This week, the Infill Thinking team attended and participated in the largest annual conference in the frac sand industry, which was hosted by the Petroleum Connection in San Antonio. Between serving as Master of Ceremonies for the conference and moderating an in-basin sand panel, our busy team met with many …
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Halliburton Calls The Bottom, Sticks To Their Guns On Sand, & Peers Beneath The Surface To Unlock Pumping Value
Halliburton reported earnings Monday morning and hosted their quarterly conference call with investors. Here are four things to know from their remarks. 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 »Defining Consensus On Important 2019 Completions Debates [Survey Results Part 3 Of 3]
In part three of our industry survey results presentation, we share what a whole bunch of smart Infill Thinking members think about key issues in the hydraulic fracturing market. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update… To read this update and receive our research …
Read More »Setting A Baseline For Frac Sand In 2019 [Survey Results Part 2 Of 3]
In part two of our industry survey results presentation, we share how a whole bunch of smart Infill Thinking members shake out on key 2019 frac sand market debates. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update… To read this update and receive our research …
Read More »The Results Are In! Here’s How Your Peers See The 2019 US Onshore Outlook [Part 1 / 3]
This month, we asked Infill Thinking members a series of questions about the outlook for 2019. Our survey honed in on key debates in the turbulent US onshore oilfield service business. A whole bunch of smart people weighed in; here’s what they had to say… just as year-ahead planning starts …
Read More »As Infill Thinking Turns Two, We Just Want To Say Thank You!
Today marks an important milestone for the team here at Infill Thinking. This is the two-year anniversary of our very first oilfield research newsletter. As we paused to take a walk back down memory lane by revisiting Issue Number 1 this morning, we were overwhelmed by feelings of gratitude and …
Read More »Railing Local Permian Sand Outside The Basin Might Be History. Is Railing It Inside The Future?
By this time next year, you may be hearing a whole lot more about a new way to move local sand. In this Thinking Ahead update, we “do the numbers” on a cutting edge idea in sand logistics. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update… …
Read More »A Resounding Chorus Of “We Recycle Water” Is Echoing In Shale [3 Charts]
We take a look behind the curtain at some key trends in frac water. 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’d They Do? Indexed 3Q18 US Basin Drilling Activity Trends [Chart Of The Day]
In this week’s weekly rig count, we check out some key unconventional drilling trends during 3Q18 across the major US shale plays. 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 »This Week In Frac Sand, Divergent Datapoints Reveal A Tale Of Two Cities
Our channel checks reveal that the pain being felt by Northern frac sand producers continues to escalate at a rapid pace. Read the latest developments in the supply stack disruption rippling through this important completions segment here. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update… …
Read More »Taking The Oilfield Industry’s Temperature On 2019 [Call For Survey Responses]
At Infill Thinking, we are very aware of what our greatest asset is. Without a doubt it is our members roster. We are honored to have on this list some of the most accomplished executives in the US onshore business. Soon the rest of the oilfield market will shift their …
Read More »What People Came Here For During A Turbulent 3Q18 [Top 10 Stories]
Even though WTI oil prices were strong during 3Q18 (consistently trading near $70/bbl), the quarter was extremely volatile in the Lower 48 oilfield service marketplace. It was a quarter marred by what can best be described as mid-cycle turbulence. Oilfield service and product pricing came under pressure across multiple completions-related …
Read More »In Other News… NWS Trials & Tribulations, Permian Storm Clouds, Vista Is OK, DJ Basin Gap, & The West Texas “Extraction Colony”
In addition to the deeper Infill Thinking research updates published this week, a few other quick hits crossed our desk that are worthy of comment. So here are four short stories… There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update… To read this update and receive …
Read More »Winds Of Change: A New Strategic Focus At Preferred Sands [Exclusive]
As many readers know by now, there have been rumblings about some big changes happening at the company in recent days. We have learned more about what has transpired and what to expect going forward. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update… To read …
