The reaction was interesting because a lot of people still look at rig count as the scoreboard.
But that brought up the bigger question.
Why did we have to get so efficient in the first place?
The answer is simple.
Because U.S. oil is not the cheapest oil in the world.
A lot of countries are sitting on conventional reservoirs where the oil is easier and cheaper to produce. In parts of the Middle East, the rock, pressure, reservoir size, and infrastructure make the economics completely different.
The U.S. shale business had to play a different game.
We had to drill longer laterals.
We had to get faster on pads.
We had to improve completion designs.
We had to use better data.
We had to reduce wasted time.
We had to make every rig, every crew, every pump, and every dollar work harder.
The U.S. did not become the world’s most advanced drilling machine because it was easy.
It became that way because it had to compete against cheaper barrels.
That is the part of the story people miss.
“Drill baby drill” today does not just mean more rigs.
It means better wells, better execution, better equipment, better planning, and a lot less room for waste.
Cheap oil made the rest of the world competitive.
Expensive oil made the U.S. dangerous.