Servicing the oil boom as exploration and production surges
Services companies are looking ahead to a bumper year, as exploration and production in the oil sector surges and the slump in North America’s gas industry opens up a wealth of opportunity
This year promises to be a better year for oilfield services companies. And news in April that the US oil rig count hit a new record high, while a few weeks earlier the number of natural gas drilling rigs fell to a 10-year low, shows where that growth is going to come from. The oilfield services industry continued its recovery in 2011 and into 2012 from the depths of 2009, when the slump in industrial demand for oil and gas from the global recession caused a steep decline in drilling, especially in the US onshore. In mid-April, a range of US oilfield service players reported healthy rises in profits for the first quarter of the year. Halliburton said its first-quarter earnings rose by 23% fr
Also in this section
13 March 2026
Brussels is again weighing a cap on gas prices amid the Hormuz crisis, but the measure could backfire by deterring the LNG cargoes Europe urgently needs
12 March 2026
Emergency oil stocks provide a last line of defence to oil market shocks, so the IEA’s unprecedented 400m bl release represents something of a double-edged sword
12 March 2026
LPG could rapidly expand access to clean cooking across Africa and prevent hundreds of thousands of deaths from indoor air pollution each year, but infrastructure shortages and regulatory barriers are slowing investment and market growth
11 March 2026
Missiles over Dubai and disruption in Hormuz are testing the emirate’s reputation—and shaking the energy hub at the centre of the Gulf economy
