Infill Thinking Lifting the O&G knowledge curve

Oilfield water management’s rapid evolution from cottage industry to stand-alone business is attracting dozens of new players (and capital) across the entire water value chain. As startups join stalwarts in a business model revolution, our Aqua Men series brings this fast developing space to life. This is the second profile …

2019 got off to a shaky start in the US onshore oilfield service business (largely due to macro volatility into year end). But as 1Q played out and WTI rallied, sentiment and completions activity indicators improved. Here with the second quarter only about a week old, we are pausing to …

During 1Q19, the Infill Thinking team: sent members 26 e-newsletters published 90 original research updates issued 17 data releases to Think Sheets® members hosted 3 member meetups across Texas, welcoming north of 80 members to share coffee and conversation spent a week in the Permian conducting boots on the ground …

In research, going down one path often leads to another. And that’s often when things become most interesting. While updating our recycled water leader board chart, first introduced in 4Q18, we got side-tracked by a quick thought exercise. In this update, we use operator spending budgets in conjunction with their …

After a relatively quiet couple of weeks in the frac sand marketplace, chatter in the channels we check has picked back up a bit. Here are five things that matter that we’ve heard this week… There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update…  To read …

In this week’s regular weekly rig count update, we zoom in on a leading indicator for drilling activity in the Eagle Ford shale. 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 did a little thinking about the pipeline of M&A in the oilfield water business this week. For obvious reasons, it’s far easier to write about deals that have happened in the past rather than those that might happen in the future. But here’s some angles we’ll be watching in …

Who’s suing who in the frac sand space? Here’s the latest intel gleaned from our review of public records… 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 …

What’s interesting is that not all sand dunes are suitable for frac sand, which seems counterintuitive. This is due in part to the age of the formation – the sand hasn’t been in the rock tumbler (environment) long enough to smooth out the rough edges like the older marine formations …

Oilfield water management’s rapid evolution from cottage industry to stand-alone business is attracting dozens of new players across the entire water value chain. As startups join stalwarts in a business model revolution, our Aqua Men series brings this fast developing space to life. This is the first profile in our …

With the last mile market now sufficiently supplied by new gen equipment, competition is hot even if you have the latest and greatest gear. If you have equipment built more than 5-10 years ago… well… you might be looking for the exit. In April, one owner will put a fleet of …

In addition to the in-depth updates published early this week, a few other interesting items crossed our desk. 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 …

With just a week left in the quarter, we quantified a leading indicator for Permian drilling activity in this edition of our weekly rig count 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 …

This government data set is worth highlighting this morning, since it directionally lines up with recent frac sand management commentary on the bottom… 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. …

The sense of urgency and rapid changes that now characterize the produced water space are attracting a host of new players. Startups are joining stalwarts in bringing new ideas, infrastructure aggregation concepts, and plenty of dry powder to the table. It’s early days for the oilfield water midstream model… so …

Frac sand plants lower on the cost curve are whistling past a graveyard that is filling up with idled capacity. In this data-driven update, we take a look at the trend and discuss its implications for the marketplace. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full …

Water supply is a critical component of all Permian Basin proppant sand mine operations. Assuming that demand for and production of sand remain high many of the basin mines will need to extend excavations below the water table and consequently address aquifer dewatering issues. In this guest post, three experts …

Real-time takeaways – what you need to know as Covia speaks this morning… just the points with read-through for the industry… We live-blogged this conference call. 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 this week’s regular rig update, we note that while Total US land rig counts are down 27 rigs month over month, they’re up 28 rigs since this time last year. If the unconventional Permian rig counts is any sort of leading indicator, US land rig counts as a whole …

The debate over take-or-pay frac sand contract sanctity continues, as a producer has turned to the courts for contract enforcement. 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 …

Our latest round of Permian market intelligence focuses on datapoints in frac sand’s last mile and wellsite handling 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 …

US Well Services, one of a handful of electric frac fleet technology pioneers, hosted their first earnings conference call as a public company yesterday. A couple things stood out to us, including … There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update…  To read this update …

What were you up to in 1974? That’s when our guest author today started working in frac sand logistics. He’s seen it all and done it all. And he shares it all in this post. If you are a history buff, you are going to love this one… Two of …

Today’s chart of the day sits at the intersection of water sourcing and frac sand mining. 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, …

The great local sand rush of 2017-2018 has cooled off in 2019 after industry-wide frac sand pricing collapsed into a trough over the past 6-9 months. We estimate that Permian FOB mine prices are down some 65% y/y, which has put a damper on interest in expansion projects (greenfield or …

