Tag: Halliburton

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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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Baker Hughes Remains A Work In Progress

Under Construction

Transitions are hard, especially big ones. They’re even more challenging when they take a company from a well-plotted, successful path to an more uncertain one. Such is the story with Baker Hughes.

It’s been over three years since Baker Hughes embarked on its high-profile effort to transform from a relatively decentralized oilfield products and services provider to one determined to compete more widely and deftly via an expanded and deepened global footprint, along with a more integrated suite of products and services. To date, the promise of the strategy has yet to fully materialize. Continue reading “Baker Hughes Remains A Work In Progress”

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Can Weatherford Rise From The Ashes?

Weatherford

With the long-awaited restatement of its financials and resolution of tax issues expected to be completed shortly, Weatherford is looking to put one of the gloomiest chapters in its history behind it. And while the company faces challenges going forward, there’s evidence it could be closer than one might suspect to finding its natural place in the world.

An amalgam of acquired companies that provides everything from contract-drilling services to downhole completion tools, Weatherford has always possessed potential. Even its oilfield competitors acknowledge this. Yet, this potential has continually been arrested by an ongoing string of issues that, in whac-a-mole fashion, never seem to stop popping up. Continue reading “Can Weatherford Rise From The Ashes?”

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Suppliers’ Lockstep Strategies Not the Answer

Marching

Within the upstream oil and gas industry, there’s a limited number of oilfield suppliers possessing the size and scope to be considered fully integrated and/or global in nature. On the services side, the roll (listed alphabetically) includes Baker Hughes, Halliburton, Schlumberger and Weatherford International. For capital equipment, it’s Aker Solutions, Cameron International, FMC Technologies, GE Oil & Gas and National Oilwell Varco.

On a combined basis, these nine super suppliers (did we just coin a new term?) currently represent about a quarter of all supplier-segment sales to the global upstream. Yet, none of these companies currently enjoy above-average ratings in EnergyPoint Research’s independent customer satisfaction surveys. And the latest trends don’t suggest the situation will significantly change anytime soon.

Continue reading “Suppliers’ Lockstep Strategies Not the Answer”

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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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Availability & Delivery Help Drive Satisfaction in Artificial Lift

Artificial Lift - Feature Image

Advances in the E&P space coming fast these days. And industry suppliers that fail to stand equipped and fleet-of-foot run the risk of falling behind.

Results from EnergyPoint Research’s latest customer satisfaction survey indicate that product availability and efficient delivery are ways suppliers of artificial lift equipment might distinguish themselves going forward. Quality control, engineering and other factors will certainly continue to matter to customers, but so will actually having the desired equipment at the time it’s needed. Continue reading “Availability & Delivery Help Drive Satisfaction in Artificial Lift”

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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”

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The Supplier Side of Shale

Shale Renaissance: A Look at the Supplier-side

Horizontal drilling, multi-stage fracturing and other innovative technologies have forever changed both economics and mechanics underlying oil and gas development in U.S. onshore markets. Moreover, it’s looking increasingly like these methods will spread to other parts of the globe.

Unlike for certain other segments, suppliers deserve much of the credit for today’s shale renaissance. And that’s not just our opinion. Since 2008, users of oilfield products and services participating in EnergyPoint’s customer satisfaction surveys have rated suppliers noticeably higher for horizontal wells and other shale-related applications. This is the case for overall satisfaction and across multiple product and service attributes.

Continue reading “The Supplier Side of Shale”

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Rethinking Tetra Technologies

Rethinking Tetra Technologies

TETRA Technologies is a good example of how top-level leadership can impact a company. The provider of completion fluids and other oilfield products and services experienced a dramatic 90% stock price deterioration beginning August 2008, as the oilfield supply declined less than 60%. The outsize fall culminated with the resignation of the company’s long-term CEO in March 2009.

Since that time, data from EnergyPoint’s independent customer satisfaction surveys show TETRA has begun to rise from the ashes, earning more positive reviews from customers while simultaneously gaining back more than half its market value. Continue reading “Rethinking Tetra Technologies”

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The Other Drilling Guys

Directional Drilling Feature Image

The increasing complexity of today’s drilling process places considerable attention on the role of drilling contractors.  However, there are drilling-related services not traditionally provided by drillers that play an equally important role in determining the quality and profitability of a well.

For the purposes of EnergyPoint’s independent surveys, these other services fall into five segments: drilling fluids, fishing, cementing, directional drilling and measurement-while-drilling (MWD). Generally speaking, survey results suggest customers have high regard for the drilling-related services they provide.  In fact, the category’s customer satisfaction scores have outperformed EnergyPoint’s broader index of oilfield products and services since 2004. Continue reading “The Other Drilling Guys”