THE OCTG SITUATION ROOM

As we make our way through the dog days of August one begins to wonder if the “drill, baby, drill” mantra from 2008 will evolve into “chill, baby, chill” for 2019? OFS brass are forecasting drilling activity for the balance of the year will be ‘chillin,’ while softening OCTG prices are sending a chill down the spines of suppliers. Just looking at the many down arrows on our cover this month would lead many to believe that summer has given way to fall. So, is it all downhill f

Each year in June we take the temperature of the oil patch, speaking with people from every walk of the supply chain to get a sense of the market from their perspective. This exercise inevitably yields valuable and colorful commentary on the present state of affairs. Last year could have been summed up in “232” words as discussions were almost entirely variables on the theme of the investigation. In reviewing the results of this year’s midyear market calls, one phrase best ca

The new year got underway with a blustery winter wallop: WTI prices struggling to reach $50/bbl coupled with a government ‘meltdown.’ We trust this isn’t the writing on the wall for 2019, so rather than wallow in woe we’ll kick things off with the results of our exclusive 4Q18 OCTG Inventory Yard Survey that may help some put a little spring in their step. Published every quarter, our OCTG Inventory Yard Survey is the only one of its kind in the world. It is designed to asses

The quote, “Prediction is very hard, especially about the future” captures the essence of the responses we received to our request for domestic OCTG mills supply forecasts in a year where uncertainty seems to be the only certainty. Thus, we braved this muddy matter with the hope of rising above the perils of prediction. Our U.S. OCTG Mill Supply Forecast comes with the following set of assumptions for 2017: a) WTI averages $50 - $60/BBL; averages over or under this range will