Higher oil prices needed to sharply boost US drilling - Dallas Fed Survey

Reuters reports the findings of the survey conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas on the US oil firms, which were published late-Thursday.

The Dallas Fed questioned 134 firms headquartered in Texas, southern New Mexico and northern Louisiana. The survey’s respondents included 77 companies focused on exploration and production activities and 57 that operate in the oilfield service sector.

Key Findings:

Oil prices will need to rise further for energy companies to significantly expand drilling activities

Slightly more than half the survey’s respondents expect the rig count to continue to climb six months from now but nearly all said oil prices need to be above $60 a barrel for a substantial increase.

Of the firms surveyed, nearly 48 percent reported an increase in spending from the previous quarter and roughly 64 percent reported an increase from a year ago. About 8 percent reported a decrease over the previous quarter, and nearly 10 percent reported a decrease from a year ago.

Of the service firms surveyed, 52 percent said they are receiving higher prices for services from a year ago, while 40 percent reported no change.