The Drilldown: in-depth answers to oilfield questions | w/ Richard & John Spears

For better or for worse, the oil patch has been featured in film over the decades. Richard & John each have their top 10 favorite movies that feature oil & gas! Their #1 (which they happen to agree on!) will surprise you! Produced by Charlie Spears If you have a question for The Drilldown, email [email protected]

We answer the all-important question of the correct way to pronounce "Cementing". Richard & John go back to the basics and explain how a well is cemented and why it is important.

Strap in 'cause we're gonna talk about Lease Operating Expenses (LOE) this episode. While breakeven costs drive new field development, LOEs drive well abandonment. Richard & John discuss lifting costs for horizontal wells, how they age, and how "Big Data" will impact LOE's. Episode produced by Charlie Spears.

An emerging issue in the US oilpatch is the set of completion and production problems created by long, crooked laterals. In this podcast we discuss how prioritizing ROP over wellbore trajectory can result in increased inefficiencies in stimulation, wireline, coiled tubing and artificial lift operations. Also in the show: Are operators willing to live with the trade-off? How will service companies respond?

What's the proper way to measure the frack business? We talk proppant, horsepower, and how we interpret the data. Produced by Charlie Spears

Drilling has slowed down this quarter, even decreased, so how does this affect oilfield inflation? The Drilldown talks the changing well costs across several regions and speculates on what Q4 will look like. John shares how operators & service firms have responded in the past to similar scenarios. Also! Richard & John share how they "pretend to drill a well" in order to figure out the price of services. Episode produced by Charlie Spears

Although activity is up sharply this year, oil service firms have yet to see their profitability return to the pre-2015 levels that investors expect. We discuss how the “lower-for- longer” mindset driving the focus on efficiency shifts the oil service industry discussion from “return on sales” to “return on assets”. How much of an improvement in profitability are service firms targeting going forward? Can price increases play a role in margin improvement? Also, is availability a thing of the past? Episode produced by Charlie Spears.

Thousands of equipment and service firms participate in one or more of the many different market segments which comprise the upstream sector of the global petroleum industry. This week we identify which firm is currently the market share leader in each of 32 segments, as identified in the upcoming Oilfield Market Report. Other topics addressed include: How does GE’s acquisition of Baker Hughes impact the rankings in the Artificial Lift market? Which firms have reached the top spot in their markets for the first time this year? The Drilldown is produced by Charlie Spears. Send us a question at [email protected]!

Does Wall Street realize than booked reserves will have to be written down because long laterals won’t be productive after 5 years? We answer this question and more this episode including: Why are drilling/completion departments making 12-15 month planning schedules while procurement departments are using only three-month purchasing cycles? When will the rate of oilfield inflation slow down? Could it go negative? Why is our estimate of proppant demand so high? When will offshore activity start growing again? Why is Unit Manufacturing the most volatile of all the OFS market segments? Episode produced by Charlie Spears. If you have a question for The Drilldown send it to [email protected] and you might hear it on an upcoming episode!

"Well intervention" has different meanings for drilling, completion and production operations.  We discuss the drivers of the well intervention market, the rental and fishing services sector, and some of the more interesting tools that have been invented! What is the primary driver of the rental and fishing services market? What types of tools are used in fishing operations?