Energy Industry Intel & Commentary
This post was updated on June 26, 2019.
Oil prices have rebounded from their 2014 collapse. Yet for upstream suppliers, it’s hard to tell.
It’s going to take more than crude in the $60s to rebalance the oilfield. The problem remains structural. In short, there are too many players chasing too little demand. Continue reading “For Oilfield Suppliers, It’s Adapt or Die”
The evidence that customer satisfaction is an important metric for understanding, managing and anticipating the performance of today’s global oilfield suppliers continues to mount.
Recently completed analysis indicates the strongest tie yet (statistical significance levels are now well over 95%) between publicly traded oilfield suppliers’ customer satisfaction levels—as measured in EnergyPoint Research’s independent surveys—and the subsequent stock-price performance. Continue reading “Customers & Investors – The Ties That Bind”
Cameron and Schlumberger announced this morning the formation of OneSubsea, a 60/40 joint venture partnership that will focus on manufacturing and developing subsea products and services worldwide.
Cameron will contribute its existing subsea division and receive $600 million from Schlumberger. It will also act as operator. For its part, Schlumberger will contribute its Framo, Surveillance, Flow Assurance and Power and Controls businesses. Continue reading “Cameron – Schlumberger JV Shifts Subsea Currents”
The father of modern scientific method, Sir Francis Bacon, believed consistency to be “the foundation of virtue.” Dramatist and poet Oscar Wilde, on the other hand, saw consistency as the “last refuge of the unimaginative.”
While we do not wish in any way to diminish Wilde’s esteemed position in literary circles, we do suppose it’s a good thing he made his living with a pen and not with the drill bit. Why? Because this much we know: consistency matters in the oil and gas industry. In fact, it matters a lot. Continue reading “Wellheads & Trees: Consistency a Virtue, Reliability a Requirement”
The wisdom of the masses is a concept that contends information gathered from a group is generally more reliable than information gathered from any single individual within that group. If so, what is the industry saying en masse about the products used to develop offshore wells—particularly those at greater depths—in light of the Deepwater Horizon incident?
In short, EnergyPoint’s data suggest customers are significantly less satisfied with the equipment and materials available for subsea and deepwater projects than for land- and surface-based applications. In fact, since 2005, subsea products received the lowest overall customer ratings of all product segments tracked in our surveys. Continue reading “A Sea of Discontent”
It would not be surprising if last month’s announcement that General Electric will purchase oilfield equipment maker Vetco Gray sent a collective shiver down the spines of Vetco competitors.
For years, competitors watched Vetco more or less tread water under the ownership of ABB. Private-equity bought the company in 2004 and seemed to hold to the traditional private-equity model of limiting investments to initiatives offering the highest returns and quickest payback. We suspect to see changes at the company now that it is in the hands of a longer-term, more growth-oriented owner. Continue reading “GE’s Purchase of Vetco Gray: Examining the Impact”
