016. Over the past five weeks or …

Reports out late-last week suggested two significant offshore drilling M&A deals were in the making. One of the deals was confirmed Monday morning. The two deals are spearheaded separately by former partners John Fredriksen and Tor Olov Troim. Fredriksen’s deal is deepwater, Troim’s is a shallow water play. John Fredriksen …

This earnings season has been rough on the sand stocks. The sell-off appears to be the classic case of a crowded trade. Sand stocks we monitor had increased 433% from the bottom about this time last year. In the past three weeks (as they reported 4Q16 earnings), they’ve fallen 30%. Big Oil …

Note: Each Friday in March, we are passing the keyboard to one of our readers to share perspective from the field. We hope you enjoy the thoughts these hand-picked contributors have to share. Here is this week’s story… Why am I sitting in a hotel in Midland? It seems a …

Looking around at the headlines this morning, everyone’s talking about oil prices “plunging” or “slumping” below $50 (example). Whether oil is $49 or $51 doesn’t make that much of a difference for industry participants themselves – be they oil service firms or E&Ps they serve. To be sure, there may be …

On March 7, National Public Radio addressed the Permian Basin’s explosive growth in a broadcast airing across 900 US radio stations. Infill Thinking founder Joseph Triepke spoke with NPR for the piece, sharing industry insider perspective on West Texas drilling and frac’ing. While we gave a nod to the recovery, we …

In an unexpected announcement Monday evening, Weatherford welcomed of Mark McCollum, Halliburton’s CFO, as its new permanent CEO and director. For Weatherford, choosing between interim CEO Krishna Shivram and McCollum was a win/win. Shivram impressed everyone during his stint at the helm, but McCollum is the stronger candidate. So when the board realized …

Depending on the oilfield service or product line, we’ve heard of price increases of anywhere from 5% to 40% pushed through just in the past few months alone. As service companies look for new angles to justify higher list prices, they are increasingly pointing a finger at the labor pool. …

Supply chain inflation is a trending topic in O&G. One of the biggest debates in the oilfield today centers around the sustainability of the cost reductions E&Ps achieved during the downturn. How much was lasting process change and innovation vs. temporary supply chain price concessions? E&Ps will be far more …