CRITICAL ISSUES IN DRILLING & COMPLETIONS
That is part of it and is very important,
but I believe how we allocate the capital
is equally as important. Considering the
state of our industry, I believe there are
three areas where we need to deploy our
capital. First, it needs to go into making our
rigs more efficient because that is the only
way we provide value to our customers.
Second, it needs to go toward improving
safety on our rigs because that will help us
retain and protect our employees. Lastly,
our capital should be spent on improving
the general well-being of our employees.
What does that general well-being
encompass? From a field perspective, today’s work-
force is very much willing and capable
to work hard for their 12-hour shifts, but
when they are off, they want a reason-
able quality of living. At a minimum, this
means employers need to provide some
element of privacy in the living quarters,
as well as WiFi. Those investments need
to happen. If we don’t do that, we will
not be able to attract and retain those
employees because they see those things
as necessities, not luxuries.
Even though our industry appears
headed into a supercycle, we know
that this will always be a volatile busi-
ness. What can drilling contractors do
now to better prepare for the next
downturn, whenever it may come?
We have to take a long-term view, which
means focusing on the things that will
give us long-term sustainability rather
than short-term gains. Traditionally,
whenever the demand and supply become
tight, the first reaction is to build more rigs.
But right now, if a company decides to go
and manufacture new rigs, that capital is
not being wisely spent. As an industry,
we have repeatedly given negative return
on investment for the last six to seven
years. We have to do things that will bring
value for us, for our customers and for our
employees over the next 10-15 years. Short-
term gains should not be the focus.
Are there any new ways in which our
industry can approach technology
development that will allow us to
The newly launched RZR Rig Floor Automation Module is one example of automation
that can improve both safety and effi ciency. The system provides full control of
tubular handling from the driller’s cabin, removing people from red zones.
maintain financial discipline at the
same time?
One of the challenges we have in our
industry is that, because it’s a very com-
petitive industry, we somehow believe that
we always have to build our own solutions.
But if everybody builds their own solutions,
I think that can be very destructive in the
bigger picture. Despite the competitiveness,
we should be able to understand where we
can collaborate with our peers and cross-
license where it makes sense.
We have to overcome this cultural bar-
rier of build versus buy. We do not have
to build everything; we should be able to
buy what is available off the shelf, even if
it’s coming from one of my competitors.
That is actually an important element of
Nabors’ approach, which is to empower
other drilling contractors with our tech-
nologies. We hope drilling contractors can
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