After losing over 112 points last month the WorkBoat Composite steadied in October, gaining back 44 points. Operators fared better this month, squeezing out a small gain after losing almost 11% in September. For the month, winners narrowly topped losers, 16-15.
The drop in oil prices continued to hurt some oil service issues, with Superior Energy and Nabors Industries both suffering double-digit percentage losses.
However, most oil service companies haven’t seen a big impact on earnings from the lower oil prices and many are still bullish on the future.
“Most of our businesses continue to look positive in the near- to intermediate-term notwithstanding the current oil price environment,” Tony Petrello, chairman, president and CEO of Nabors said during the company’s third-quarter earnings call on Oct. 22. “At the current oil price, we do not see a material change in current activity levels in this timeframe.”
“Although completions demand in the U.S. has continued to increase, we will keep a watchful eye on how our customers respond to the recent decline in oil prices,” David D. Dunlap, CEO of Superior Energy said in the company’s Oct. 30 earnings call. “There has been no impact at this point, and we do not expect any material impact on planned spending through the end of Q4.”
Tidewater, which lost about $2 in October, still had a solid quarter.
“In light of the turbulent conditions in the oil market today, and the uncertain outlook for the offshore business due to possible reductions and expiration of production activity in certain geographic markets, we are pleased with this quarter’s results,” Jeffrey M. Platt, Tidewater’s CEO, said in the company’s Nov. 4 earnings call.
— David Krapf
