The energy industry, especially petroleum, is ever changing. This reflects changes in supply, demand, evolving technology, and politics surrounding the industry. All this change requires a great deal of flexibility from an oil field supply company.
Following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon accident in the Gulf of Mexico, regulatory agencies around the world began demanding increased measures to prevent similar accidents in the future. This, along with already mounting opposition to off-shore drilling, has stifled much of the work for rig builders and other industries supporting off-shore oil extraction. Companies that survive will need to work with increased standards for equipment, including redundant safety measures.
With off-shore exploration at a near standstill, instability in the United States’ relationship with OPEC countries, and scarcity in domestic oil resources, other options have come to the forefront. Hydraulic fracturing and oil shale are two examples.
Hydraulic fracturing is the process of cracking layers of sedimentary rock to access dispersed deposits of oil and natural gas. This process requires a great deal of specialized equipment including frac sand trailers, frac fluid tanks, blenders, and drill well plugs. Again, concerns about environmental and health issues with this practice make the prospects for manufacturers of this equipment unclear.
Oil shale is a rock containing a great deal of organic material. It can be open pit or strip mined. New technology also allows shale oil to be liquefied underground to avoid environmental concerns of the former methods. Still this process raises other issues and is considered controversial.
The political and environmental pressures on the oil industry act as a kind of natural selection for extraction companies and their suppliers. For an oil field supply company to survive it must be ever vigilant to keep up with regulations and wide swings in industry best practices. Modern frac sand trailers, for example, are extremely specialized for the hydraulic fracturing process. Hopefully accidents like the Deepwater Horizon will also serve to drive innovation to avoid problems in the future
