We are excited to kick off our Fall speaker lineup by welcoming Richard Spears in September to present "Winners & Losers in the New American Oilfield." This talk will explore how the consolidation of E&P companies in the United States affects service efficiency, operations, and costs across different basin regions.

Biography

Richard Spears and his brother John lead Spears & Associates, a 60-year-old global oilfield market research firm with 400 clients worldwide. Richard has been a member of SPE since the mid-'80s and serves on the boards of several oilfield service companies, including Varel, Activ Chemicals, Volant, APS Technologies, Pruitt Tool, Latshaw Drilling, and IGNIS Energy. Earlier in his career, Richard worked as the District Engineer for Halliburton in Northwest Oklahoma.

Abstract

Due to E&P consolidation, just 14 companies now represent half of all drilling and completion work in the United States, while 30 companies account for two-thirds. As these E&P consolidators absorb smaller producers, they also capture the attention of the service and equipment sector. This makes it increasingly difficult for smaller E&Ps to access the same scale and efficiencies that larger service companies can achieve through massive nationwide operations. The result isn't simply a division between "haves and have-nots" among E&Ps and service companies, but rather a segregation between companies that benefit from the operational efficiencies and cost savings of scale versus those struggling with a series of one-off projects. Richard will present examples from each basin.