While waiting for deal flow to pick back up, we dusted off our water M&A database this week. 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 you are new to …
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An Eagle Ford Leading Indicator Surged In January – Positive For 2020 Frac Activity In South Texas
A look at a leading indicator in a key southwest market is the subject of this weekly rig count data spotlight.. 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 you …
Read More »“ESG Fleets,” Attrition Ends? A Major Stops Fracing, & A Newbuild Order… It’s Been An Exciting Week In The Pressure Pumping Market
This week, two large pressure pumpers hosted 4Q19 earnings calls. Here are our takeaways from their remarks as it pertains to the 2020 pressure pumping market… There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update… To read this update and receive our research newsletters, …
Read More »Oilfield Water M&A Deal News Slows In Early-2020. Why & What’s Next…
2019 was a record year for M&A deals in oilfield water. Will 2020 be able to keep up the pace? 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 you are …
Read More »The Permian Basin’s Snow Day – Implications & Pics From The Deep Freeze This Week
If you are at HFTC or NAPE in Houston this week instead of the Permian Basin, count your lucky stars. If you are in the Permian on Wednesday, there’s a high probability you are: a) trying to reschedule your trip (or your meetings) because all flights have been cancelled b) …
Read More »Green Light On Bakken Local Sand Project
In a meeting on Wednesday morning, county officials approved the latest… 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 you are new to Infill Thinking, or your membership has expired, …
Read More »Hot On The Heels Of Hi-Crush’s Mobile-Mini Division Launch Comes Related News About A Potential Application
We are able to put some important context around the first newsbyte about Hi-Crush’s mobile mine solution beyond their official announcement about the new division launch last week. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update… To read this update and receive our research newsletters, …
Read More »The Land Rig Leader Is Driving Commercial Model Change In US Contract Drilling
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 you are new to Infill Thinking, or your membership has expired, please email us to discuss our current subscription options at [email protected]. (Current …
Read More »Permian Frac Sand Plant De-Rating [Chart Of The Day]
Permian sand plant staffing reductions effectively de-rated production capacity in 4Q19. The trend in this chart helped set up the supply crunch we’ve dubbed Sandemonium when customer budgets reset seasonally in January… There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update… To read this update and …
Read More »Sandemonium Aftermath – A Big Price Reset & The Most Commonly Asked Questions
It’s been a week and a half since we first reported “Sandemonium” when the Permian surprisingly “ran out” of 100 mesh frac sand. Here’s an update on where things stand today followed by our answers to the most common questions Infill Thinking members are asking us as this situation continues …
Read More »What The Super Majors Had To Say About Their Prodigious Permian Plans Friday Morning
This morning both Chevron and Exxon hosted conference calls. These are our key takeaways… 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 you are new to Infill Thinking, or your …
Read More »How Small? How Portable?… Some Friday Fun With A Mobile-Mini Mine Meme
Every once in a while, laughter is the best medicine. So on a Friday when disruption potential is once again at the top of mind for the collective frac sand industry, we offer the following bit of levity. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full …
Read More »Hi-Crush Rolls Into Frac Sand’s Final Frontier With Mobile-Mini Plant Division Launch
Since we first published this in-depth primer on Jan. 17, 2020 about the “in field” frac sand mining opportunity, the industry’s public conversation about mobile-mini plants has gone from zero to sixty in a heartbeat. We have begun to hear directly from other first movers with their own mobile-mini plant concepts. These solutions …
Read More »Great Turnout For Infill Thinking’s First Member Meetup Of 2020 [Photos]
On Tuesday, we hosted 50+ Infill Thinking members for coffee and conversation at one of our favorite Houston coffee houses. Special thanks to the Siphon Coffee team and patrons for letting us invade your space and putting up with us – we sort of took over the place! The event …
Read More »Member Meetup Tuesday In Houston
Hundreds of oilfield decision makers came to our member meet-ups in 2019 (these are included with your subscription). Will you be there when the industry’s smartest minds and leading executives gather again with us in 2020? Login to get the details on our first gathering of the new year and …
Read More »From Late-2019 Strength To Early-2020 Strength For Permian Permits
From strength to strength in January for this important West Texas drilling activity indicator.. 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 you are new to Infill Thinking, or your …
Read More »Sandemonium Strikes Again
Just when everyone assumed the Permian was hopelessly oversupplied with sand comes a supply crunch that will make everyone question their beliefs! 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 …
Read More »The Miniaturization Of In-Basin Frac Sand Greenfield Expansion [Chart Of The Day]
With the days of large-scale in-basin mine construction vanishing, we wonder if the miniaturization trend this chart reveals is a precursor to the rise of mobile-mini plants? 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 »Greenfield News – More Bakken Local Sand Plans In The Works
A new entrant sand miner launched last last year is quickly advancing a brand new local frac sand mine project for the Bakken through the local permitting process in North Dakota. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update… To read this update and receive …
