A Survivor’s Guide to Oilfield Volatility — OFS Edition
So, what really happened last year? Our title really begs the question: Why do we need a survivor’s guide to 2020 if it’s over? It is important to review last year and analyze how we can adjust moving forward. We want to demonstrate that last year was tumultuous and we are still experiencing its consequences. […]
Is Price Creep Coming for Oilfield Services?
Are we seeing the first little clawbacks of price creep back in drilling and completing new wells? We don’t have a lot of evidence yet, but a few signs of increasing prices for oilfield services (OFS) are appearing on the horizon. For example, Devon Energy said that per unit expenses are up by ~5% in […]
Past Is Not Prologue: Changes Coming to U.S. Primary Energy Demand
The U.S. leads the world for per capita consumption of primary energy harvested directly from natural resources (Figure 1). While oil, solar and hydro are examples of primary fuels, electricity isn’t. Rather, different types of primary energy are transformed into power that turns on lights at the flick of a switch. The maturing of the […]
Oil Rally Roils Producer-Consumer Relations
Economic logic dictates that lowest-cost oil producers will survive longest once oil demand peaks, plateaus and starts to decline. In a shrinking market, OPEC low-cost oil producers, mostly operated by state-held national oil companies, should be able to maintain their market share and even expand it as higher-cost competitors falter. But if the volume outlook […]
ERCOT Outage: How Large a Role Did Natural Gas Play?
The cold snap that hit the central U.S. in mid-February not only crippled Texas, but also supported price spikes from neighboring states all the way to California. The Southwest Power Pool (SPP) and Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) manage the electricity grid for Oklahoma (SPP) and Louisiana (MISO). In addition, the California ISO (CAISO), which […]
Oil Sands Fuel Higher Gas Demand in Alberta
An underrated part of the Alberta gas story has been the steady increase in provincial gas demand over the past decade. Daily demand in the province reached an all-time high in February of 7.69 Bcf/d, passing the previous record of 7.52 Bcf/d set in January 2020 (Figure 1). While last month’s weather was undoubtedly frigid […]
Rollicking Tales of Traders Who No Risk Manager Could Save
So, you think you know risk management? Have a seat. The World For Sale wants to show you a thing or two. Javier Blas and Jack Farchy’s debut book, The World For Sale, isn’t about the types of traders who are typically glamorized by Hollywood in movies like The Wolf of Wall Street or The […]
Permian Well Cost Trends – Reflation and Innovation, Divergence and Convergence
Wells costs in the Permian dropped in recent years as operators applied lessons learned to improve capital efficiency. In response to the plummeting commodity prices in mid-2020, activity across all shale plays hit the brakes, resulting in a substantial decline in service costs. This demand-driven service cost deflation occurred concurrently with continued operational innovation in […]
My Career in Energy with Robert Hefner V
We’re launching a new series, My Career in Energy, where we’re featuring different people in our industry to learn how they got to where they are today and some of their thoughts and ideas. Interview with Robert Hefner V, Hefner Energy LLC Robert Hefner is an energy entrepreneur and Forbes U30 Lister; his insights […]
PetroLogic Podcast
Listen in to Judith Dwarkin, Bill Farren-Price and Morgan Kwan summarize key insights from the February 2021 edition of PetroLogic.