This Week’s Market Buzz

  • The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allied producers have agreed to gradually increase their output over the next three months. The move follows a sharp increase in oil prices, and a call from the United States to keep energy affordable. The OPEC+ alliance of crude producers has been holding back roughly 8 million barrels per day from global markets. That includes an extra production cut of 1 million barrels per day from Saudi Arabia that comes on top of its commitment to other producers. The group will increase its output by 350,000 barrels per day next month, another 350,000 barrels per day in June and roughly 440,000 barrels per day in July, according to an OPEC source. Saudi Arabia will gradually ease its additional voluntary cuts and eliminate them altogether by the end of July.
  • Halliburton said it successfully delivered real-time control of fracture placement while pumping on a multi-well pad using the SmartFleet intelligent fracturing system in the Permian Basin. Using intelligent automation, the system resulted in less total fluid required per stage, significantly extended stage lengths, and more consistently placed all the designed proppant for the stage. Additionally, SmartFleet successfully delivered uniform fracture distribution across clusters, more consistently, stage to stage and well to well, improving uniform treatment placement by up to 20% compared to conventional baseline fracture stages.
  • U.S. Silica Holdings Inc.’s Industrial and Specialty Products segment will increase prices for its noncontracted diatomaceous earth, perlite, cellulose, silica and clay products used primarily in filtration, paints, coatings, elastomers, chemicals, glass, building products and other applications. The price increases, effective for shipments starting on May 1, 2021, will range up to 15% depending on the product and grade. These increases are driven by ongoing and significant inflationary pressures from raw materials, packaging, logistics and maintenance expenses, the company stated.

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