Infill Thinking Lifting the O&G knowledge curve

We take you behind the scenes in another market beyond the Permian that may be fully supplied by in-basin frac sand by the end of next year. The story of these new Louisiana sand mines reminds us that there is plenty of potential for in-basin deposits beyond the dunes of …

The heat on the lizard is rising so US Silica’s news of inclusion in the Texas Conservation Plan TCP is well timed. More thoughts on the news and who else is in… There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update…  To read this update and …

Subscribers only. Breaking and exclusive reporting on the very latest in the dune sage brush lizard story from Infill Thinking. 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 …

Superior Energy Services, the ninth largest US pressure pumper by active horsepower, spoke comprehensively about the North American oilfield service market (and Permian completions in particular) on Tuesday morning. We’ve organized our notes from the conference call into the following key points. There’s a lot more to this story… Login …

Based on a study of job openings on Indeed.com, we estimate that upwards of 20% of advertised job listings in the Kermit/Monahans area of West Texas are posted by startup frac sand mines. In the full article, we show which sand miners have positions open and who they are competing with …

The falling rig count is playing heavily into early 3Q17 conference call discussions, particularly after last week’s big drop. We’ve long thought this correction was expected, but reaction to the decline reminds us that nothing is ever truly “priced in” until it happens. Here’s some context on where we’ve been, …

Halliburton hosted what we saw as a generally positive and realistic conference call Monday morning. The stock took a hit, we believe due to slowing NAM cyclical growth overall not because of HAL-specific concerns. The US rig count is pulling back as expected. In that context, Halliburton is focused on …

Listening to Schlumberger’s conference call this morning, we were reminded just how much Big OFS has changed. In this update, we focus on takeaways relevant to the oilfield’s general population – specifically the outlook for US pressure pumping, international OFS, new offshore contracting models, and the oil macro. There’s a lot …

Over the next three weeks, 86 oilfield companies we monitor will host conference calls to discuss results and outlook. We’ve got a cool sector timeline plus heatmap to help you know when to tune in to hear from sectors you care about. We also share an easy to digest list …

Yesterday morning, we had an opportunity to get out of the weeds a little bit and think about the big picture. We were preparing for an “introduction to the frac sand market” conference call with a consulting client who is new to the space and looking to get up to …

We break down a very important offshore drilling contract, explaining what it means for the deepwater 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 …

There is a new discussion topic over in our members-only discussion forum today. Click here to read the full thread and discuss In it we ponder whether enough Permian transload capacity is in place to service demand growth if in-basin frac sand mines fall short of expectations. Understandably, investment appetite …

Several Permian Basin mines are now shipping sand. But only one is still fully operational. What’s the latest on the next two in terms of startup schedules? Based on our recent discussion with management teams of the new plants approaching the finish line, we provide readers with a status update …

On Monday morning this week, we sent out an email survey to a select group of industry insiders who subscribe to Infill Thinking. We asked these folks to provide feedback anonymously on the risk to oilfield activity posed by phase-in of electronic logging device regs this December. We got some insightful …

Starting this week, we begin an analytical tour around basins outside the Permian. The focus feature in each of our regular weekly rig count updates over the next couple weeks will provide an overview on D&C activity trends in key basins beyond West Texas. Here are five Marcellus Shale charts …

A new protest has begun in the trucking community. It is starting small, but it is highly visible and could spread fast to the national stage. It has big implications for the oilfield. If the movement continues to grow, it could be a near-term negative for US onshore activity levels, …

The long awaited Unimin Permian sand mine location has finally been announced. A new filing reveals one of the best kept secrets of the Permian Basin sand mine rush: where will Unimin build their plant? There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update…  To read …

Friday was a big day for Borr Drilling. First the Schlumberger deal “an industry first” and now consolidation of stranded newbuilds. Borr is fast becoming the most exciting name to watch in offshore drilling. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update…  To read this …

We’ve heard from a lot of sand producers lately on the prospects of and plans for in-basin sand. More important of course is the commentary from E&P companies. We’ll be hearing a lot more from them as 3Q17 reporting season rolls around here in about three weeks.  Here’s what one …

3Q17 Highlights We shipped 27 newsletters during the third quarter. Our open rate averaged 60%. Based on analysis conducted by our email service provider, e-newsletters in our category average an open rate of 15-25%. Here is the newsletter that readers found the most intriguing: 2 New Permian Mines, M&A Mistake, …

We share a peek at trucks waiting on frac sand sent into us by a reader in the Permian 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 …

Here’s what you need to know about the latest rumor moving through the Permian Basin sand mining sewing circle. 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 …

Context and thoughts on the Borr / Schlumberger announcement. 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 …

Here’s what you need to know about the rumors that Unimin is buying Fairmount Santrol. 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 …

Want to know what a ton of frac sand is going for in the Permian spot market? Want to know what could cut 30% of trucking capacity out of the market? Want to know what has everyone in the oilfield on edge these days? Want to know what people expect …

Last quarter, RigUp contributed one of Infill Thinking’s most popular guest posts to date, sharing their views on trucking rates and demand and quantifying the addressable market for hauling for the first time. So we asked them to follow that up in this Friday guest post with a look at …

