Last October, I wrote that early stage global shale plays "remain highly speculative targets at this point. Some shales will prove economic, and others won't. It is next to impossible to pick winners at this point." That's true whether we're talking about the plays themselves or the E&Ps like Chesapeake Energy
One clear winner in this race to develop unconventional hydrocarbon resources, both across North America and throughout the world, is National Oilwell Varco
A vibrant onshore drilling scene here in North America helped to drive a solid second quarter for the company. NOV's land rig backlog jumped 31% sequentially, taking the onshore portion of the company's backlog to 19%. The slowdown in deepwater rig orders means that the overall backlog continues to shrink, but Petrobras
Speaking of hungry, one interesting takeaway from yesterday's conference call was that the shipyards are rather aggressively cutting quotes on rig construction projects, in an attempt to entice customers to step forward. Combined with some favorable foreign exchange movements, all-in deepwater rig costs are down around 25%. Maybe this price break will be enough to get ExxonMobil to order that long-anticipated Arctic class rig.