Read More »Rolling Stone Blasted By O&G Trade Group After Hit Piece On “Hot” Oilfield Water
Sustainable business models in oilfield water management will be a hot topic at The Oilfield Water Markets 2020 Conference coming up this May in Dallas. We’ll be there and hope to see many of you there… The Rolling Stone feature story on oilfield water that we flagged for our readers …
Read More »10 Oilfield Water & Frac Sand Specialists On The Move
In this asset-intensive business, talent shifts are often ignored. But people matter. Talent shifts affect how business is done and competitive advantage, and here are ten moves that matter for how business is done in the sectors we cover in early 2020… There’s a lot more to this story… Login …
Read More »Halliburton Has Sold 1/5th Of Their Frac Fleet “By The Pound” For Scrap Value
Here’s just what you really need to know from the Halliburton US onshore outlook provided on Tuesday morning… 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 you are new to …
Read More »A “Quadfecta” Of Bold Last Mile Step-Change Promises – Any Of Which Could Upset The Apple Cart
A quadfecta is a set of four events. The following four items aren’t really events yet, they are futuristic concepts that we know some very smart folks with various levels of access to capital are looking at and working on at the moment. Whether any of these (or a combination) …
Read More »Another Large Carrier Rolls Up Their Sand Hauling Operations
A datapoint this week emphasizes the disruptive impact that a combination of automation software and depressed rate sheets is having on the frac sand hauling industry as another large carrier rolls up and…. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update… To read this update …
Read More »Schlumberger’s US Onshore Strategic Review Continues After A Mondo Rightsizing Round That Stopped Just Shy Of HHP Retirements
4Q19 earnings season is officially underway in the oilfield with Schlumberger’s call kicking things off this morning. Three months ago, their last earnings conference call prompted us to ask: What Is Schlumberger Going To Do With Their North America Business? Since then, we’ve all heard the speculation that… There’s a …
Read More »The Final Frontier In Frac Sand Logistics Optimization? [Out Think Special Report]
On New Year’s eve, we sent a newsletter. Despite the holiday, it was one of our most opened and shared newsletters of 2019. Why? It introduced a new idea with disruptive potential. Just when we all thought the frac sand was sufficiently disrupted by the advent and maturation of in-basin …
Read More »Something Big Is Brewing On The Infill Thinking Research Desk…
Please pardon our publishing silence over the past 24 hours or so… our research team is busy working on deep dive. One might say that our head is buried in the sand. It’s topical. It’s controversial. And it has massive implications for value creation / destruction in the frac supply …
Read More »5 Quick Tuesday Followups: Why ESG Matters, Utah Sand Update, Last Mile Capex Datapoint, E&P M&A, & Crude’s Nasty Reversal
In addition to the in-depth research we’ve published this week, several datapoints crossed our desk that advance the narrative on stories we’ve recently covered. We are sharing these followups in the five-point list below: There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update… To read this …
Read More »Sandemonium Has Died Down, But Pockets Of NPT Remain Problematic
The widespread pandemonium we recently documented in frac sand’s last mile during Christmas and New Years has died down somewhat now that we are two weeks into the new year, according to our latest channel checks. However… There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update… …
Read More »The Curious Case Of Reeves County’s Fall From Grace
In 2017, we recognized Reeves the “most drilled” and “most improved county in the Permian in this update, which we titled: “More Rigs Have Been Activated In Reeves County In 2017 Than In The Entire Bakken.” Here in 2020, we find ourselves writing a very different assessment of activity in …
Read More »Frac People On The Move During 2019
In a recent year-end review, we shared our top 19 stories from 2019 in frac sand and oilfield water as measured by membership interest. Before we leave 2019 behind and fully focus on the new year, we have one more year-in-review recap for you. This one summarizes the installments in …
Read More »Who Plans To Drill On Federal Lands Soon… And Where [Map & Charts Of The Day]
A couple of months ago, we analyzed the E&P industry response to frac ban rhetoric by the democratic primary candidates. We also quantified drilling activity on Federal lands, estimating that O&G wells spud on Federal Land have comprised approximately X% of US onshore drilling activity. The next logical questions to …
Read More »In Other News… Frac Spread Cost Risk, Utah Sand Mine Scuttled, Last Mile Cash Crunch? Water M&A Follow-up, RIFs, Tempest In A Teapot
In addition to the in-depth updates published over the past week, these “quick hit” datapoints also crossed our desk and are worthy of a mention… 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 …
Read More »Quick Thoughts On Atlas Sand’s TX/NM Frac Sand Conveyor Project
Infill Thinking first wrote about Atlas Sand’s conveyor project back in May 2019 (see point 10). The cat is out of the bag now and the mainstream media is feasting on a BLM press release about a new permit application filed by Atlas Sand. Atlas Sand isn’t commenting about the …
Read More »It Wasn’t A December To Remember For The US Rig Count… And Maybe That’s A Good Thing!
For the US land rig count, December 2019 was pretty mundane. Considering the downtrend in activity that dominated much of 2019 and the typical holiday headwinds that December brings, a boring month for the rig count was welcome! There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update… …
Read More »A New Year In Oilfield Water Management Brings More Of The Same… Sort Of.
