Infill Thinking Lifting the O&G knowledge curve

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, …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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…  …

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 …

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 …

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 …

As 2019 winds down, the E&P downcycle dominants discussion in the US onshore oilfield. Rig count is down 27% YTD. More tellingly, rig count fell in 43 out of the 50 weeks in the books so far in 2019. Why? Unlike in most prior downcycles, it’s not oil price in …

It’d be better for the industry to see equipment scrapped than fire sold. When the market does turn, vulture investors will be able to bid very aggressively to get jobs with the equipment they are buying for pennies on the dollar today… There’s a lot more to this story… Login …

Adapting Christmas Carols to oilfield trends is a holiday season tradition as old as Infill Thinking itself. Teasing ahead, we have written and recorded new Oilfield Christmas tracks, which will be released to active members next week (just in time for your holiday gatherings). These new releases will be as …

Cody Wickersheim writes: When Joseph Triepke asked me to write an article for Infill Thinking, I think it was intended to be a commentary on the impact each of us has felt over the past year and a half. We are losing some good folks. Many companies have become, or …

Individuals are often overlooked in this asset-intensive sector, but talent shifts can have big implications for value creation, oilfield trends, sales and competitive dynamics. They also have implications for people conducting business all across the frac value chain. Without further ado, here are… There’s a lot more to this story… …

The phrase “water midstream” has without doubt been the hottest buzzword of 2019 in shale. Last week, we collaborated with Oilfield Water Connection on an executive survey about “what qualifies a water management firm as water midstream?” Today, new insights from the survey of leading CEOs and bankers and investors …

In this update we explore a growing ESG concern associated with a tail risk involving the frac sand industry that is exacerbated when firms fall into financial distress. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update…  To read this update and receive our research newsletters, …

Rig count’s down big this year. How has that impacted the rig count mix by basin? 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, …

For years – even before capital discipline started trending in 2017 – Wall Street research analysts have constructed models to benchmark the effectiveness of E&P capital deployment. But what if we turn the logic around a bit and look for layoff risk indicators in the size of… There’s a lot …

Despite the ramp of multiple local South Texas frac sand mines, some recent RFQs from a handful of operators continue to ask for Northern White Sand… 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 …

As of Friday morning, our channel checks suggest that a well known frac company may be completely closing up shop, rolling up operations, selling their horsepower, and letting everyone go…. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update…  To read this update and receive our …

Hi-Crush unexpectedly press released the departure of CFO Laura Fulton this morning. In many ways, Laura has been… 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 …

Draconian chatter has been circulating lately in frac sand’s inner circles about leadership changes at Black Mountain Sand recently. On good authority, we believe the rumored drama is overstated. After the company’s board meeting this Thursday, we… There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update…  …

For water midstream, which is still in the early phases of market evolution, the opportunity to make a positive difference in the water supply/demand balance is enormous. Once permanent infrastructure is in place and multiple systems become interconnected, the stage will be set to move excess produced water to… There’s …

The whole boxes vs. silos last mile market debate continues to be a regular (and often contentious) topic of conversation that surfaces often in frac sand inner circles and at sand industry events. For this update, we decided to draw on the fleet data we maintain independently in house to …

Infill Thinking readers may recall this update from October on a big Permian land auction of 13,500 acres with historical significance. This ranch has a rich O&G history dating back to the 1920s, when Gulf Oil bought leases to the ranch. From the 1920s onwards, it helped make the fortunes …

In this week’s rig count update, we have summarized the latest 2019/2020 US onshore drilling program outlooks, operator-by-company, picking out those rig customers who are adding, dropping, or keeping their rig counts flat. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update…  To read this update …

After an open records request, we’ve been able to learn some new insights about the massive MidCon reduction in force happening this week in the oilfield service industry. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update…  To read this update and receive our research newsletters, …

About 100 Infill Thinking members answered this open ended question in our recent 2020 Vision Oilfield Outlook Survey.  In this post, you can read their responses.. 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 …

Last week, we asked the collective Infill Thinking membership to share their views on the 2020 oilfield outlook. 145 of you answered our 23 questions. To all those that took a few minutes to contribute, thank you very much. The result is a unique, invaluable market intelligence resource. There’s a …

In these troubled times, we want to do our part to help any Infill Thinking members that may be impacted by the waves of layoffs sweeping the US oilfield. If you are an active Infill Thinking member and your position has been eliminated, we want to help. Email us at …

This is not only worth watching for upstream firms and pressure pumpers, but also water midstream firms who are counting on future produced water volumes in these areas and working out long term contracts and infrastructure investments with those contracts in mind. There’s a lot more to this story… Login …

Wow. Our members are smart! In this post, you can read their answers to one of two open-ended questions we asked in our annual year-ahead outlook survey. Login only if you want to see about 70 candid, insightful, and telling responses about the ongoing O&G downcycle… There’s a lot more …

By the time 3Q19 earnings season got underway in late-October, O&G industry executives and investors had had plenty of time to digest this little bombshell that Elizabeth Warren dropped in September. Elizabeth Warren on X (formerly Twitter): “On my first day as president, I will sign an executive order that …

We’ve complied a set of questions that are critical to determining the oilfield outlook for 2020. For any active Infill Thinking reader that completes this important survey, we will provide some pretty compelling benefits including…. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update…  To read …

While logging rig count activity trends, we take a look at the latest outlook from a leading contractor… 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 …

It probably comes as no surprise to Infill Thinking readers that 2019 has been a record year for corporate transactions involving oilfield water firms and assets. We’ve covered transactions (and potential transactions) ad nauseam throughout the year. With 2019 winding down, we paused today to reflect on the corporate transaction …

Earlier this month, the sale of the Preferred Sands Arizona mine to a new entrant came to light. In our update on the deal, we noted the transaction was not an example of the consolidation many are waiting for in the proppant supply space. This week, another similar transaction has …

Pictures posted to social media recently have the last mile community talking… here’s what we’ve been able to confirm with the parties involved. 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. …

In this update, three charts – one showing the surge of ESG interest in the oilfield and two others explaining why. The data is followed up with in-depth analysis and commentary on sentiment, investment, why it matters, who’s doing what, RFQ impacts, what oilfield niches have big ESG opportunities, and …

As the old adage and Metallica song go: misery loves company. With the US land rig count continuing to spiral downwards, it might be constructive for US contractors to commiserate with their Canadian compatriots. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update…  To read this …

We listened to four public frac sand company conference calls last week. Here are the polished market intel points that we screened out from the raw feedstock of these calls. Feature image: Stack Sizer® wet sizing frac sand, courtesy of Derrick Corporation There’s a lot more to this story… Login …

Scrapping is a tough but necessary step to set the pressure pumping industry up for a return to health. It’s a key hurdle to making frac investable again. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update…  To read this update and receive our research newsletters, …

Relative to sand production, last mile is certainly a relative bright spot at the moment. But we submit that too many… 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 …

A deal has been reached that sees a long-standing frac sand mine change hands… 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 …

This E&P company is one of those operators that has been actively (and publicly) evaluating strategic alternatives for their water business for much of the year. We wrote about their thinking on the process in May 2019 and again last month. This week we got the latest on management’s thinking …

Another E&P is warming up to handing off their in-house water assets and could divest their water infrastructure to the third-party water midstream industry in the near-term… There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update…  To read this update and receive our research newsletters, you …

Taking a high-level look at upstream activity through the latest in rig count trends throughout the Lower-48. 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 …