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NexTier Closing Frack Office, Laying Off 104 in Tioga County, PA

Last June, Patterson-UTI Energy, which operates roughly half of the active rigs in the Marcellus/Utica, announced it was merging with NexTier Oilfield Solutions in a combination that would create the #1 company in fracking services in the country (see Patterson-UTI & NexTier to Merge, Bigger Fracker than Halliburton). The merger was completed last September. However, the NexTier name was kept on the door, at least in some locations, including an office with operations in Mansfield (Tioga County), PA. NexTier recently filed a WARN notice that it will close the Mansfield office and begin to lay off its 104 employees effective April 13th.
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Patterson-UTI & NexTier to Merge, Bigger Fracker than Halliburton

In the summer of 2021, Patterson-UTI Energy, which operates 21 active rigs in the Marcellus/Utica (out of 49 active M-U rigs, nearly half of all active M-U rigs!), announced it was buying a smaller competitor, Pioneer Energy Services Corp. (see Patterson-UTI Energy Buying Pioneer Energy Services for $295M). Patterson added Pioneer’s fleet of 16 super-spec drilling rigs to Patterson’s (at that time) fleet of 150 super-spec drilling rigs in the U.S. Big news! Yesterday Patterson announced it is expanding again by combining with NexTier Oilfield Solutions in a “merger of equals.”
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Range Resources Drilling Rig Catches Fire in Lycoming County, PA

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A Patterson-UTI drilling rig caught fire Monday night at a Marcellus well pad in Lycoming County, PA. The rig is contracted by Range Resources. The fire broke out around 10:30 pm Monday, shooting flames more than 100 feet high. The cause of the fire is not yet known, but it was not a “well-control incident” (out of control well burning)–that much is known. The local fire department chief credits the rig crew with getting things under control quickly. There were, thank God, no injuries.
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Patterson-UTI Energy Buying Pioneer Energy Services for $295M

Patterson-UTI Energy, which operates 15 active rigs in the Marcellus/Utica (out of 45 active M-U rigs, or fully one-third of all active M-U rigs) announced yesterday it is buying a smaller competitor, Pioneer Energy Services Corp., for approximately $295 million. Patterson will add Pioneer’s fleet of 16 super-spec drilling rigs to Patterson’s own current fleet of 150 super-spec drilling rigs in the U.S. What are super-spec rigs?
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Patterson-UTI Energy Says Fracking Biz has Stabilized, Improving

Patterson-UTI Energy released its third-quarter 2020 update yesterday. The company operates a number of rigs in the Marcellus/Utica region. According to its website, Patterson has 12 active rigs in the M-U (which is more than one-third of all active M-U rigs). CEO Andy Hendricks said yesterday that fracking activity across a number of shale plays is coming back and will continue to grow in 2021.
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Patterson-UTI Lowers 2020 Spending by 60%, TechnipFMC Down 30%

Both Patterson-UTI Energy and TechnipFMC are big oilfield services (OFS) companies–drilling, fracking, completions, etc. Both have operations in the Marcellus/Utica region, as well as operations in other shale plays (TechnipFMC has ops in other countries). Both companies run in the same pack with much larger (but similar) companies like Schlumberger, Halliburton and Baker Hughes. Because of their presence in the M-U, it caught our attention that both Patterson and TechnipFMC announced major cuts to their capital expenditure budgets for the balance of 2020. Patterson is axing more money from an already axed budget–now 60% lower than what they spent in 2019. TechnipFMC is trimming 30% from their budget this year over last.
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Patterson-UTI Looking to Sell Off its Fracking Division

Speaking of oilfield services (OFS) companies that are the result of mergers and acquisitions, for a number of years MDN tracked the monthly rig count for Patterson-UTI Energy as a proxy for rig count health in general and rig count health in the Marcellus/Utica in particular. Patterson operates many rigs in the M-U region. In April 2017, Patterson bought out and merged in Seventy Seven Energy, which was the spun-off former Chesapeake Oilfield Operating company (see Patterson-UTI Energy Completes Merger with Seventy Seven Energy). Because of a slow-down in drilling, Patterson is now looking to sell off its pressure pumping (i.e. fracking) business.
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Patterson-UTI Rig Count of 165 in January Another All-Time High

As we do each month, MDN tracks how many rigs oilfield services company Patterson-UTI Energy reports operating–as a proxy for rig count health in general and rig count health in the Marcellus/Utica in particular. Patterson operates many rigs in our region. Last April, Patterson bought out and merged in Seventy Seven Energy (SSE). The addition of SSE’s rigs served to rocket Patterson’s rig count number in April and May much higher (see Patterson-UTI Rig Count Continues to Rocket Skyward – 159 in May). With SSE fully absorbed into Patterson, the rig count number settled down. In September Patterson’s rig count slipped by 1–the first loss since June 2016. In October the count retreated another three, to 158. But the trend reversed in November when the the count jumped again–back up to 161. Then in December Patterson’s rig count hit a new, all-time high of 163 (see Patterson-UTI Rig Count Hits All-Time High in December, Up to 163). And here we are, in the dead of winter, and Patterson has done it again. The average rig count for January was 165, another new, all-time high…
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Patterson-UTI Issues Half Billion $ of New Debt to Pay Off Old Debt

Each month MDN tracks how many rigs oilfield services company Patterson-UTI Energy reports operating–as a proxy for rig count health in general and rig count health in the Marcellus/Utica in particular (see our Patterson stories here). Patterson operates many rigs in the Marcellus/Utica region, hence our interest in the company and what it does. Yesterday Patterson announced it wants to get $525 million (over half a billion dollars) for newly floated IOUs, called “notes” in the financial world. This is nothing new–for Patterson or most other publicly-traded companies in the oil and gas industry. We always marvel at how big finance works. The stated reason for floating over a half billion in new notes is…to pay off older notes. That is, they are floating new debt to pay off old debt, plus a little extra change “for general corporate purposes.” The new notes will be “guaranteed on a senior unsecured basis.” How does that work? Doesn’t “unsecured” mean “nothing backing it up”? How do you guarantee something with nothing? We’re not picking on Patterson–well, maybe just a little. We’re pointing out our own lack of understanding in how companies can continuously issue new debt for old debt. Won’t the piper need to be paid some day? Apparently today is not that day! Here’s the latest new-debt-for-old debt announcement…
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Patterson-UTI Rig Count Hits All-Time High in December, Up to 163

As we do each month, MDN tracks how many rigs oilfield services company Patterson-UTI Energy reports operating–as a proxy for rig count health in general and rig count health in the Marcellus/Utica in particular. Patterson operates many rigs in our region. Last April, Patterson bought out and merged in Seventy Seven Energy (SSE). The addition of SSE’s rigs served to rocket Patterson’s rig count number in April and May much higher (see Patterson-UTI Rig Count Continues to Rocket Skyward – 159 in May). With SSE fully absorbed into Patterson, the rig count number settled down. In September Patterson’s rig count slipped by 1–the first loss since June 2016. In October the count retreated another three, to 158. But the trend reversed in November when the the count jumped again–back up to 161. The numbers for December were just released and show Patterson’s monthly active rig count hit 163–which is a new, all-time high…
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Patterson-UTI Rig Count Gains 3 in November, Back Up to 161

As we do every month (and have for more than two years), MDN tracks how many rigs oilfield services company Patterson-UTI Energy reports operating–as a proxy for rig count health in general and rig count health in the Marcellus/Utica in particular. Patterson recently bought out and merged in Seventy Seven Energy (see Patterson-UTI Energy Completes Merger with Seventy Seven Energy). The addition of SSE’s rigs served to rocket Patterson’s rig count number in April and May much higher (see Patterson-UTI Rig Count Continues to Rocket Skyward – 159 in May). With SSE now fully absorbed into Patterson, the rig count number settled down. In September Patterson’s rig count slipped by 1–the first loss since June 2016. In October the count retreated another three, to 158. But what’s this? The numbers for November were just released and show that the count jumped again–back up to 161…
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Patterson-UTI Rig Count Slips Another 3 in October to 158

As we do every month (and have for more than two years), MDN tracks how many rigs oilfield services company Patterson-UTI Energy reports operating–as a proxy for rig count health in general and rig count health in the Marcellus/Utica in particular. Patterson recently bought out and merged in Seventy Seven Energy (see Patterson-UTI Energy Completes Merger with Seventy Seven Energy). The addition of SSE’s rigs served to rocket Patterson’s rig count number in April and May much higher (see Patterson-UTI Rig Count Continues to Rocket Skyward – 159 in May). With SSE now fully absorbed into Patterson, the rig count number settled down. In September Patterson’s rig count slipped by 1–the first loss since June 2016 (see Patterson-UTI Rig Count Count Slips by 1 Rig to 161 in Sept). The latest numbers are out for October, and the count retreated another three, to 158…
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Patterson-UTI Rig Count Count Slips by 1 Rig to 161 in Sept

As we do every month (and have for more than two years), MDN tracks how many rigs oilfield services company Patterson-UTI Energy reports operating–as a proxy for rig count health in general and rig count health in the Marcellus/Utica in particular. Patterson recently bought out and merged in Seventy Seven Energy (see Patterson-UTI Energy Completes Merger with Seventy Seven Energy). The addition of SSE’s rigs served to rocket Patterson’s rig count number in April and May much higher (see Patterson-UTI Rig Count Continues to Rocket Skyward – 159 in May). With SSE now fully absorbed into Patterson, the rig count number settled down. In June, Patterson’s count went up by a single new rig in North America, to 160. The trend continued in July, with Patterson picking up another 2 active rigs for 162 in North America–the 14th month in a row. Patterson reported last month that in August the rig count held at 162–no new rigs were added (see Patterson-UTI Rig Count Holds at All-Time High of 162 in August). And what about September? It had to happen sooner or later–what goes up must come down. In September, Patterson’s rig count slipped by one, to an average of 161 operating rigs. Hey, it was a great ride that went from June 2016 to July 2017…
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Patterson-UTI Buying Directional Driller MS Energy for ~$222M

Patterson-UTI Energy, an oilfield services company with major operations in the northeast, has just cut a deal to buy out a second company in a deal worth roughly $220 million. The company getting bought is MS Energy Services, a leading provider of directional drilling services in most U.S. shale plays, including a big presence in both the Marcellus and Utica Shale. It was only April of this year that Patterson completed a buyout of Seventy Seven Energy (SSE) in an all-stock deal worth $1.76 billion (see Patterson-UTI Energy Completes Merger with Seventy Seven Energy). SSE is the former Chesapeake Oilfield Operating company, the oilfield services subsidiary of Chesapeake Energy that Chessy spun out into its own company in July 2014 after it couldn’t find anyone to buy it. Since then, Patterson has absorbed and put to work SSE’s large drilling rig fleet. MS Energy is a much smaller competitor–with a specialization in directional drilling. The MS deal is similar to the SSE deal in that most of it is a stock swap. Patterson is giving MS Energy 8.8 million shares of stock worth (at yesterday’s opening value of $16.65 per share), $146.5 million. The deal also calls for an additional $75 million in cash. Add it together, and you get roughly $221.5 million. MS Energy’s CEO and COO are both getting jobs at Patterson as part of the deal. Here’s the lowdown on Patterson’s latest acquisition…
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Patterson-UTI Rig Count Holds at All-Time High of 162 in August

As we do every month (and have for more than two years), MDN tracks how many rigs oilfield services company Patterson-UTI Energy reports operating–as a proxy for rig count health in general and rig count health in the Marcellus/Utica in particular. Patterson recently bought out and merged in Seventy Seven Energy (see Patterson-UTI Energy Completes Merger with Seventy Seven Energy). The addition of SSE’s rigs served to rocket up Patterson’s rig count number in April and May (see Patterson-UTI Rig Count Continues to Rocket Skyward – 159 in May). With SSE now fully absorbed into Patterson, the rig count number settled down. In June, Patterson’s count went up by a single new rig in North America, to 160 (see Patterson-UTI Rig Count Hits New High of 160 in June). The trend continued in July, with Patterson picking up another 2 active rigs for 162 in North America–the 14th month in a row (see Patterson-UTI Rig Count Hits New High of 162 in July). Sooner or later it had to happen. Patterson reports in August the rig count held at 162–no new rigs were added. But hey, it’s still an incredible run!…
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Patterson-UTI Rig Count Hits New High of 162 in July

As we do every month (and have for more than two years), MDN tracks how many rigs oilfield services company Patterson-UTI Energy reports operating–as a proxy for rig count health in general and rig count health in the Marcellus/Utica in particular. Patterson recently bought out and merged in Seventy Seven Energy (see Patterson-UTI Energy Completes Merger with Seventy Seven Energy). The addition of SSE’s rigs served to rocket up Patterson’s rig count number in April and May (see Patterson-UTI Rig Count Continues to Rocket Skyward – 159 in May). With SSE now fully absorbed into Patterson, the rig count number settled down. In June, Patterson’s count went up by a single new rig in North America, to 160 (see Patterson-UTI Rig Count Hits New High of 160 in June). That was the 13th month in a row Patterson’s rig count has gone up–an astonishing run. The trend continued in July, with Patterson picking up another 2 active rigs for 162 in North America…
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