The recovery in oilfield service (OFS) activity and pricing outside the US has been waiting in the wings for three years. Outside the US, there have only been a few international bright spots – non-US oilfield growth has been non-existent. Most countries’ oilfield service markets have been dragging bottom all …
Read More »Payback’s A Rig. US/Saudi Drilling Reversal Continues, Bodes Well For OPEC Quota Compliance
A dramatic run up in the Saudi Arabian rig count preceded the OPEC November 2014 decision to become a price taker and defend market share. This of course triggered the biggest collapse in US drilling history. The decision to extend OPEC quotas in May was in fact predicted by just …
Read More »Saudization Gets Real: Contractors Are Selling Out To Avoid Being Phased Out
For service and drilling contractors that want a piece of Saudi Aramco’s $30bn annual budget, a line has been drawn in the desert sand. As we write, the NOC is making some of its first big moves to make good on an ambitious local content plan unveiled about a year ago. …
Read More »In Just One Day, Saudi Commits To More New Drilling Than The US Operators Have In Four Months
Saipem won 30 years of new land rig backlog in Saudi Arabia today. In the US, we estimate about 28 rig-years of land drilling backlog have been added in total since the bottom. We compare the Saudi and US drilling markets, and estimate backlog created in the young and tender recovery. …
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