By Paul Wiseman Since the downturn began in earnest in early 2015, it seems service companies have been falling like a long row of dominoes. It seems those with the worst balance sheets began falling right away, with others following helplessly along the way. What characterizes those still standing? For companies like Cudd Energy […]
Help Along the Way
Julie Anderson During this seemingly long season of uncertainty, those in most every facet of the oil industry have been forced to analyze practices to determine whether or not what worked during prosperity will still work during scarcity. Changes have been made on all levels, from scaled-down activity to shrinking inventory to reduction of […]
Resiliency for Rent
by J. Chase Beakley To make a living renting equipment in the Permian Basin, you have to be flexible. Companies that are too slow to mobilize their fleets when business is booming will get elbowed out of the industry, and when things slow down they have to help their customers find ways to save […]
Pit-less in the Permian
Closed-loop drilling fluids systems shrink industry footprint. By Julie Anderson Perhaps it’s time to change the conversation, at least for a bit. There’s no denying the volatility, uncertainty, and gravity of declining oil prices, especially when it results in job loss. With that said, how about taking a look at the landscape in […]
Seismic Shift
Geophysical companies work to expand opportunities in a challenging economy. By Paul Wiseman Every stratum of the seismic industry is struggling as the explosion of oil and gas production creates low price shock waves for the industry across the globe. The small privately-owned company that interprets and stores data, the publicly-owned geophysical firm and […]
Coming Through in a Pinch
Occidental has just handed Midland the shiniest new jewel in its industrial crown. PBOG was there for the grand opening of Oxy’s state-of-the-art pad: Oxy Permian Plaza. Lana Cunningham With huddle rooms, bright colors, interwoven technology, and yes, a game room with Wii and other television-connected sports games, energy companies are attracting a new […]
Getting Clean
Cleaning up the oil and gas industry is no easy task, but those in the environmental and waste disposal industries are always up for the job. By Shanti Terry Upon approach, the environmental industry may seem simple enough. If a spill happens, they clean it up. If there’s waste present, they get rid of it. […]
Drill Indie
Independent drilling contractors are here to stay. By Chase Beakley Last year we heralded the rise of the independent drilling contractor, noting that 54 percent of active rigs in the Permian Basin were drilled by independent contractors outside of the eight biggest companies. At that time crude was selling for $101.92 a barrel and the boom […]
Diversionary Tactics
by Al Pickett, special contributor Things are never as simple as they seem. And sometimes when you think you understand something, you find that there’s another stage that calls for fresh scrutiny. As Frank Zamora pointed out recently, many in the industry believe that nearly 50 percent of the perforated clusters in hydraulically fractured wells […]
Requiem for a Canadian Pipeline
Industrial and political insiders sound off in response to the killing of the Keystone XL pipeline in November. by Tony Burke, Assistant Editor On Nov. 6, President Obama rejected TransCanada Corp’s Keystone XL pipeline application. The killing of the much bandied-about pipeline was hardly done in the heat of the moment, but calculated […]