William Andrew Hendricks
Analyst · Raymond James
Thanks, Mark. Following our typical format, I'm going to start this morning with some commentary on our drilling business and then finish with some comments on pressure pumping. Our average rig count in the U.S. increased by 8 rigs in the second quarter to 201 rigs from 193 in the first quarter. Our growth in the U.S. rig count more than offset the spring breakup in Canada, where our average rig count decreased to 3 rigs in the second quarter from 10 rigs in the first quarter. Demand continues to increase with our average rig count in July expected to average 207 rigs in the U.S. and 9 rigs in Canada. The increase we have seen in our rig count has been geographically broad-based. During the second quarter, each of our regions reported sequential rig count growth. This growth in the rig count is unlike the recent past, where the demand was uneven and the weakness in one market served as a source of incremental rig supply for the stronger markets, such as the Permian. We believe this broad-based strength has helped contribute to the tightness in the market for high-spec rigs. With this improving market, average U.S. revenue per day increased $490 sequentially to $23,490 due to higher dayrates and an improving fleet mix of higher dayrate APEX rigs. The strength in average U.S. revenue per day offset the impact from the spring breakup in Canada, with the total average revenue per day increasing $240 to $23,630. The strength in the U.S. rates led to a better-than-expected increase in the average U.S. rig margin per day of $370 sequentially to $9,900 and an increase in total rig margin per day of $270 to $9,870. Of note, while our greatest dayrate increase has occurred for our higher-spec APEX and other electric rigs, average U.S. dayrates increased across all 3 of our rig classes during the second quarter. Looking forward, during the third quarter, we expect further growth in our U.S. rig count, as well as the ramp-up in our Canadian rig count. In the U.S., we expect our average rig count to increase an additional 8 rigs to 209 rigs, and in Canada, we expect an increase of 6 rigs sequentially to 9 rigs in the third quarter. In total, we expect a very healthy increase of 14 rigs to our average rig count for the third quarter. With the expected increase in activity and the continued tightness in the skilled labor market, we implemented a wage increase at the end of the second quarter, which we passed through to our customers. Accordingly, this wage increase will be reflected in our third quarter results as an increase in both our average rig revenue per day and average rig operating cost per day. Considering this wage increase, plus further improvement in both dayrates and fleet mix, we expect our average U.S. rig revenue per day during the third quarter to increase $350 and our average U.S. rig margin per day to increase $200. With the ramp-up in our higher-margin Canadian activity, we expect our total average rig revenue per day for the third quarter to increase $500 and our total average rig margin per day to increase $250. We completed 6 new APEX rigs during the second quarter, bringing our APEX fleet at June 30 to 133 rigs. Since our last earnings release, we have signed 19 contracts for new APEX rigs. In response to stronger customer demand, we expect to complete 25 new APEX rigs during the 4 quarters ending June 2015, of which 22 are currently contracted. Furthermore, we have customer contracts for 3 additional new APEX rigs to be completed in the second half of 2015. As of June 30, 2014, we had term contracts for drilling rigs, providing for approximately $1.5 billion of future dayrate drilling revenue. Based on contracts currently in place, we expect to have an average of 149 rigs operating under term contracts during the third quarter and an average of 138 rigs operating under term contracts during the last half of 2014. Turning now to pressure pumping. We generated record quarterly revenues of $307 million from pressure pumping during the second quarter. Of the $66 million sequential increase in pressure pumping revenues, most was related to better-than-expected equipment utilization across our existing fleet, and $9 million was attributable to the acquisition in mid-June. The fleet of 31,500-horsepower that we acquired in mid-June started a large job soon after the acquisition. Due to timing, we benefited from an unusually high level of utilization in sand volumes for this horsepower during this short period. Revenues from this equipment are expected to return to a more normal level going forward. With the growth in revenues, pressure pumping EBITDA increased by $24 million to $60 million, and our gross margin as a percentage of revenues increased to 21.1% from the weather-affected 16.8% in the first quarter. Looking forward, based on our customers' current schedules, we expect third quarter pressure pumping revenues to increase $30 million sequentially. Gross margin percentage is expected to remain relatively flat, despite the increase in revenues as pricing improvement is expected to be focused on offsetting higher costs related to materials and transportation. Additionally, we expect to incur personnel-related startup costs associated with the new frac spread to be activated in the fourth quarter. Our pressure pumping fleet at the end of the second quarter included more than 790,000-horsepower, of which, more than 709,000 is frac horsepower. We recently ordered an incremental 115,000 frac horsepower. Together with the previously announced 40,000-horsepower on order, we now have a total of 155,000-horsepower on order, enough equipment for 3 complete frac spreads plus spares. One of these spreads is contracted to be activated early in the fourth quarter in Texas, a second spread is expected to begin operations in the first quarter of 2015 in Texas, and a third is contracted and expected to be in operation in the second quarter in the Northeast. This horsepower was ordered to meet increasing activity levels from existing customers. Two of these spreads are already contracted, and we are highly confident in our ability to contract the third as several of our current customers have indicated that they will need additional horsepower in 2015. Moving on to pressure pumping technology. We believe we are a leader in bi-fuel frac technology that uses natural gas as a fuel source for the equipment. During the second quarter, we converted another complete spread to bi-fuel and we have now converted a total of 111,000-horsepower, or approximately 1/3 of our frac fleet in the Northeast. In the Marcellus, we have completed approximately 1,000 stages using natural gas as a primary fuel source. Additionally, we recently converted 11,000-horsepower in Texas to bi-fuel and are testing the use of the technology in that region. In another area of technology, our recent award of a frac fleet in the Northeast for delivery in 2015 was based on our ability to provide quality services with specific technology related to emissions and air quality while working in a sensitive area. We continue to focus on differentiating ourselves in this business through excellent well site execution, the introduction of new technologies and strategic locations to support our operations. Before I turn the call back to Mark for his concluding remarks, let me provide an update on a couple other corporate financial matters. We expect to spend approximately $1.1 billion of CapEx in 2014. We expect our effective tax rate to be approximately 32.5% in 2014. SG&A during the third quarter is expected to be $19.5 million. Depreciation expense during the third quarter is expected to be $158 million. And with that, I will now turn the call back to Mark for his concluding remarks.