7.7.2.1Vertical
Contract Drilling Companies
Land drilling contractors providing rigs and crews to E&P operators.
Market snapshot
These figures describe Drilling Services & Contractors (7.7.2), the segment that Contract Drilling Companies sits within — not Contract Drilling Companies on its own.
- Market size
- ~$19B
- Growth
- ~-0.6%CAGR (2017–22, nominal)
- Companies
- ~2,000
FragmentationConsolidatingEstimate
U.S. Census Bureau 2022 CBP/Economic Census, NAICS 213111 (drilling oil & gas wells); roughly flat as drilling efficiency offset activity.
Business model & economics
Revenue model
Contract drilling dayrates and footage
Key economics
- Recurring revenue
- Low–Moderate
- EBITDA margin
- Highly cyclical with rig count and dayrates
- Capex intensity
- High
drilling-program contracts
Characteristics
- Land and offshore contract drilling.
- Efficiency (fewer rigs per well) offsets activity.
- Super-spec rigs and automation the frontier.
M&A deal context
Deal activityModerate
Who’s acquiring
- Land & offshore drilling contractors
- PE-backed & strategic consolidators
- Rig-fleet acquirers
What’s driving deals
- High-spec rig-fleet consolidation.
- Automation and drilling efficiency.
- Rig-count and dayrate cycles.
Find Contract Drilling Companies acquisition targets
Search Acquisera’s index for companies classified under Contract Drilling Companies (7.7.2.1) and build a targeted deal pipeline.
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