Today we are kicking off a two part series addressing the trucking needs for yet-to-be-produced Permian Basin frac sand. In this installment, we have maps of the mines vs. major trucking routes to well sites. We have also recorded some thoughts on the hidden logistics challenges that no one is …
Read More »Thinking Ahead
Permian Drilling Permits Finally Falter. Signal Or Noise?
We take a look at drilling permit demand in the hottest oilfield in the world. What does it mean for what comes next? Also, our regular weekly tables and charts derived by applying a little infill thinking and elbow grease to Baker Hughes rig count data. There’s a lot more …
Read More »A Permian Sand Mine Challenge No One Is Talking About Yet… Thoughts On The Impending Hiring Spree.
Over the next nine months, Permian Basin frac sand miners will need to hire hundreds of workers to staff up the new mines they have planned. With the Permian Basin oilfield labor market already white hot and all the new hires slated for a sparsely populated area, where will the …
Read More »E&Ps Actually Underspent Budget In Every Major US Onshore Play During 1Q17
We actively monitor spending patterns for approximately 50 public independent operators. With virtually all of their 1Q17 results disclosed over the past week or two, we can now report some detailed insights on what their spending during the first quarter of the year means for the rest of 2017. There’s a lot …
Read More »Sharing Our Cheat Sheet For 1Q17 Reporting Season: Key Themes For 8 Oilfield Sectors
Earnings season begins Friday morning. Here’s our cheat sheet of just the most important themes and trends to listen for as management teams discuss the outlook. We’ve broken down the cheat sheet by US onshore E&P, majors, completion service providers, frac sand miners, onshore drilling, offshore drilling, and diversified oilfield services, …
Read More »Encana’s 64-Well Monster – A Permian One-Off Or The Pad Of The Future?
Traveling down W FM Road 1787 south of Odessa before Hwy 349, a well-worn dirt road wide enough for two-way traffic cuts off the main road. About two miles down this dirt road lies a monster. This is the site of Encana’s Davidson multi-well pad – a Permian phenomenon. It is the …
Read More »Just When Everyone Thought Deepwater Was Dead… A Twitch.
This past weekend, we read a half dozen transcripts of earnings calls from the oil majors and national oil companies (NOCs). The big guys are all whistling the same tune. They are successfully re-engineering pending deepwater projects to fit $50 oil (and below). They are ready to clear their final investment decision …
Read More »All Available US Frac Capacity May Be Consumed This Year
As we write, the US onshore rig count is breaching the 700 mark (it stood at 689 last week). In this update, we explore what happens when a rig count of 900 is reached (which could happen sooner than you might think). We dig into the details of how much …
Read More »Unintended Consequences – The Crude Price Risk Factor No One Is Talking About… Yet
Here at Infill Thinking, we don’t forecast the price of oil – we focus on oilfield activity, markets, and companies. But we do regularly talk to some of the best crude oil minds in the business. When they share noteworthy observations, we pass them along. So when one of these …
Read More »Those Who Cut The Deepest Will Staff Up The Quickest [2 Charts]
In the first months of the downturn, we began warning that a workforce designed for $100 oil is not the same one needed at $50 oil. However, the oilfield service industry right sized extremely quickly to lower activity levels over the past two years. We’ll soon see just how surgical these cuts …
Read More »