2020 starts off much the same as 2019 ended in the oilfield water management industry: with M&A news. Two acquisitions were announced on Monday from undisclosed sellers (although we have heard some guesses about who one of those might be). Meanwhile, oilfield water M&A this year has a different feel …
Read More »Pandemonium Erupts In The Texas Frac Supply Chain As 2020 Begins
Panic in frac sand. This is not hyperbole folks… 2020 is off to anything but a smooth start. High class problem though? Here’s what all the fuss is about…. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update… To read this update and receive our research …
Read More »This Permian Leading Indicator Bodes Well For 1H2020 [Charts Of The Day]
With 2019 in the books, we spent some time over the weekend becoming more encouraged about 2020 as we updated our data on… 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. …
Read More »Iran Strike And Saber Rattling Dramatically Underscore The Big US E&P Dilemma In 2020
Bang! 2020 is off to a dynamic start. Geopolitical risk has again taken the center stage, driving out-performance in crude oil prices and oilfield equities vs. the broader market in early-year trading. And this week’s developments on the global state punctuate a big question for the US oilfield this year, …
Read More »The Top 19 Stories Of 2019 In Frac Sand And Oilfield Water
During a dynamic 2019, Infill Thinking: shipped 100 e-newsletters to active members, shipped 45 data-driven e-newsletter to Analyst Plan members, published 370 original written research updates, hosted 4 member meet-ups in key oilfield cities, conducted 4 field trips to put boots on the ground in key oilfield markets and gather market …
Read More »The Final Frontier In Frac Sand Logistics Optimization?
In our last Friday’s in December guest post of 2019, a “reformed Northern White Sand apologist” penned an op-ed piece on disruption in the frac sand industry. It hinted at something we’ve been hearing about for several months… something could be the next disruptive wave in frac sand supply… There’s …
Read More »Northern White Sand’s Rags To Riches To Rags Story… [Guest Post]
The oilfield industry has many similarities to sports. Both are cyclical. Both have lots of turnover in winning strategies and players. Both have their fair share of larger than life characters and dynastic franchises. And a continual evolution of best practices in both sports and the oilfield is fueled by …
Read More »US Rig Count’s Christmas Miracle
In late-October, we noted that Patterson-UTI’s CEO Andy Hendricks predicted a modest increase in drilling activity in late-December. Andy might be preparing to take a victory lap now… Last week’s bounce is notable for three key reasons: it breaks… it’s bigger than… it bucks… There’s a lot more to this …
Read More »Oilfield Water Deal Flurry As 2019 Winds Down Solidifies A Historic Year For Water Midstream M&A
Plenty of water deal news continues to cross the wires as 2019 draws to a close. And what a year it’s been for water midstream M&A. This week deals announced by three buyers take the deal count we track up to X significant water midstream transactions in 2019 vs. only …
Read More »The “Nice List”: 19 US E&P Operators To Keep An Eye On For 2020 Activity Growth
With lumps of coal in every oilfield stocking this holiday season, it’s easy to overlook the bright spots. There are some bright spots though. Not every E&P operator plans to slash investment next year. In fact, some are planning to increase spending, or at least talking optimistically about their growth …
Read More »Hot Takes On The Frac Sand Industry’s Sustainability Struggle From A 30+ Year Veteran [Friday Guest Post]
If you’ve been around the pressure pumping business for a while, there’s a good chance you know today’s guest contributor. His post addresses the future of frac sand and the industry’s current struggle for sustainability in a thought-provoking way. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the …
Read More »It’s The Most Wonderful Time… For Tight Oil E&Ps With Change In Their Pocket & Long-Term Vision
Looking at today’s depressed stock prices for tight oil operators and declining E&P activity trends, you’d never guess that this is actually a relatively wonderful time to be an E&P operator actively developing US tight oil resources. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update… …
Read More »Positive Read-Through For Both Felix Water And WPX 2020 Capex From Monday’s Big E&P M&A Deal
The dust is settling on another big E&P M&A announcement in 2019, and this one has implications for related water and midstream deal processes as well as 2020 E&P capex spending in the Permian. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update… To read this …
Read More »In Other News… Appalachia Hibernation, Buy Orange Pumps!, Frac Shutdown, Death By 1,000 Cuts For Irrational Projections?, Mine Hit Piece, & More…
In addition to the in-depth updates published over the past week, these 11 “quick hit” datapoints also crossed our desk and are worthy of a mention… 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 …
Read More »2 Oilfield Christmas Carols For 2019: “I’m Dreaming Of The Next Upcycle” and “Jingle Bells, Wall Street Sells”
Each year, we celebrate the Season here at Infill Thinking by weaving oilfield trends into a Holiday Classic or two. Break out the egg nog because our songs are part parody, part market research. We enjoyed writing our Oilfield Christmas songs in 2017 and 2018, back when oilfield growth was …
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