Frackers Are Making Bigger Profits as Prices for Drilling Services Climb

David Wethe, Bloomberg News

$Machinery used to fracture shale formations stands at a Royal Dutch Shell Plc hydraulic fracking site near Mentone, Texas, U.S., on Thursday, March 2, 2017. Exxon Mobil Corp., Royal Dutch Shell and Chevron Corp., are jumping into American shale with gusto, planning to spend a combined $10 billion this year, up from next to nothing only a few years ago. Photographer: Matthew Busch/Bloomberg$

Machinery used to fracture shale formations stands at a Royal Dutch Shell Plc hydraulic fracking site near Mentone, Texas, U.S., on Thursday, March 2, 2017. Exxon Mobil Corp., Royal Dutch Shell and Chevron Corp., are jumping into American shale with gusto, planning to spend a combined $10 billion this year, up from next to nothing only a few years ago. Photographer: Matthew Busch/Bloomberg , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- Inflation in the U.S. shale patch is money in the bank for fracking companies.

Prices for drilling services are rising faster than the cost of labor and raw materials, Richard Hubbell, chief executive officer at pressure pumper RPC Inc., said Wednesday in an earnings statement. He echoed similar comments last week from Halliburton Co., the world’s biggest fracking provider.

As a rally in crude and natural gas prices boosts explorers’ cash flow after a disastrous 2020, oilfield service providers are trying to win back pricing power. But the price increases aren’t even across the board. Liberty Oilfield Services Inc. said late Wednesday that “serious” supply-chain issues are causing its costs to outpace what it can charge oil producers.

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Frackers Are Making Bigger Profits as Prices for Drilling Services Climb

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