Read More »Time-Lapse Trends In Land Drilling Market Share After Recent M&A
Rig consolidation is back in the headlines this week after a big deal offshore on Monday (Ensco and Rowan merged). Although it’s received less attention, consolidation has picked up in onshore drilling too, with two material deals in the past three months. So this week, we took a look at …
Read More »We’ve Got Tough Questions. They’ve Got Enlightened Answers…
Infill Thinking is pleased to announce that Joseph Triepke, founder of Infill Thinking, has been invited to serve as Master of Ceremonies during this month’s frac sand conference in San Antonio hosted by the Petroleum Connection. In addition to serving as MC, Joseph Triepke will moderate a highly anticipated panel …
Read More »Closure Cascade: More “Out-Of-Basin” Frac Sand Plants Are Downsizing
The shuttering of “out-of-basin” capacity is key to a return to health in the oversupplied frac sand segment. Over the weekend, we saw a datapoint that suggests that this is happening quickly now, and not just at NWS mines…. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the …
Read More »You Will Be Judged On Survivability And Time: Assessing The Perilous Energy Investment Landscape
I can’t think of another time in my career that such a substantial upward move in oil prices was accompanied by so little investor enthusiasm for E&P and OFS stocks. At times over the last 18 months, it’s felt as if the group has collectively traded like a dying industry. …
Read More »In Permian News This Week… Power Ripples, Takeaway Accelerates, Rigs Consolidate, And A Major Reveal
We have rounded up some important Permian stuff that caught our eye this week. Here you’ll find several items that are worthy of putting on your weekend reading list as well as our thoughts on implications and feedback from contacts in industry on these topics. There’s a lot more to …
Read More »Arrows Down: A Last Mile Legal Battle Just Took A Shocking Turn
Some quick thoughts on what can only be described as a shocking court judgment this week in the last mile space. 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 »A Third STACK Plant Gets The Nod From Oklahoma City
Our investigative reporting reveals the latest on the MidCon mining front. 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 »An Underappreciated Metric Worth Watching This Earnings Season As Sentiment Has Shifted [Chart Of The Day]
Check out an underappreciated financial statistic that we think is important to monitor into the upcoming earnings season as a sign of industry health. 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 …
Read More »Permian Drilling Rig Efficiency Continues To MASSIVELY Lag The Rest Of The Lower 48
Each week we break apart the North American rig count in new ways that allow readers to dive beneath the week-to-week changes and better understand what the future may hold. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update… To read this update and receive our …
Read More »10 Things To Know About The New Haynesville Shale Mine Beyond The Press Release
Last week, we spoke with the management team of a private company that is building a 1.5mmtpa mine in Red River Parish, Louisiana. 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 »Lots Of Parents With No Children – Our Frac Hit Fear Index Remained Elevated In 3Q18 [Chart Of The Day]
We analyze trends in E&P C-suite conversations about frac hits and parent-child well interference and share a metric derived from our proprietary linguistic analysis of industry discussion. 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 »A New Plan For The Permian [Texas Comptroller Op-Ed]
It is our honor to welcome the Chief Financial Officer for the state of Texas as an Infill Thinking guest contributor today. Glenn Hegar was elected as the 36th Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts in November 2014. Glenn and his team at the Texas Comptroller’s office have played a high …
Read More »Wind-Down Wednesday: Plant Closures Strike Eight “Out-Of-Basin” Frac Sand Mines
Infill Thinking first reported talk of out-of-basin plant closures a month ago back in August. Here’s an excerpt from our “Zombie Plant” update on August 24: “Some NWS producers are evaluating plant closures and others may have actually already begun the mothballing process for some higher cost plants.” Infill Thinking, …
Read More »The Government’s Take On MidCon Frac Sand Mining
We share more boots-on-the-ground intel on the community and regulatory reaction to the frac sand mining rush playing out in the MidCon. 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 »Another Permian Bear On The Bandwagon. Will They Be Right For The Wrong Reasons?
