Tag: fracking

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Hydraulic Fracturing & The Nocebo Effect

No Fracking Way

Recently, residents of Denton, Texas voted to ban hydraulic fracturing within the city limits.  One way to read the results from the referendum is to conclude that the verdict is in: unconventional drilling for oil and gas poses enough health risks to nearby communities that it had to be stopped in the Dallas-suburb home to drilling innovation.

But is fracking really to blame for recently high incidents of asthma, nose bleed and nausea reported by Denton residents?  As a pioneering city for hydraulic fracturing, the practice has been in place for decades in and around Denton.  What’s novel to the city is the anti-fracking activism and its coverage in both the local and national media. Continue reading “Hydraulic Fracturing & The Nocebo Effect”

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Top Oil Companies Increasingly Defined by Shale Innovation

Shale Rock

U.S. shale plays may be creating a novel way to measure the new breed of top oil companies. The standard yardstick of worldwide barrels produced per day still evokes names of familiar global players such as Exxon Mobil, Shell and BP, as well as state-owned entities like Saudi Aramco and Petrobras. When gauged by innovation on the frontier of enhanced oil recovery, however, a host of more narrowly focused companies enter the conversation.

The sheer volume of extractable petroleum, and the related economic potential, justifiably dominate shale discussions. The Bakken Shale helped reinvigorate domestic oil drilling, and the Eagle Ford Shale promises to make Texas the eighth largest producer of crude in the world by the end of this year. EOG Resources, a gas company turned top shale-oil producer, has plans to drill 425 wells this year in Eagle Ford. These shales are incubators where today’s new type of top oil company is changing the way we extract hydrocarbons. Continue reading “Top Oil Companies Increasingly Defined by Shale Innovation”

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The “Bad Apple” Scenario (Revisited)

Bad Oilfield Apple

The Wall Street Journal recently published an article pointing out that fewer environmental incidents are being recorded now that larger, more experienced operators have begun to supplant smaller ones in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale. While this is certainly welcome news, the industry has reason to remain vigilant in greenfield regions that lack installed infrastructure and/or a pool of trained and experienced personnel.

With this in mind, we thought we’d share an updated version of the “Bad Apple” post we published back in the Fall of 2012. We hope it will serve as a reminder of the potential pitfalls that exist as the industry moves into new regions to develop an ever-expanding set of resources. Continue reading “The “Bad Apple” Scenario (Revisited)”

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The Grapevine: Halliburton

OIlfield Grapevine

Halliburton has seen a leveling off of its customer satisfaction marks recently, bringing to a halt the downward drift it experienced last year. Its plight going forward seems to increasingly hinge on the company’s Frac of the Future initiative.

Below are some observations on what we’ve read and heard from company management and its customers as of late, as well as input from others in the oilfield: Continue reading “The Grapevine: Halliburton”

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The Grapevine: Baker Hughes

OIlfield Grapevine

Earlier this week, Baker Hughes reported financial results for the final quarter of 2012. As had been telegraphed, earnings were down compared to the same period a year ago. Revenues were off as well. Below are some thoughts regarding what we’ve read and heard from the company’s management and its customers, as well as some input from others in the oilfield:

  • We get the sense Baker Hughes is beginning to re-evaluate some of its strategic assumptions and decisions. For one, management is now rationalizing certain operations in global geo-markets whose prospects are questionable. This seems a smart, if overdue, move. Continue reading “The Grapevine: Baker Hughes”

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Halliburton Looks to the Future

Halliburton Looks Forward

When EnergyPoint published its first-ever survey results in 2004, Halliburton was in the midst of a high-profile juggling act of sorts. The company was grappling with asbestos-related legal issues inherited via its ill-fated Dresser Industries acquisition, even as its now-jettisoned KBR subsidiary was taking flak—both in the media and in political circles—over a series of inutile U.S. military contracts.

At the time, we weren’t sure if these distractions were contributing to the company’s lackluster oilfield customer satisfaction scores. In retrospect, it appears they were.  Halliburton’s ratings improved appreciably once the issues were resolved, as management concentrated on its mainstay energy-services business. Continue reading “Halliburton Looks to the Future”

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FMC Technologies Makes a Play in Shale

FMC Tank

With the impending purchase of Canada’s Pure Energy Services, Houston-based FMC Technologies adds frac flowback treatment and cleanup services to its portfolio of offerings. In doing so, the company enters the service-side of the fracking game more as waterboy than as athlete, more satisfied to clean up after the segment’s higher-profile stars than to challenge them at their own game. But why? Continue reading “FMC Technologies Makes a Play in Shale”

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Why Concerns Over Guar Are Overblown

Guar Beans

The shortage of guar gum and its potential impact on the ability of oilfield suppliers to meet hydraulic fracturing demand has been a hot topic as of late. While we acknowledge the issue is intriguing (i.e., an unforeseen shortage of a strange plant product no one had really even heard of a year ago, hoarding of inventories by the globe’s number one producer, etc.), it’s our opinion that concerns are overblown for the following reasons: Continue reading “Why Concerns Over Guar Are Overblown”

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Opportunities Stack Up, As Fracs Back Up

The Big Three Pressure Pumpers See Falling Ratings

One would think E&P companies would be cheering. Nominal hydraulic fracturing capacity looks on pace to rise 25 percent or more this year. And advances in technology promise to bolster both the potency and cleanliness of the increasingly relied-upon service.

Yet, against the backdrop of capacity growth and technological advances, suppliers of frac services are earning relatively low marks in EnergyPoint customer satisfaction surveys. In fact, as demand for frac services increases, the less content customers seem—especially compared to other completion-related services. This is certainly the case for perennial segment leader Halliburton (although the company’s ratings still continue to lead those of its major peers). It appears the case for Schlumberger and Baker Hughes as well. Continue reading “Opportunities Stack Up, As Fracs Back Up”