Slow in oil patch (Fortuna: transport companies, wages, live) - City-Data Forum

raiderik · 07-15-2012, 08:29 AM

Is it my company or is it slow every where in the oil field?

ElkHunter · 07-15-2012, 09:30 AM

It's probably going to be slow for a while. Oil prices are down and that means it's not economically feasible to drill horizontally and frac. That type of drilling is costly. At the beginning, or when Bakken information was first released, they said that now that the prices were up so high, it made it prime for drilling in that method, but the prices would have to stay fairly stable and relatively expensive in order to keep drilling. Pretty much, the oil companies are idling along right now. If they continue to push hard, they'd do nothing but make the prices go lower yet and they don't want to do that. They'd also have to cap and lay off hands and again, they don't want to do that. They want to maintain what they have and hope that the Saudi's stop flooding the market with cheap oil. When that happens, the prices will start creeping up and production will too.

lisan23 · 07-15-2012, 01:11 PM

My husband has been off for a couple weeks, but he was INSANELY busy before he took his time off. I saw him maybe twice the last week of his days on. Oil goes through ups and downs, though. That is very normal, you will have busy periods and slow periods. It also depends on what kind of work you do, the company you work for, and more. Different jobs within the oilfield will experience slow times when others are busy. I'm not aware of any Saudi selloff, but what I do know is that the supply of oil is (as of right now) exceeding demand on a global level. Also, speculation on the market has driven the prices extremely high over the past couple years but that seems to be slowing down significantly. Here's an article explaining the market actions:

Falling Oil Prices Are No Mystery - Businessweek

Another thing that could start to bump the prices up is the strike in Norway.

To be entirely honest though, I personally am hoping that it does slow down for a bit. I don't want things to bottom out, but if we can maintain a steady pace of work here but give the area enough room to breathe and catch up to what's going on it would be nice. Of course, I realize this is HIGHLY unlikely to happen lol.

djrickett · 07-16-2012, 09:34 AM

Saudi Arabia, UAE bypass the Strait of Hormuz. Saudi Arabia and the UAE have quietly opened new pipelines bypassing the Strait of Hormuz, a move that will reduce Iran's power over oil markets. The strait, which Iran has repeatedly threatened to close, is the conduit for a third of the world’s seaborne oil trade.

Read this AM, the Saudi's will make sure their oil can get moved to market.

fourwinds · 07-16-2012, 03:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by raiderik

Is it my company or is it slow every where in the oil field?

Rig counts aren't necessarily down.

A number of oil companies have installed a lot of piping for fracking water, so it is highly likely that some of the transport companies that deliver frac water are not seeing the business they formerly had.

There's also more railroad loading stations (some with pipelines to them) so the distance to deliver crude from the well site may actually have decreased in many cases.

itsMeFred · 07-17-2012, 01:35 PM

The way I understand it, there are a certain number of wells that have already been drilled that have to be fracked before they can be capped. Ie, even if the market bottomed out today, they'd still have to finish fracking the current wells in order to cap them.

To the slow-down, I've heard several theories. One is that the permitting process has just moved to the next season. That is, they're working on summer permits now, and had slowed down as they hit the end of the spring permits. I've also heard a lot of companies are working on a fiscal year that ends at the end of June, so they were at the end of the budgets. But July means a new "year" and new money, after taking off a little for the Fourth.

Is it true? Beats me. But I do know my husband was complaining that there are trucks sitting again. Fortunately, he has also been doing their vac. truck, so he's not completely dependent upon fracking.

kychlo · 07-17-2012, 06:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by itsMeFred

The way I understand it, there are a certain number of wells that have already been drilled that have to be fracked before they can be capped. Ie, even if the market bottomed out today, they'd still have to finish fracking the current wells in order to cap them.

To the slow-down, I've heard several theories. One is that the permitting process has just moved to the next season. That is, they're working on summer permits now, and had slowed down as they hit the end of the spring permits. I've also heard a lot of companies are working on a fiscal year that ends at the end of June, so they were at the end of the budgets. But July means a new "year" and new money, after taking off a little for the Fourth.

Is it true? Beats me. But I do know my husband was complaining that there are trucks sitting again. Fortunately, he has also been doing their vac. truck, so he's not completely dependent upon fracking.

Permitting process does not have a "season" that I'm aware of. I don't think it's a fiscal year thing either.

Oil prices are down, costs are up (and operators are trying to lower them), competing services everywhere, election year. Any of you remember 2008-2009 in ND........I do. Rate cuts. Rig count drops. Cockroaches scatter.

kychlo · 07-17-2012, 06:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by itsMeFred

The way I understand it, there are a certain number of wells that have already been drilled that have to be fracked before they can be capped. Ie, even if the market bottomed out today, they'd still have to finish fracking the current wells in order to cap them.

To the slow-down, I've heard several theories. One is that the permitting process has just moved to the next season. That is, they're working on summer permits now, and had slowed down as they hit the end of the spring permits. I've also heard a lot of companies are working on a fiscal year that ends at the end of June, so they were at the end of the budgets. But July means a new "year" and new money, after taking off a little for the Fourth.

Is it true? Beats me. But I do know my husband was complaining that there are trucks sitting again. Fortunately, he has also been doing their vac. truck, so he's not completely dependent upon fracking.

I don't believe they don't have to complete any well they drill. It would be silly not to, but if oil drops below their threshold they may let it sit...wait for the prices to come back up....then frac it months from now....or not at all.

Broncogirl · 07-18-2012, 01:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kychlo

Permitting process does not have a "season" that I'm aware of. I don't think it's a fiscal year thing either.

Oil prices are down, costs are up (and operators are trying to lower them), competing services everywhere, election year. Any of you remember 2008-2009 in ND........I do. Rate cuts. Rig count drops. Cockroaches scatter.

I remember that, a lot of rig hands had wages drop from 9 to more an hour. I don't believe there is a season for permits either, and since there is no limit that really has no play in causes of a slow down. There are a few rigs stacked out, some because they are changing to new ones, and some because of the lower prices. Rig crews are being combined, a few anyways that I know of, and they are not afraid of firing anybody that don't pull their own weight or is not working the way they want them to.

JanND · 08-03-2012, 06:06 PM

A lot of answers to be found in this section: "Directors Cut"....https://www.dmr.nd.gov/oilgas/direct...2012-07-18.pdf of this website:https://www.dmr.nd.gov/oilgas/