We are tracking 19 new frac sand mines worth 70mmtpa in the Permian Basin. We know where all but one of them are. We got some indication that the mystery site is moving forward this week, but we still don’t have a location… There’s a lot more to this story… …

The largest frac sand industry conference begins today (Wednesday 9/27) in Houston. And as the industry’s movers and shakers gathered over breakfast this morning, a leading sand producer dropped the news of their second planned facility in the Permian Basin derailing who knows how many conversations… Here’s our quick thoughts …

The US land rig count peaked most recently on August 4, 2017. Since then, it is down 21 rigs and down again slightly this week. Without the Permian Basin, it’d be down even more. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update…  To read this …

A leading environmentalist group has issued a new report on sand production in the Permian Basin and it’s impact on the dune sagebrush lizard. The report says  sand mining is a threat to the lizard that overshadows all the rest. Login to get the details on this new development… There’s a …

Infill Thinking founder and principal research analyst Joseph Triepke will present an overview of the Permian Basin frac sand rush as part of a panel including senior executives from three Permian sand producers. The presentation will be delivered Thursday morning September 28, 2017 in Houston. In this update, subscribers may …

The local press in West Texas reports that a listing petition is to be filed imminently. This could impact both Permian E&P and frac sand producers. 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 …

The debate around in-basin 40/70 grade frac sand quality heated up earlier this week when one Permian sand producer argued vigorously that customers will not buy local 40/70 because it is too fine and fragile. Preferred Sands, whose West Texas reserve profile is 50% 40/70, shared their response to this …

It’s not the full house cleaning analysts want to see, but the offshore drilling industry took a positive step towards healing today. More retirements is something one of our guest contributors, Ron Davis, called for in an analysis piece this summer. More retirements is what we got today…   There’s …

Historically, the sand dune fields in Winkler County Texas have primarily been used for cattle ranching. In the span of 9 months, 14 massive sand mines have been permitted in these ranchers’ backyards. Winkler ranches don’t change hands often – most have been in the same families for generations. So …

We provide experience-based insight on EOG’s latest corporate strategy move and break down how peers compare. We also discuss how this fits into current trends and why it makes sense in the new shale paradigm. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update…  To read …

The Kermit area is extremely dry, having averaged just 11 inches of precipitation per year since 2000 per NOAA records. That’s only about 1/3rd of the national average. Locals we are in contact with as well as some environmental experts we’ve spoken with recently have mentioned that it has been …

While the Lions were busy pummeling the Giants 24-10 on Monday night, Hi-Crush was hosting an analyst day (or night as it were) for investors. Over dinner at the Holiday Inn in Odessa Texas, the event showcased nine senior executives providing an in-depth overview of the company’s business and introducing …

We report breaking news from one of the new entrants in the Permian frac sand mine race. We think through some interesting angles about this new plant plan, this player’s second disclosed in the Permian Basin. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update…  To …

In this update we examine drilling permit data for South Texas to infer how the storm and subsequent flooding has impacted drilling rig demand in the region. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update…  To read this update and receive our research newsletters, you …

As the Permian frac sand mining story moves from the exploration phase to the execution phase, we thought it’d be interesting to get Tommy Mathews‘s view on the challenges and considerations that Permian miners should be thinking about as they enter production mode. The land grab is over. It’s time …

In this update we share the latest on frac sand mine openings in the Permian including an exclusive look at the very latest at the 2nd site coming online. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update…  To read this update and receive our research …

Last week, more than 75 oilfield executive presented their outlooks at the Barclays Energy-Power conference in New York. We thumbed through all the transcripts to extract the most interesting new insights on the frac sand market. We glossed over pedestrian talking points, capturing only new and interesting stuff that we …

Solaris Oilfield Infrastructure’s shale presence is expanding rapidly. If you blink you might miss their next system deployment (most deployments are configured as silo six-packs). In this update, a look at their progress, their system up close and personal, and what’s next for this fast growing newcomer in the US …

During the third quarter, the US onshore rig count trajectory has finally leveled off. We wrote about the stall a couple weeks ago in this update.  Speaking at an investor conference last week, two leading land drillers shrugged off the industry-wide rig count stall. See what they said in the …

When I first met Todd Bush, he was laying the groundwork for the research firm he co-founded in 2012, Energent Group. Even back then when his databases and software were in their early stages of development I recall being impressed by the granularity of the charts and output he was generating. …

At this point in the cycle, what every US shale market observer wants to know is when that big wave of newbuild pressure pumping equipment orders is going to hit. Pricing has been on the rise for over a year. Re-deployments have been the supply growth story so far, but …

There’s a new discussion topic in our forum on the Eagle Ford frac sand situation post Harvey. We’ve been hearing from industry sources this week word about temporary supply chain issues in Eagle Ford frac sand. We share what we’ve learned and invite readers to weigh in. Read & Discuss …

Last week we noted that Harvey left us with more upstream questions than answers… questions we expected to begin to get answered this week at the Barclays CEO Energy-Power Conference in New York. On Tuesday afternoon, the first public O&G event since the storm commenced and most companies provided hurricane business …

In this update, two quick charts to illustrate relative Wall Street sentiment divergence across the oilfield value chain. It’s been a rough year for O&G stocks in general, with the OSX index underperforming the S&P 500 by 42% year-to-date. But to really understand how Wall Street views the oilfield value …