Richard/Today it was house numbers 80, 83, Loewen Ondaatje McCutcheon (forget their TSE number), and one investment banker from the U.S. that came for a little visit.
The biggest theme, and there is absolutely NO doubt in my mind, is that the bigger firms are educating themselves fully on both private and public companies, to determine who the takeover targets are. I seriously doubt that dollars are flowing out of the service sector as a whole, but rather into those companies that have a big exposure to natural gas, not heavy oil, and the ability/willingness to buy others.
As far as day rates, Alpine's services have seen moderate increases in wireline and drillstem testing only. I would think the only ones gouging customers are the drillers. On this point, I suspect money happens to be flowing into the companies with service rigs and well testing services. I don't think there have been a lot of new service companies appearing yet, but obviously there have been a lot of newly public companies. Consolidation is the story, as far as I am concerned. A lot of investors are encouraging de-fragmentation.
Jason |
