The Drilldown: In-depth answers to oilfield questions

Richard & John Spears answer your questions & discuss the oilfield services industry. Got a question? Send it to drilldownshow@gmail.com New episode every Monday!

Ep165: Damage Assessment 06/29/2020

Ep165: Damage Assessment How much oilfield product/service line revenues were impacted Q2 as operators' slashed capex and what this means for supply chain resiliency. /episode/index/show/drilldown/id/15009158

Ep164: New World Order 06/22/2020

Ep164: New World Order Oil's back up, but rig count isn't. Why is that? We also discuss the changing landscape of market predicting. /episode/index/show/drilldown/id/14924153

Ep163: What About DUCS? 06/09/2020

Ep163: What About DUCS? What's going to happen to all the Drilled but uncompleted wells (DUCS) out there? Produced by Charlie Spears /episode/index/show/drilldown/id/14754287

Ep162: All For Naught 06/02/2020

Ep162: All For Naught Some oil companies have recently adopted the goal of reaching “net-zero” carbon emissions by 2050. John and Richard discuss when the net-zero target might start to affect decisions as to what types of exploration opportunities to pursue given the timeline for discovery and development. Other topics include: A brief history of the concept of zero /episode/index/show/drilldown/id/14671361

Ep161: Re-Discovering Exploration 05/26/2020

Ep161: Re-Discovering Exploration Exploratory activit has been hit hard by low commodity prices, but Richard & John make the case that it could stage a surprisingly strong recovery. Stranded assets vs profitable production Oil versus gas exploration R&D implications /episode/index/show/drilldown/id/14573975

Ep160: Inflection Points 05/18/2020

Ep160: Inflection Points Richard and John discuss the key dates in 2020 for decisions that will set the course for oilfield activity in the US, Canada and the Middle East in 2021. /episode/index/show/drilldown/id/14468675

Ep159: Lightning Round (Redux) 05/11/2020

Ep159: Lightning Round (Redux) Rapid fire questions on EOY oil price, which oilfield service sector will recover first, and Saudi Arabia. /episode/index/show/drilldown/id/14371919

Ep158: The Virtual Offshore Technology Conference 05/04/2020

Ep158: The Virtual Offshore Technology Conference In the spirit of Saturday's virtual Kentucky Derby, Richard & John call the action at the 2020 virtual Offshore Technology Conference. /episode/index/show/drilldown/id/14276174

Ep157: Uncharted Waters 04/27/2020

Ep157: Uncharted Waters Richard and John look outside the oilpatch to examples of surviving unprecedented events and overcoming challenging tasks as lessons for today’s oil industry. /episode/index/show/drilldown/id/14168195

Ep156: What Price Differentials Are Telling Us 04/20/2020

Ep156: What Price Differentials Are Telling Us Richard and John discuss what the current $16 price differential between WTI and Brent is telling us about the current oil market and what the current $17 price differential between the May and July futures prices is telling us about the future oil market. Other topics addressed include: How much oil is exported on a global basis? How much US production is likely to be shut-in? What type of US production will first come back into the market? Ernest Hemingway and Charles Mackay /episode/index/show/drilldown/id/14069420

Ep155: Shootout at the OPEC Corral 04/13/2020

Ep155: Shootout at the OPEC Corral We talk Sunday's OPEC production cut & the future of natural gas prices. /episode/index/show/drilldown/id/13969415

Ep154: What We're Hearing from the Field 04/06/2020

Ep154: What We're Hearing from the Field When will rig count bottom out? How fast are well costs changing? How will personnel logistics impact drilling/frac efficiency and offshore drilling? /episode/index/show/drilldown/id/13872713

Ep153: Does US Oilfield Spending Go to Zero? 03/30/2020

Ep153: Does US Oilfield Spending Go to Zero? No matter the price of oil, no matter the trend in drilling activity, the number is $150 frac dollars per reservoir foot drilled. The only real switch occurred in Q1 2015 when things collapsed the first time, but $150 is our number. It would take a change in industry behavior to take another step downward in Q2 2020…perhaps that happens, but do we predict it today? Not really. /episode/index/show/drilldown/id/13764566

152: A Unified Theory of the Oilpatch 03/23/2020

152: A Unified Theory of the Oilpatch Global oil inventories are set to increase due to the drop in oil demand and the rise in OPEC+ output. Richard and John discuss how much inventories might rise, how long it will take before they are back to normal, and the implications for US oilfield activity, oil production and oil prices. /episode/index/show/drilldown/id/13671338