In our regular weekly update this week, we digested another leading land contractor’s outlook for the US onshore rig market in 2019. 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 …

We believe a significant Private Equity deal today sets a new record while re-confirming our view that a new era in the evolution of water midstream model is beginning. The deal’s details also confirm several key thematic points made recently in an in-depth Infill Thinking water analysis. There’s a lot …

Oilfield water management is a complicated, volumetric business. Here is the oilfield water lifecycle in an easy to follow flowchart that explains this segment’s fast-evolving value chain. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update…  To read this update and receive our research newsletters, you …

We’ve been reading alot this week. We’ve also been curating a recap of items we read with the highest impact value for the frac sand supply chain. Enjoy… There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update…  To read this update and receive our research newsletters, …

In today’s guest post, James offers a unique perspective on the economic impact of under-developed road-ways and key insights on transportation infrastructure development in West Texas. 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 …

Two weeks ago in Midland, the Infill Thinking team accounted for 2 of the 513 attendees at the PBWIEC water conference. This was the second year in this event’s history, and conference attendance was up 17% y/y. The organizers of PBWIEC, a not-for-profit conference, are providing a much needed service …

On a chilly Permian morning a couple weeks ago, we spent some time with the management team behind a new, rapidly growing last mile solution. This week, the team is mobilizing a game-changing new hardware competent, which we are able to break the news on today. Here is what we …

This is the fourth installment in our Silica Valley Series which shines the spotlight on an increasingly critical part of the frac value chain: new software solutions in the last mile. A crop of new entrants are improving the frac sand industry’s “mind-muscle connection” on the highways from origin to …

In our latest round of channel checks, we continue to hear more E&Ps direct sourcing and more openness among pressure pumpers to allow E&Ps to sand their own frac jobs. That said, some pumpers are still working hard to challenge the narrative. The customer is always right, so here’s what …

As oilfield service earnings season winds down, the 1H19 pressure pumping narrative is now pretty well established. Here’s what we heard this week that’s a little bit different and off the beaten path… There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update…  To read this update …

Susan Murphy knows OCTG. She is also a repeat contributor to Infill Thinking’s Friday guest post series and a fellow “petro-nerd” who we always enjoy comparing notes with on oilfield trends. Here’s how she sees the business climate in this important vertical as 2019 gets underway… There’s a lot more …

Infill Thinking learned about a new midstream concept for Permian Basin frac sand logistics that was later discussed publicly for the first time. 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 found a hint about what SandBox might be up to next – recall that the company alluded to entering other verticals this year during their recent earnings conference call, which we live-blogged here. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update…  To read this …

We live-blogged the most important comments with oilfield marketplace implications from the Keane conference call this 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 Infill …

In our regular weekly update this week we take a look at a potential capacity injection from the north. 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 …

After seeing a social media post about another Texas frac sand startup, we were able to contact management to learn a whole lot more about the newest kid on the sand block. Check out our exclusive here… There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update…  …

Our series of takeaways from a week invested in the Permian Basin gathering firsthand intel continues with 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 …

About 50 Infill Thinking members came out for our first meet-up of 2019 in Houston in early February. It was a great time. Now we have two more exciting member networking events on the schedule: Permian and Dallas! Login to get the details… There’s a lot more to this story… …

Over the past several days, E&P capex budget news has been categorically negative. Some of the biggest cuts we’ve seen yet have been announced while other E&Ps have cut back their preliminary 2019 spending guidance. Check out the latest budgets and totals we are are tracking here… There’s a lot …

Our team’s week in the Permian Basin is flying by, and our notepad is filling up with boots-on-the-ground research takeaways. Here is our first round of observations from the world’s busiest oilfield… There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update…  To read this update and …

Talent is shifting. And it’s doing so with implications for value, trends and competitive dynamics. Here are the moves you need to know about… 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 …

Every once in a while we “live-blog” earnings conference calls, sharing takeaways and highlighting what matters most seconds after management articulates their points. Today was one such occasion… and there were plenty of fireworks on this one. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update…  …

Each week we break down the rig count. Everyone can get their hands on the standard Baker Hughes rig count, but no one processes it week in and week out like the team here at Infill Thinking. And since we are spending a full week reporting from the road in …

A couple job openings posted online late last week caught our eye and tipped us off on a new development that may have been occurring under the radar. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update…  To read this update and receive our research newsletters, …

2019 E&P capex budget expectations have devolved fairly rapidly, worn down by macro erosion and crude oil price volatility. Over the past several months, multiple Infill Thinking updates have warned that 2019 E&P budgets (which initially pointed to spending increases) were at risk of contracting into negative territory in the …