Things are happening fast in the oilfield / sandpatch right now. In addition to the Infill Thinking research updates published this week, some third-party stories crossed our desk that are worthy of passing along. All links will open a third-party article in a new tab. There’s a lot more to …
Read More »Twenty Questions Set The Tone For The 2018 US Oilfield Service Marketplace
We believe the following 20 questions encapsulate the transcendent themes facing the US oilfield service market during 2018. These are not in any particular order. We have included plenty of context and background for each question, but we stopped short of answering them. As the new year begins, so much can still …
Read More »Monday Was EL’D-Day’ – A New Last Mile Logistics Era Has Begun
Well, after all the outcry leading up to mandate day, did anyone really expect a smooth start? On Monday December 18, soft enforcement of the new electronic logging device (ELD) rules began. We discuss what happened when shifts began in this new era and what it may mean for the …
Read More »The Long And Short Of Petitioning To List A Species Under The ESA [Guest Post]
Each Friday in the last month of each quarter, we pass our keyboard to an Infill Thinking subscriber to weigh in from their field. In October, two ENGOs provided a notice to the Comptrollers office of their intent to petition the US Fish and Wildlife Service to list the dunes …
Read More »Will “Rolling Protests” Go Viral Like NFL Kneeling And Delay ELD Regulation?
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, …
Read More »Building Rock Solid Environmental And Safety Programs In The Shifting Sands Of West Texas [Guest Post]
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 …
Read More »Dynamite Lizard Letter From The Texas Comptroller Is Going To Leave A Mark
The letter’s rhetoric will almost certainly cause some market observers to start taking the under on how much Permian sand is actually going to make it out of local mines. It will almost certainly be looked back on as a starting point for more formal environmental opposition. We summarize the …
Read More »Lizard vs. Mine – This Is A Big Deal That Rallied O&G Leaders In Midland This Week
Despite the potentially wide ranging impact on industry activities next year, the lizard’s crawl back into the spotlight has been accompanied by very little fanfare. Outside of a few plugged-in Permian E&P leaders and some of the more cerebral in-basin sand producers, we don’t believe this topic has gotten the …
Read More »Oilfield Inflation Update: The Groundbreaking OCTG Trade Ruling That Underwhelmed
So far in the upcycle, the well cost inflation discussion has largely focused on hydraulic fracturing pricing (both HHP / stage pricing and consumables). Rightly so, as leading edge price per stage has essentially doubled year-over-year. Prices for surface casing and tubing (collectively OCTG) are rising cyclically as well and the market is …
Read More »Asked & Answered – Engaging A Full House At The Largest O&G Workforce Conference
Last week, we presented our business outlook for the oilfield to kick off the day at the WorkforceNEXT energy conference in Houston. This gathering is the largest for HR executives in the O&G industry each year. And attendance this year was a record high – a sign of the times. …
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