This Thomas Index Report is sponsored by Oilfield Improvements, a leading provider of specialized oil field equipment for over 35 years and the original manufacturer of the Wheeled Rod Guide Coupling.
Hello. In this week’s Thomas Index Report, we’re going to take a look at sourcing activity for Oil Drilling Rigs by users of the Thomasnet.com platform. Our data shows that over the past 12 weeks, sourcing activity for this category is up 38% over its historical average.
Our firmographic buyer data shows that the top industries driving this trend are Mining, and, of course, the Oil & Gas industry.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, in mid-2018 the United States took the top spot among the world’s oil-producing nations, with production of U.S. crude reaching record highs of nearly 12 million barrels per day. That output is expected to rise to 12.4 million barrels per day this year, and 13.2 million barrels a day in 2020 – when, for the first time ever, the U.S. is forecast to become a net exporter of crude and petroleum products.
An 18% increase in production last year made oil and gas extraction, or mining, the nation’s fastest growing industry, and while that growth is expected to cool somewhat to roughly 7% this year, that is still the highest growth forecast of any industry. This oil and gas boom is driving heavy spending on production, such as oil drilling rigs and machine equipment – a trend borne out by our data on sourcing activity in this category.
One key factor to keep an eye on is the price of crude oil, as higher crude prices do spur increased activity in oil and gas mining, as profitability rises accordingly. After bottoming out in 2016, the price of crude oil has been struggling to maintain a slow but steady bounce back. However, according to CNBC, Wall Street forecasters expect oil prices to rise in 2019, which bodes well for increased activity in the oil and gas mining industry.
In addition to Oil Drilling Rigs, our data shows that sourcing activity is also up 16% or more in the related categories of Oil Field Equipment & Supplies and Oil Storage Tanks.
Moving on from Oil, here’s a look at the top 10 industrial product and service categories being sourced on the Thomasnet.com platform over the past four weeks.
- Steel
- Food Products
- Contract Manufacturing
- CNC Machining
- Injection Molded Plastics
- Metal Fabrication
- Corrugated Boxes
- Aluminum
- Tube Fabrication & Bending Services
- Plastics
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Thanks for watching, and I’ll see you next week.