Why ERCOT Outage Scares Are Vexing Texas in Mild Weather
The threats of ERCOT power blackouts are emerging again this spring, just two months after millions of Texans survived freezing temperatures without heat or power during extended blackouts in February 2021. On Tuesday, April 13, Texas’ power grid again faced failure as extended maintenance work and unseasonable weather patterns brought typical supply levels lower. ERCOT […]
OFS: Optimize Cash Flow To Offset Lower Revenue
Request Free Tour When it comes to growth strategy, oilfield service companies can take a lesson from operators. Even before the market took a nosedive in 2020, E&P companies had to turn their focus inward to find sources of free cash flow to fund growth. One area of focus is digitalization of processes with cloud […]
Fast Track Economies of Scale Post-M&A With Digitalization and Analytics — Part 2
Part 2: Spend understanding Request Info In this blog series, we discuss why digitalization and analytics for M&A are key to uncovering best practices and how to use data-driven decision-making to find these best practices, maximizing cost savings within a newly formed organization. In article one, we discuss why digitalization of the back office lays […]
Fast Track Economies of Scale Post-M&A With Digitalization and Analytics — Part 1
Part 1: Digitalization Request Info Every business wants to grow and growth needs strategy. In energy, one strategy for continued growth is M&A, especially when the market goes into increased volatility. Acreage deals, when an operator wants to develop a major new area, focus on growth through acquiring new positions that don’t require significant DNC […]
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 […]