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Cash is King!
Hi, I thought I'd see if I can get a dialogue started!! Apologies if you've seen this before........
There’s no doubt that the ‘golden months’ of 2006 to early 2008, when - in my humble opinion – oil field service companies exploited an out-of-kilter supply/demand balance to charge over-the-top prices, are gone. The question is – what do they do now?
Well, let me begin by telling you about my experiences in trying to organise the most recent OilVoice Forum on the Digital Oil Field that took place on April 22nd. In our Forum, the format is that up to half a dozen oil field service companies present to an audience of circa 150 oil & gas professionals who attend (and get lunch!) for free: the presentations are video-ed and streamed through the OilVoice Forum web-site. As this is advertising/marketing, the companies pay to present.
In approaching a dozen or more companies about presenting at the April 22nd Forum, there were two distinct, quite contrasting, reactions. The first – accompanied either by total silence or the sound of teeth being sucked – was along the lines “Don’t you know there’s a recession on? We’re cutting back and we can’t possibly afford to pay! More than my jobsworth!” The second was along the lines of “Yes, we need to advertise to maintain/increase our market share. Count us in!”
OK, this is a pretty black and white conclusion to draw from this micro-story but I think it reveals two end members of oil field service companies’ responses to current times. And let me make an even bigger jump – the ‘smart’ companies will make theirs’ an ‘and’ response: they will find a way to cut costs and go after market share. The ‘others’ will just cut costs.
There will be many oil field service companies that won’t survive the next 18 months. In my humble opinion, the ‘smart’ ones* give themselves a better chance!
* You can see the ‘smart’ ones by consulting the agendas for our first three OilVoice Forums at www.oilvoiceforum.com/open . If dialogue on this topic takes off, I may unwittingly reveal the names of some of the ‘others’!!
There’s no doubt that the ‘golden months’ of 2006 to early 2008, when - in my humble opinion – oil field service companies exploited an out-of-kilter supply/demand balance to charge over-the-top prices, are gone. The question is – what do they do now?
Well, let me begin by telling you about my experiences in trying to organise the most recent OilVoice Forum on the Digital Oil Field that took place on April 22nd. In our Forum, the format is that up to half a dozen oil field service companies present to an audience of circa 150 oil & gas professionals who attend (and get lunch!) for free: the presentations are video-ed and streamed through the OilVoice Forum web-site. As this is advertising/marketing, the companies pay to present.
In approaching a dozen or more companies about presenting at the April 22nd Forum, there were two distinct, quite contrasting, reactions. The first – accompanied either by total silence or the sound of teeth being sucked – was along the lines “Don’t you know there’s a recession on? We’re cutting back and we can’t possibly afford to pay! More than my jobsworth!” The second was along the lines of “Yes, we need to advertise to maintain/increase our market share. Count us in!”
OK, this is a pretty black and white conclusion to draw from this micro-story but I think it reveals two end members of oil field service companies’ responses to current times. And let me make an even bigger jump – the ‘smart’ companies will make theirs’ an ‘and’ response: they will find a way to cut costs and go after market share. The ‘others’ will just cut costs.
There will be many oil field service companies that won’t survive the next 18 months. In my humble opinion, the ‘smart’ ones* give themselves a better chance!
* You can see the ‘smart’ ones by consulting the agendas for our first three OilVoice Forums at www.oilvoiceforum.com/open . If dialogue on this topic takes off, I may unwittingly reveal the names of some of the ‘others’!!
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