Infill Thinking Lifting the O&G knowledge curve

As last week wore on, we had hoped it would get better. It did not. We had also hoped that our initial concern expressed on Tuesday was overstated when we wrote then that the swiftest shale pullback in history could be imminent. It was not. As the week wore on, …

If this virus can can shut down Major League Baseball and Disney Land, why should we expect that frac sites will be any different and stay open as virus reaction spreads? If this virus can empty dormitories because of spreading risk in close quarters, what about man camps? Here’s what …

When Phil Baxter recently asked me if I had looked into the big changes that were made in January to the FMSCA’s drug and alcohol policies (and the impact they could have on hauling capacity in the frac supply chain), I perked up and asked if he’d chime in on …

On March 9, 2020, National Public Radio’s Marketplace show aired a segment across >800 US radio stations about the oil price fall-out’s impact on US oilfield activity. Their piece draws insights from our research update published for Infill Thinking subscribers earlier that day titled “On Black Monday, A Double Black …

It’s been 36 hours since the oil industry’s D-Day equivalent, and US E&P operators are wasting no time cutting activity… 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 …

There is one less independent wellsite storage firm operating in the Lower 48 today after a legal battle culminated in a takeover that will see the fleet change hands. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update…  To read this update and receive our research …

“It’s always darkest before it goes completely black.” – Sen. John McCain We digest the implications of the market fallout and think through some things that matter for business leaders in the oilfield at its darkest hour… There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update…  …

Guest Contributor Introduction From Joseph Triepke: Today’s guest post has been three years in the making. Allow me to explain…. 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 …

Within minutes of the transcript of the Exxon analyst day being released, we shared this summary of what’s new in the company’s Permian Basin Drilling & Completion outlook…. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update…  To read this update and receive our research newsletters, …

In a separate update earlier this week, we quantified a new kind of flaring intensity index. Today we explore the qualitative side of this trend, distilling over 1,000 executive/investor conversations about flaring over the past decade and a half into this 5-minute-read summary. There’s a lot more to this story… …

EOG said recently that better pairing of origin and destination vs. 2019 will help them achieve targeted well cost savings. We wonder if this is simply better availability of local sand near their wells or possibly mobile mini plant adoption? Here is the key quote as well as other interesting …

Here’s what one energy CEO very candidly told investors in Vail this week about how he thinks the broader public and O&G industry is overreacting to fear surrounding the coronavirus… There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update…  To read this update and receive our …

We take a look at some notable comings and goings. The frac talent pool continues to play musical chairs. 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 …

In this update we study a different kind of flaring intensity – the flaring conversation intensity. This is not a new issue, but the conversation is heating up and evolving. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update…  To read this update and receive our …

“We are signing up operators that want to move away from outdated and unsafe………….” That’s what one growing wellsite storage provider in the frac supply chain had to say about their wellsite storage solution displacing the competition on their conference call this week…. There’s a lot more to this story… …

From the datapoint deluge this week, we’ve extracted these critical pieces of oilfield water market intelligence. 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, …

One week ago today, we quantified the reduction in force trend using 2019 headcount data from the 15 companies that had filed annual reports up to that point. Today, we’ve added another 22 companies that have released annual reports since then, and the number of jobs lost in US shale …

In this week’s regular rig count update, we take a look at what a large rig contractor said about customer plans… 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 …

Here are the key bits of market intel that we picked out remarks made by three market share leaders in the wellsite storage game 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, you must …

We take a look at WaterBridge’s acquisition history and comment on their latest deal in this update… 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 …

We did some digging after an E&P CEO’s damp sand frac patent claim last week sent a ripple through frac sand inner circles. Here is what we have uncovered… There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update…  To read this update and receive our research …

Last week, Hi-Crush said on their 4Q19 earnings call that January 2020 was the strongest month of sand sales in any January in company history. This datapoint is inline with our recent stream of reporting on stronger than expected frac activity – and sand demand – starting with this update …

A large E&P operator has firmly planted a legal flag of conceptual ownership in damp sand. This raises lots of questions for the broader adoption of the practice, including applications in in-field frac sand mining… There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update…  To read …

This earnings season, a morbid data set is emerging from the shadows and becoming visible. Everyone in the oilfield is well aware of the reduction in force (RIF) trend that swept across the US onshore oilfield last year and continues this year. But the true extent of the damage has …

New pictures and a schematic have come to light as one of the first movers on the in-field mining trend continues making moves. 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. …

We live blogged our key takeaways from a critical TX RRC report release via webinar on Tuesday afternoon February 19, 2020… 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 …

Today we are giving readers a look behind the curtain at an important part of our research process. We’ve summarized the key themes we believe will be highly influential in shaping oilfield market fundamentals in 2020. Until now, these ideas have just lived on our whiteboard and post-it notes… There’s …

There are new developments today in the Uintah Basin local frac sand story. Our analysis of the new facts that have come to light can be found here… There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update…  To read this update and receive our research newsletters, …

This week, we put a spotlight on drilling activity trends in the Canadian rig market… 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 …

Listening to the FTSI call this week, here’s what stood out to us as far as market intel takeaways for the Lower 48 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, you must …

In addition to the other research we’ve posted this week, here’s an assortment of interesting odds and ends that crossed our desk and will be of interest to Infill Thinking members… There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update…  To read this update and receive …

This week, we had a chance to catch up with another mobile mini plant pioneer to learn about their approach. This is the third mobile mini plant provider we’ve profiled since writing a deep dive on the theme a month ago, which got folks talking and has drawn out new …

With fewer greenfield projects actively under construction now than at any time in the past three years, we believe that nameplate capacity activations at large-scale fixed local frac sand plants are mostly in the rear-view mirror now. Here’s a data-driven assessment of local sand mine activity in the Lower 48, …

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 …

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 …

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, …

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 …

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) …

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, …

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, …

  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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …