Patterson-UTI

Each month MDN tracks how many rigs oilfield services company Patterson-UTI Energy reports operating–as a proxy for when/if the drop in rig counts for the Marcellus/Utica will turn around. Patterson operates a number of rigs in the northeast, as well as other areas of the continental United States (and Canada). Patterson reported losing $84 million during the second quarter of 2016, responding that the company is positioned for a recovery (see Patterson-UTI 2Q16: $86M Loss, “Well Positioned” for a Recovery). How about 3Q16? Patterson issued their third quarter update yesterday, and it shows the company lost $84 million. Yuck. Of course, that’s an improvement from losing $226 million a year earlier in 3Q15. Patterson CEO Andy Hendricks said rig counts have steadily climbed higher since May, something we’ve noted month by month here on MDN. Patterson Chairman of the Board, Mark Siegel, said the industry “has begun the initial stages of the recovery process.” That’s good news. Here’s the 3Q16 update from Patterson-UTI Energy…
Read More “Patterson-UTI 3Q16: $84M Loss, Industry has Begun Recovery”

As we do every month, MDN tracks how many rigs oilfield services company Patterson-UTI Energy reports operating–as a proxy for when/if the drop in rig counts for the Marcellus/Utica will turn around. Patterson operates a number of rigs in the northeast, as well as other areas of the continental United States (and Canada). Month by month Paterson’s rig count has declined over the past year plus–until June (see Tide has Turned: Patterson-UTI June Rig Count Ticks Up by 2). June was the first time in over a year that Patterson’s rig count reversed and began to climb once again. In July the count went up again (see Patterson-UTI July Rig Count Goes Up for 2nd Month in Row). And wonder of wonders, the count rose again in August (see Turn Around! Patterson-UTI August Rig Count Up 3rd Mo in a Row). We were holding our breath for September. Would the count go up again? Or would the momentum stall out? The numbers are in, and Patterson reports their rig count rose by another two active rigs in September! That’s the fourth straight month of increases in the count…
Read More “Turnaround Continues: Patterson-UTI Sept Rig Count Up 4th Mo”

As we do every month, MDN tracks how many rigs oilfield services company Patterson-UTI Energy reports operating–as a proxy for when/if the drop in rig counts for the Marcellus/Utica will turn around. Patterson operates a number of rigs in the northeast, as well as other areas of the continental United States (and Canada). Month by month Paterson’s rig count has declined over the past year plus–until June (see Tide has Turned: Patterson-UTI June Rig Count Ticks Up by 2). June was the first time in over a year that Patterson’s rig count reversed and began to climb once again. In July the count went up again (see Patterson-UTI July Rig Count Goes Up for 2nd Month in Row). And now, drum roll please! For a third month in a row the Patterson-UTI rig count in the U.S. increased, jumping from 56 rigs operating in July to 60 operating in August. We believe we can safely say we’ve now turned the corner with drilling in the Marcellus/Utica. We’re officially on the upswing!…
Read More “Turn Around! Patterson-UTI August Rig Count Up 3rd Mo in a Row”

As we do every month, MDN tracks how many rigs oilfield services company Patterson-UTI Energy reports operating–as a proxy for when/if the drop in rig counts for the Marcellus/Utica will turn around. Patterson operates a number of rigs in the northeast, as well as other areas of the continental United States (and Canada). Month by month Paterson’s rig count has declined over the past year plus–until June (see Tide has Turned: Patterson-UTI June Rig Count Ticks Up by 2). June was the first time in over a year that Patterson’s rig count reversed and began to climb once again. What about July? The numbers are in, and we’re excited to report that Patterson added another rig to the count in July…
Read More “Patterson-UTI July Rig Count Goes Up for 2nd Month in Row”

Each month MDN tracks how many rigs oilfield services company Patterson-UTI Energy reports operating–as a proxy for when/if the drop in rig counts for the Marcellus/Utica will turn around. Patterson operates a number of rigs in the northeast, as well as other areas of the continental United States (and Canada). After more than a year, Patterson’s June report finally showed a small turnaround (see Tide has Turned: Patterson-UTI June Rig Count Ticks Up by 2). But what about Patterson’s financial health? The company released their second quarter 2016 update earlier today. Patterson reports losing $86 million in 2Q16, versus losing $19 million in 2Q15. The reason for the drop: Patterson averaged 55 operating rigs in 2Q16 versus an average of 71 rigs operating in 1Q16. According to comments by the company’s top brass, they are doing everything they can to make it through the downturn and believe they are “well positioned for a recovery.” If things have truly turned around and drilling is back, hopefully Patterson will come roaring back. The Marcellus/Utica is counting on it!…
Read More “Patterson-UTI 2Q16: $86M Loss, “Well Positioned” for a Recovery”

Each month MDN reports on the rig count for oilfield services company Patterson-UTI Energy. Why? Because Patterson-UTI has major operations in the Marcellus/Utica and we use their rig count as a proxy for predicting the pickup or slowdown of drilling in the northeast. Last week we reported the exciting news that Patterson’s rig count had, after more than a year, reversed and went up (see Tide has Turned: Patterson-UTI June Rig Count Ticks Up by 2). Today we report that Patterson is, like so many other companies in the oil and gas sector, playing around with its financing. Patterson announced it has extended its line of credit. Some $358 million of the company’s $500 million line of credit was due to be paid off by September 2017. They cut a deal with their bankers to extend that to March 2019. Plus they’re doing some other financial finagling…
Read More “Financial Finagling: Patterson-UTI Extends Date for Line of Credit”

As we do every month, MDN tracks how many rigs oilfield services company Patterson-UTI Energy reports operating–as a proxy for when/if the drop in rig counts for the Marcellus/Utica will turn around. Patterson operates a number of rigs in the northeast, as well as other areas of the continental United States (and Canada). Month by month Paterson’s rig count has declined over the past year plus. We have been waiting for over a year to report this: We’ve finally turned the corner! The Patterson rig count in June ticked up by 2 rigs–to 55 active rigs (up from 53 in May). Perhaps it’s too early to pop the cork on the champagne, but we are excited and hope/think this portends the slow down has finally hit rock bottom and new drilling is, ever so gradually, beginning to pick up again…
Read More “Tide has Turned: Patterson-UTI June Rig Count Ticks Up by 2”

As we do every month, MDN tracks how many rigs oilfield services company Patterson-UTI Energy reports operating–as a proxy for when/if the drop in rig counts for the Marcellus/Utica will turn around. Patterson operates a number of rigs in the northeast, as well as other areas of the continental United States (and Canada). Month by month Paterson’s rig count has declined over the past year plus. May was no different–although the good news is that the rate of decline slowed. Patterson reports operating an average of 53 rigs in May, versus 56 in April–a 5% drop…
Read More “Signs of Hope? Patterson-UTI Rig Count Drop Slows in May”

As we do every month, MDN tracks how many rigs oilfield services company Patterson-UTI Energy reports operating–as a proxy for when/if the drop in rig counts for the Marcellus/Utica will turn around. Patterson operates a number of rigs in the northeast, as well as other areas of the continental United States (and Canada). Month by month Paterson’s rig count has declined over the past year plus. April was no different. Patterson reports operating an average of 56 rigs in April, versus 64 in March–a big 12.5% drop and a new low. Once again we ask, how low can it go? Below is our running Patterson-UTI rig count chart that shows the sad story…
Read More “Patterson-UTI Rig Count for April Hits Another New Low”

Each month MDN tracks the number of active rigs deployed by oilfield services drilling company Patterson-UTI Energy (see our Patterson-UTI stories here). Patterson deploys a number of rigs in the Marcellus/Utica, so we use them as a proxy for trends in rig counts in our region. The news has not been good for Patterson. The most recent monthly count, for March, was it’s lowest yet (see How Low Can it Go? Patterson-UTI Rig Count Plunges to 64 in March). Yesterday Patterson issued its first quarter 2016 update, and the news was, well, not very good. The company lost $70.5 million in 1Q16, compared with making $9.1 million in 1Q15. Revenues were WAY down–from $658 million in 1Q15 to $269 million in 1Q16. Ouch. Management expects to see a further 20% decline in the second quarter. Here’s the full, sad story…
Read More “Patterson-UTI 1Q16: $70M Loss, Rig Counts Down, Still Bleeding”

As we do every month, MDN tracks how many rigs oilfield services company Patterson-UTI Energy reports operating–as a proxy for when/if the drop in rig counts for the Marcellus/Utica will turn around. Patterson operates a number of rigs in the northeast, as well as other areas of the continental United States (and Canada). Month by month Paterson’s rig count has declined from 5-10% (see Patterson-UTI Average Rig Count Falls to 74 in February). The latest numbers are out and Patterson’s rig count has dropped another 10 rigs, to 64. That’s a massive 14% drop in a single month. We seriously ask ourselves, just how low can it go?…
Read More “How Low Can it Go? Patterson-UTI Rig Count Plunges to 64 in March”

As we do every month, MDN tracks how many rigs oilfield services company Patterson-UTI Energy reports operating–as a proxy for when/if the drop in rig counts for the Marcellus/Utica will turn around. Patterson operates a number of rigs in the northeast, as well as other areas of the continental United States (and Canada). Previously Patterson’s January rig count number went down by 5%–from 82 in December to 78 in December. The month before that it was down 10%–from from 91 in November to 82 in December. What about February? Down another 4 rigs to a new low of 74 operating in the U.S. That’s a decrease of another 5%. Will the bleeding never end?…
Read More “Patterson-UTI Average Rig Count Falls to 74 in February”

As we do every month, MDN tracks how many rigs oilfield services company Patterson-UTI Energy reports operating–as a proxy for when/if the drop in rig counts for the Marcellus/Utica will turn around. Patterson operates a number of rigs in the northeast, as well as other areas of the continental United States (and Canada). Previously Patterson’s December rig count number went down by 10% from November–from 91 in November to 82 in December. The count has dropped again for January–down to 78 active rigs for the month. For many months Patterson’s Canadian rig count has stood at four. Below is the announcement for January’s numbers, along with a chart we’ve created showing Patterson’s average monthly rig count number from March 2015 through January 2016…
Read More “Patterson-UTI Average Rig Count Falls to 78 in January”

As we do every month, MDN tracks how many rigs oilfield services company Patterson-UTI Energy reports operating–as a proxy for when/if the drop in rig counts for the Marcellus/Utica will turn around. Patterson operates a number of rigs in the northeast, as well as other areas of the continental United States (and Canada). Patterson’s November rig count number went down, but only by one, which led us to speculate that perhaps we had finally turned the corner on falling rig counts (see Patterson-UTI Rig Count Hits New Low in November). Alas, we were wrong–in a big way. Patterson released their December rig count numbers yesterday and their U.S. rig count dropped from 91 in November to 82 in December–down 10% in a single month. For months and months Patterson has operated four rigs in Canada. In December the Canadian rig count went to one. It seems like there’s no end of bad news when it comes to domestic shale drilling…
Read More “Ouch: Patterson-UTI Rig Count Drops Another 10% in December”