Hello, I am new in the oil and gas field and just a few years out of college. I have always heard that our industry is always up and down but that this seems to be the worse anyone has seen. Realistically, how bad do you think it will get for NOV? Total bankruptcy, sell off of various business units, etc.? I understand that this may be a broad question but I just am trying to get a feel of the land if you will. My wife is pregnant with our first child and I’m genuinely worried about our future, as are thousands of other people. Thanks in advance and good luck to everyone of you.
8 replies (most recent on top)
The services companies got really fat throughout the 2000's adding on layers of highly paid management. Acquisitions were happening at a breakneck pace as the corporate leaders were fearful of losing out on market share, new technology, or simply of the appearance of falling behind their peers. With the shale boom, even grossly incompetent corporate management could be camouflaged due to the sheer amount of revenue being generated.
2015-2016 forced service companies to trim a lot of the fat. Unfortunately many highly skilled and motivated workers were also sacrificed to keep entrenched and protected good old boys. This time trimming the fat won't get the job done. Weatherford won't survive, Baker Hughes is a shell of it's former self, Halliburton and Schlumberger are slashing. NOV will have to close locations, shed product lines, and consolidate. Even with that they may not survive. Service companies are paying dearly now for the bad decisions of the past. If I were new to the industry, I would be sending my resume to NASA or whatever other non O&G companies are hiring.
Bad enough that that college degree will have you soon serving coffee down at your local starbux. NOV and education are two words that should never be mentioned in the same sentence. This is old dinosaur hillbilly technology. buh-bi !
Yes, get out of O&G not just NOV. I have been in the industry since 1980 and have lived through all the ups and downs. The golden years are long gone, the pay and benefits a fraction of what they used to be. Looking back, the rot really began to set in in after the crash of 2014/15. The industry never really recovered during the 5 years since. Now hit with COVID and the Oil price collapse (which was going to happen anyway, just made worse by COVID) the business will wallow on in a fashion but will never return to how things "used to be". The very nature of the O&G business is changing. Gasoline is going to go the same way as steam engine coal. Yes, oil will needed as the feedstock for the Plastics industry and bitumen for example, but the volumes needed will be less in the coming decades. So if are at the beginning you will see it all unfold in the next 40 years assuming you still have a job.
Nah. This always happens, seriously. If you're smart, you'll get a super high paying contract when times are good, and go to law school or something when times are bad. If you aren't making six figures minimum in the oil industry boom times and you're in an oil industry boom dependent job, you're doing it wrong. The good thing is the down years should give you time to learn lots of other industry skills until times are good again.
It'll be pieced off....you still git to service existing rigs.
Who would buy it? Nobody is in a position to buy it now. I agree though bud, get out while you can
Yes, get out NOW. I thought it was a great industry to get into only to find myself now looking for a job. Unless you are in the "good ole boys club", that college degree ain't gonna do nothing for you here. Before long, they will start slashing salaries because they have laid off anyone making over minimum wage. I can tell you....get out now. NOV will be sold soon.
Sorry to break it for you. Jump off the board whenever you get a chance. Build you career in some other industry. Don't even dream of building one with NOV. O&G is dead. Never will it be as profitable business as it used to be. Even the Big players are crumbling, NOV won't be spared. Worst yet very likely thing that could happen is NOV shrinking close to liquidation and some other Big Company acquires it. That would be the last nail.