By A. Lee Graham
Basic Energy Services Inc. of Fort Worth has reported higher operating activity in March, continuing momentum that saw the company produce a rig utilization rate of 74 percent for the month, up from 71 percent in February.
Rig utilization rates determine what percentage of a company’s rigs is in use.
“Well servicing utilization increased in March due to seasonal factors but was impacted by one to two percentage points because of the decreased hours worked during the Easter holiday week,” said president and CEO Ken Huseman, commenting in a news release.
The company’s well-servicing rig count remained unchanged at 425, with rig hours for the month totaling 72,000, up from 66,400 in February.
March saw numbers of company fluid service trucks increase by five to reach 967. Just a month earlier, the company dropped two trucks. Fluid service truck hours for March totaled 192,300 compared to 177,600 and 195,900 in February 2013 and March 2012, respectively.
Drilling rig days for the month totaled 293, producing a rig utilization of 79 percent, compared to 79 percent and 91 percent in February 2013 and March 2012, respectively.
The company expects its first-quarter revenue to be about 1 percent higher sequentially, just under its previous guidance of 2 percent to 3 percent, Huseman said.
“Although the U.S. land drilling rig count has been fairly static since the beginning of the year, we are encouraged by the recent improvement in the rig count,” Huseman said.
Basic Energy Services, which provides oil and gas well-site services, employs more than 5,600 workers in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arkansas, Kansas and the Rocky Mountain and Appalachian regions. More information is available at www.basicenergyservices.com.