Lease-Buying Trends in 2015 | Blackbeard Data Analytics

There is an old saying in the oilfield: When the barber is getting into the oil business, it’s time to get out.

In an industry defined by its booms and busts, the fear of price collapse is always present. The veterans of the industry have long known that it is how you position yourself in preparation for market changes, year after year, that determines your success. This saying is a euphemism for those times when the price of oil is high enough to attract people from other fields, but it also holds a quiet wisdom: If the price has been high enough to attract professionals from other industries, it has been high enough to be at risk of falling.

Whenever we see a decline in the price of oil, the opposite effect seems to occur. The “barbers” in the oilfield, who already tend to underestimate their costs in the oil patch, are the most harmed with falling prices. This is because those same “barbers” generally entered the industry assuming the high prices that attracted them would be around for the life of their venture. As an unexpected drop in oil settles in to the US oilfield, the markets for leases, man-power and equipment are all flooded as unprepared businesses flee the industry.

While this is terrible news for the “barbers”, it can be the ticket to success for oilfield veterans. As the price of oil slides, so too does the value of oil & gas assets. These are often discounted to just percentage points of their full value where organizations were forced to liquidate because of debt or other time-constraints. Since the beginning of 2015, the industry has watched, slack-jawed, as the operational drilling rig count slid, week after week. Contacts in service companies in the Eagle Ford shale have said the field has cooled considerably from activity only six months ago. Listings for tools and businesses in the Midland/Odessa area have increased, as have reports of mass lay-offs for oil-and-gas workers.

This is the beginning of the buying season for oilfield veterans. As tools, leases, and manpower come available from highly leveraged companies retreating falling prices, the savvy oilfield buyers are getting ready to spend the money they saved when the price was running high.

Blackbeard Data provides lease ownership information for the prospective mineral buyer. If you’re getting ready to buy, contact us for owner-listings for painless and effective buying campaigns. Contact us now at (800)762-3057.

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