Ep151: $32 oil. What now? 03/16/2020

Ep151: $32 oil. What now? Richard and John discuss the near-term impact of $32 oil on drilling and completion activity and revenues for selected market segments and oil service companies. In addition, they consider how the drop in drilling and completion will impact US oil production and what that means for the long-term outlook for oil prices. /episode/index/show/drilldown/id/13572422

Ep150: An Oilfield Crime 03/09/2020

Ep150: An Oilfield Crime Richard and John discuss the “Killers of the Flower Moon”, a book (and soon to be a movie) about a 1920s conspiracy to murder Osage Indians for their oil royalties and what became one of the FBI’s first major homicide investigations. /episode/index/show/drilldown/id/13473329

Ep149: Effective or Merely Efficient? 03/02/2020

Ep149: Effective or Merely Efficient? Richard and John discuss the winners and losers from the three-fold improvement in drilling and frac efficiency realized over the past couple of years. /episode/index/show/drilldown/id/13376477

Ep148: A Good Combination? 02/25/2020

Ep148: A Good Combination? Halliburton + TechnipFMC --- A Good Combination? Richard & John dive into Jane Austen to analyze the merits. /episode/index/show/drilldown/id/13294934

Ep147: ESG pt III 02/17/2020

Ep147: ESG pt III /episode/index/show/drilldown/id/13189625

Ep146: ESG Pt II 02/11/2020

Ep146: ESG Pt II In the second of a three-part series on ESG issues, Richard and John discuss social issues such as diversity, human rights and security that investors are increasingly using to evaluate operators and oilfield service firms. Other topics include: Total global value of stocks and bonds and the percent represented by sustainable investments. The absence of universally-accepted ESG standards The use and misuse of statistics /episode/index/show/drilldown/id/13108520

Ep145: ESG Part 1 02/03/2020

Ep145: ESG Part 1 ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) issues play an increasing role in investors’ financial decisions regarding operators and oil service firms, which have begun to take action in response. Richard and John discuss whether these actions are happening fast enough relative to non-industry expectations. /episode/index/show/drilldown/id/13001195

Ep145: The Law of Capture 01/28/2020

Ep145: The Law of Capture How the "Law of Capture" defines how US drillers will behave in 2020. /episode/index/show/drilldown/id/12924149

Ep143: Which oilfield services sectors do we see growing in 2020? 01/21/2020

Ep143: Which oilfield services sectors do we see growing in 2020? We're talking market segments this week! Which oilfield services sectors do we see growing in 2020? We go through our Oilfield Market Report and take a look at where each market segment is headed. /episode/index/show/drilldown/id/12837965

Ep142: Our Predictions for 2020 01/13/2020

Ep142: Our Predictions for 2020 It's that time again, Richard & John make predictions for this coming year. Tune in in 51 weeks where we tally up who reads tea leaves better. Produced by Charlie Spears /episode/index/show/drilldown/id/12722333

Ep141: We Review our Predictions for 2019 01/06/2020

Ep141: We Review our Predictions for 2019 Richard & John compare their over and under predictions for the past year -- how did they do? Produced by Charlie Spears /episode/index/show/drilldown/id/12634205

Ep140: Next Year's News 12/18/2019

Ep140: Next Year's News Richard and John list some of their “Ahead of the Bit” headlines they expect will describe the oilpatch in 2020. /episode/index/show/drilldown/id/12453605

Ep139- Did the oil & gas industry turn a corner these past few weeks? 12/09/2019

Ep139- Did the oil & gas industry turn a corner these past few weeks? Aramco going public, the switch from production growth to profit growth, and companies ability to deliver on profit growth. /episode/index/show/drilldown/id/12335786

Ep138: ‘Tis the Season: The Takings (not Santa) Clause 12/02/2019

Ep138: ‘Tis the Season: The Takings (not Santa) Clause Some presidential candidates have proposed to ban fracking, if elected. Richard and John discuss how such proposals would fare considering the Fifth Amendment and the impact on state governments. /episode/index/show/drilldown/id/12251888

Ep137: The Future of Oilfield R&D 11/18/2019

Ep137: The Future of Oilfield R&D Richard and John contrast and compare the structure and direction of oilfield R&D in a “peak oil demand” scenario relative to today’s industry. /episode/index/show/drilldown/id/12082100

Ep136: Oh, Canada: Part Deaux 11/11/2019

Ep136: Oh, Canada: Part Deaux Although the weather is turning colder the banking sector appears to be warming up to Canadian oil service firms. What’s going on? /episode/index/show/drilldown/id/11993999

The Drilldown: In-depth answers to oilfield questions

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