In this week’s regular rig count update, we analyze the latest Permian bear call and shine a spotlight on Permian permits to discern clues about the near-term outlook for drilling after a better than expected 3Q rig count. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full …
Read More »Ribbon Cutting Is Fast Approaching At The First Northwestern Oklahoma Frac Sand Plant
From what we could see driving up to and around the property (it was raining hard during our site visit), the first northwestern Oklahoma frac sand plant looked substantially complete with just last minute connections remaining on the punch-list. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the …
Read More »Connecting The Dots On Recent Infill Thinking Reports
In this update, we follow up on several recent Infill Thinking stories with what’s new. Follow-up topics include: wellsite storage replacement cycle appearing in the mainstream press. a new mine opens confirming an exclusive report. … … There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update… …
Read More »The Sand Rancher’s Perspective As Mining Booms In His Dunes [Guest Post]
The sand dune fields in Winkler County Texas that are now home to almost two dozen frac sand mining projects have historically been used for cattle ranching. Some of these cattle ranches have been owned by the same families for generations. For this guest post, we invited these long-time area …
Read More »It’s Official: A New Mine Uncovered During Our MidCon Recon Trip Is Confirmed [Exclusive]
During our recent MidCon Recon trip, we learned from speaking with locals that a frac sand producer new to Oklahoma was actively looking at property for a new frac sand mine near Fay. We reported that datapoint in the first of several takeaway pieces from the trip several weeks ago. …
Read More »Incident At Black Mountain Vest Plant
Late breaking news tonight of the unfortunate variety. Updates are being posted as we learn more… 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, …
Read More »As Frac Sand’s Defining Moment Arrives, A Big Dose Of Uncertainty Enters NWS Shipping Lanes
Just when one thinks things cannot possibly get any more interesting in the frac sand supply transition story, things get more interesting. In this update, we think through what the big news from a critical logistics provider means. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full …
Read More »The Wellsite Frac Sand Storage Replacement Cycle Ends In 2018
All new gen wellsite storage suppliers have enjoyed remarkable growth trajectories, but how long will this continue to be the case? We examine a potential inflection point incorporating takeaways from a proprietary study we conducted in this update. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full …
Read More »Another Permian Mine Is About To Open [Exclusive]
We caught up with the management team of a private company gunning to open the next Permian mine. Read all about it here… 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 »The Permian Drilling Market Is Doing Pretty Good If Flat Is The New Up
Today we’re checking in on a Permian prediction made here three months ago. 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 …
Read More »Pressure Pumping, Last Mile Logistics, And Wellsite Storage Observations From The Road [MidCon Recon Part III]
More notes from the road from the time our team invested researching the MidCon on location. 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, …
Read More »Musings On Logistics And Sand From Wisconsin, Texas, And Elsewhere – A Geologist’s Perspective [Friday Guest Post]
Our guest author today is knowledgeable on the properties of both Texas and Northern White sand and has a great deal of firsthand historical context to back up his perspectives on both. We were particularly intrigued by his thoughts towards the end of his guest post on frac sand deposit …
Read More »What Paal Kibsgaard Said About The Permian Should Make Everyone Who Plans To Be There For Awhile Stop And Think…
Schlumberger went to town on a long-term risk in the Permian that we have been calling an existential threat for several quarters now. 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 »Is This The Biggest Frac Sand Contract Of All Time?
Quick thoughts on the breaking news Tuesday afternoon that a leading E&P has taken a stake in an in-basin frac sand plant. 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 »Vertically Integrated Eagle Ford Sand Will Be Loading Out Significantly Sooner Than Anticipated
Eagle Ford local sand 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 Thinking, or your membership has expired, please email us to discuss our …
Read More »Land Drillers Maintain Optimism Despite Completions Malaise
Several months ago, land drillers were very positive on the outlook. Since then, the completions industry has guided lower. How long will the land drillers stay positive? Here’s the latest thematic guidance. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update… To read this update and …
Read More »Oklahoma Greenfield Construction Progress Report [MidCon Recon, Photos]
In this update, we provide a firsthand update on the industry’s greenfield construction progress in Oklahoma. 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, …
Read More »The First Truckloads Are Departing A Brand New Permian Mine’s Gates [Exclusive]
Infill Thinking members can log in to see another exclusive report. This time, we report on the newest Permian mine startup before the official announcement, which we expect to make headlines elsewhere later this week. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update… To read …
Read More »Northern White Sand Contracted For The Permian Is Being Rerouted To The Bakken At Customer Request
In this update, check out what’s new in the narrative of frac sand’s transition to a local supply base. 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 …
Read More »When It Rains, It Pours
While we were getting drenched in the MidCon this week, the sky was falling in New York too. 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 »The Rig Hands Guide To Sales Success [Friday Guest Post]
In the world of consumer products the buying experience is often influenced by emotion. For example, if my mother always bought a particular brand of mayonnaise then it’s likely I will buy the same brand as I have an emotional attachment. It’s not likely that anyone ever bought barite or …
Read More »MidCon Recon: The First Batch Of Boots On The Ground Observations
The good old midwestern drenching we got in Oklahoma this week did not deter our mission of gathering firsthand intelligence on the Lower 48’s second largest drilling and completions market. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update… To read this update and receive our …
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