Infill Thoughts

If 2H17 shale capex were on the operating table, our diagnosis would be that the patient’s vitals are stable and within normal limits. But as the old newspaper saying goes: “if it bleeds it leads,” so many reports continue to chose fear over reality. We dig into the numbers to …

There’s been some talk in the market this week that sand customers might be skeptical of inking deals with startup sand producers. But what we heard from one E&P on Wednesday suggests just the opposite… Black Mountain has at least one long-term deal in the bag and probably more that …

Infill Thinking reader Ron Davis wrote in with a great excerpt on the offshore drilling outlook. As we start to think more about a potential inflection point in deepwater, we felt the thoughts he shared were worth printing in full… There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see …

US Silica’s 2Q17 conference call ushered in earnings season for Big Sand Tuesday morning, and the call certainly brought the fireworks. Here are the key points US Silica made Tuesday that we found most interesting, accompanied by our take: There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the …

The combination of greater per rig retrofit investments and expanding inventory of upgrade candidates is the equivalent of newbuilding without building new. This kind of spending invites a whole crowd of previously shunned rigs into the exclusive super-spec club. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full …

Earlier this week, first Halliburton and then Anadarko roiled the water by challenging the multi-year trend of more frac sand pumped per well. What was surprising about the remarks was that they pointed to not just plateauing in the trend but a reversal. Following their remarks on inflection, some other companies have …

The discussion around plateauing (wait… make that falling) frac sand/well is heating up. What’s new and what we think about it 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 a member. If …

Halliburton and Schlumberger have given two distinctly different outlooks on US rig count direction for the next three to six months over the past two business days. Interestingly, their arguments have departed from their normal advocacy tendencies. See how and who we agree more with in this update. There’s a …

The Permian Basin frac sand story is receiving attention from the local press out in West Texas. Some interesting incremental color emerged… feature image photo credit: Hi Crush’s Kermit site on Sunday July 24, 2017 front page of Odessa American There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see …

It’s a sign of the times. Frac sand controversy on Halliburton’s earnings conference call Monday overshadowed everything else, including some interesting points on pressure pumping dynamics, rig count brake tapping, international service pricing trends, and higher wages. We’ll address Big Red’s “non-sand” comments in a separate update later today. These …