US independents see light at end of tunnel

摘要

Most US upstream independents will post steep year-on-year losses for the second quarter. But service firm Halliburton’s chief executive Dave Lesar suggests that the worst may be over for many US oil firms, although the recent oil price recovery towards $50/bl has sputtered. “Today our customers are thinking about growing their business again, rather than being focused on survival,” Lesar says. “There is a spring in their step that I did not see earlier this year and, in almost every case, they are talking about adding rigs, buying assets or doing something value-accretive. In short, they are getting back to business.” Expectations of a recovery partly stem from efficiency gains that the US oil industry has achieved in the past 18 months. Rigs have become at least 30pc more efficient, meaning more wells drilled, and a smaller crew requirement for drilling and hydraulic fracturing.