COMPLETION EQUIPMENT CONSTRAINTS

Payne Institute Program Manager Brad Handler has prepared a quarterly report on how activity in the U.S. oil patch has reached the point of being supply constrained. Areas of tightness had been identified earlier in the year and include wellbore pipe known as Oil Country Tubular Goods, or OCTG), hydraulic fracturing (frac) services and frac sand. For now, the oilfield services providers are not yet focusing on adding meaningful amounts of capacity. They, like their oil company customers, have received clear messages from investors and lenders to prioritize financial returns over growth.  And for at least some services, it is only with further price increases — and confidence that demand will persist — that the providers can justify investing in new equipment.  August 22, 2022.