Oil and Gas

Drilling and service companies

Typically, E&P businesses do not own drilling equipment or have a drilling rig workforce. Instead, they hire contract drilling companies to drill wells for them, and contract drilling businesses typically bill based on the amount of time they spend working for an E&P company. Drillers do not earn money from oil and gas production in the same way that E&P companies do.

Various operations are involved in generating and maintaining a well's production over time once it is drilled. Logging, cementing, casing, perforating, fracturing, and maintenance are examples of well service activities. Within the oil and gas industry, oil drilling and oil maintenance are thus two distinct commercial operations.