In the recent past, US and Saudi drilling programs have exhibited an inverse relationship. The Saudis ramped aggressively into the downturn, and maintained elevated drilling levels while the US rig count crashed. Now as the US is ramping aggressively, the Saudis have toned things down a bit. Feature image credit: Instagram user …
Read More »As The Sharpest US Drilling Recovery Ever Continues, The Permian Is Being Left Out Now
In our previous weekly rig count update, we noted that Permian growth has been slowing and provided some thinking as to why. This week, Lower 48 drilling surged, printing its best weekly gain since January. But the Permian was notably absent from the party. We’ve got charts, stats and analysis on …
Read More »It’s Becoming A Rig Seller’s Market When Contractors Showcase Spot Exposure Instead Of Backlog
Just a few months ago, US land rig management teams were still touting their long-term contracts as an asset. Highlighting backlog and term duration is a defensive posture contractors assume when operators have pricing power. Rig count can rise. Dayrates can trough. But until management teams start talking about spot …
Read More »As Super Spec Land Rig Dayrates Surge, Patterson-UTI Dips A Toe Back Into Newbuild Construction
On Thursday, Patterson-UTI said it will take delivery of newbuild rigs again during 2017. In the downturn, Patterson-UTI suspended their newbuild program and last took took a delivery in 4Q15. There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update… To read this update and receive our …
Read More »Bifurcated Permian Basin Growth Will Set Off Redundant Construction Booms
We are all talking about the Permian Basin a ton these days. But is this too general now? As the entire industry descends on the region, it has bifurcated into two distinct geo-markets from a surface perspective… There’s a lot more to this story… Login to see the full update… To read …
Read More »Time To Clear The Yards
The US onshore rig count increased another 19 rigs to 689 running last week. All of this activity coming back means rigs are being moved out of the yards and into the field. This creates a veritable boom for rig movers. We uncovered some proprietary market intelligence on rig moves …
Read More »Sometimes You Need To Take A Breather
Nothing can go up and to the right forever, especially not the rig count. The US onshore rig count fell back by six units this week. This break is actually a good thing and we explain why and break down the weekly rig count in in this post. There’s a …
Read More »What Fourth Quarter Slump?
Back in October, the North American land market was bracing for a seasonal slowdown into year-end. Here’s the warning Halliburton CEO Dave Lesar issued on a conference call about 6 weeks ago: “Based on current customer feedback we remain cautious around customer activity due to holiday and seasonal weather-related downtime. Our customers …
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