We devote a lot of bandwith to the most pressing concerns facing tight oil development here at Infill Thinking. In the long-run, other constraints rise on the horizon. These are the big picture sustainability sort of questions for tight oil development. In this post, we list these big picture issues …
Read More »Independent E&P Consolidation Is The Future. Is 2018 The Year? [Guest Post]
Experienced E&P strategist Paul Sparks has been thinking about the future of what today is a highly fragmented E&P industry. As the US unconventional business matures, will it always be run by 50+ public Independents and hundreds of smaller privates? Or is mass consolidation the future? History and some of …
Read More »The Independents May Intend To Temper Tight Oil Growth Next Year, But The Majors Sure Don’t…
On Tuesday, we warned that by taking their foot of the capex gas pedal at this point in the cycle, the Independents risk ceding share in shale development to the Majors. On Wednesday, Chevron’s 2018 budget release confirmed that this indeed will happen if actions follow words. There’s a lot …
Read More »Is It Really Different This Time? [Chart Of The Day]
We believe the recent surge of returns-focus rhetoric from E&Ps is having a considerable impact on consensus expectations for US shale E&P spending. This was evident in our recent survey, where participants expressed a bullish view on y/y oil price trends yet waxed conservative on the spending outlook. In this …
Read More »Taking The Oilfield’s Temperature On 2018 [Call For Survey Responses]
We poll subscribers on key questions about the 2018 oilfield service outlook. Our Q&A will reveal consensus among some of the industry’s smartest minds about 2018 trends, themes, and debates. To participate and view the results, please login or subscribe. At Infill Thinking, we are very aware of what our …
Read More »Establishing A 2018 Tight Oil E&P Capex Growth Floor? The Most Budget Conscious E&P Set A 16% 2018 Increase Vs. Prior 2017 Plan
Anadarko’s 2018 capital spending program was released Thursday morning. It is one of the first detailed 2018 E&P budgets to be released this budget season. Given their focus on discipline and returns and leadership in crafting a sustainable framework for developing tight oil, Anadarko’s E&P capex budget should help establish …
Read More »US Oilfield Contract Labor Heatmap & Listing Analysis [Guest Post]
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 …
Read More »How Far Can Shale Grow On Run Flat Tires?
E&P transcripts we’ve seen from recent investor conferences have been pretty upbeat all things considered. Why? Oil prices are sub-$45 and under pressure. Well, shale has some tricks up its sleeve that allow it to keep going, and we break them down here. There’s a lot more to this story… …
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 »E&Ps Actually Underspent Budget In Every Major US Onshore Play During 1Q17
We actively monitor spending patterns for approximately 50 public independent operators. With virtually all of their 1Q17 results disclosed over the past week or two, we can now report some detailed insights on what their spending during the first quarter of the year means for the rest of 2017. There’s a lot …
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