US service companies set to shine
A tighter market for fracking equipment and a rosy drilling outlook have operators recovering their pre-crash form
As America's oil and gas production marched towards record highs over the past year, a surprising corner of the market was left out of the party—the companies hired to do all that drilling. For the big American oilfield service companies, the recovery has been painfully slow to arrive. After a massive buildout of drilling capacity in the early years of the shale boom, companies were left with a glut of rigs, pressure pumping equipment and other fracking supplies. With so much excess kit laying around, producers knew they could pit their service providers against each other to keep costs low, even as drilling activity picked up. The fact that producers were figuring out ways to get more oil f
Also in this section
25 March 2025
Cote d’Ivoire’s ambitions to become a major regional producer have gained renewed momentum, with established players and new entrants striking upstream deals and committing to long-term investment
24 March 2025
Indian E&P company wants to take domestic production to a new horizon, given the amount of unexplored opportunities
21 March 2025
Two recent developments raise the prospect of a revival in northern Iraqi oil and gas fortunes, but familiar obstacles could thwart momentum
20 March 2025
As cash-strapped Western governments commit to substantially raising defence expenditure, a similar dynamic is playing out in Saudi Arabia’s oil and gas sector, as Saudi Aramco maintains it heavy capex push despite reduced revenues
