Horvath interviewFrom Jan. Perhaps posted already but worth re-read. He does admit challeges in US, and a soft eyar in Canada due to flooding, project cancellations etc, but his optomism is striking.
In the following excerpt from the Oil & Gas: Drilling Equipment and Services Report, the Founder, President and CEO of Lonestar West Inc. (LSI.V) discusses company strategy and the outlook for this vital segment of the oil and gas industry.
TWST: How would you describe the outlook for the industry in general, and for Lonestar in particular right now?
Mr. Horvath: The outlook in general has never been stronger. I wasn't around in the 1980s when the world collapsed. My first taste of a real recession happened in 2009, and it fixed itself relatively quickly. And the outlook is very bright. We're 95% to 100% utilized today. We turn down a ton of revenue everyday just based on lack of iron. We have never been busier.
We're adding trucks as quickly as possible and keeping the utilization rates extremely high. What's coming down the pipe for 2014 is going to be exceptional. I don't know how these companies are planning to accomplish what they say they're going to do. If you aggregate some of the major, major players in the industry, they're going to run 30 or 40 kilometers of pipe in 2013. In 2014, they want to run 3,000.
There are huge bids that we've been working on, and winning. In the past, we've never really worked that far out, but we've seen a shift in the industry as people work to get their equipment lined up earlier. That's a refreshing change for us, because we have a higher comfort level, and we know what's coming in advance. We're looking forward to 2014. I mean, 2013 has been phenomenal, and we have been setting record after record. But the big push for us is for 2014.
TWST: Do you need to grow a lot to meet the demand in 2014? Do you feel comfortable and ready to do that?
Mr. Horvath: When you're 100% utilized, you need to grow. We're confident. We have...