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. They are not figures for Contract Drilling Companies on its own.

Market size
~$19B
Growth
~-0.6%CAGR (2017–22, nominal)
Companies
~1,508 firms
Firms by employee count

81.4% of firms have fewer than 20 employees: 1,227 micro-businesses, below most mandates.

The investable universe281 firms with 20+ employees
20–99
18566%
100–499
5620%
500+
4014%

The only segment in this sector to shrink. Rig counts never recovered to pre-2020 levels because shale operators drilled fewer, longer wells and prioritized capital discipline: a permanent efficiency gain for producers and a permanent demand loss for drillers.

NAICS 213111. U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Statistics of U.S. Businesses; U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Economic Census.

Business model & economics

Revenue model

Contract drilling dayrates and footage

Key economics

Revenue per firm
$12,268,725
Revenue per employee
$350,967
Employees per firm
35.3
Recurring revenue
Low–Moderate

drilling-program contracts

EBITDA margin
Highly cyclical with rig count and dayrates
Capex intensity
High

Characteristics

  • Balanced cost base: payroll is 28% of revenue, leaving room to scale margin without cutting staff
  • Moderate strategic-buyer pool: 40 firms exceed 500 employees, so a scaled asset has buyers, but not many
  • Land and offshore contract drilling.
  • Efficiency (fewer rigs per well) offsets activity.
  • Super-spec rigs and automation the frontier.

NAICS 213111. U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Statistics of U.S. Businesses; U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Economic Census.

Geographic concentration

AlabamaAlaskaArizonaColoradoFloridaGeorgiaIndianaKansasMaineMassachusettsMinnesotaNew JerseyNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaPennsylvaniaSouth DakotaTexasConnecticutMissouriWest VirginiaIllinoisNew MexicoArkansasCaliforniaDelawareDistrict of ColumbiaHawaiiIowaKentuckyMarylandMichiganMississippiMontanaNew HampshireNew YorkOhioOregonTennesseeUtahVirginiaWashingtonWisconsinNebraskaSouth CarolinaIdahoNevadaVermontRhode IslandOklahomaWyomingLouisiana

Wyoming, Oklahoma and Louisiana. Drilling contractors concentrate where activity has been most persistent rather than where it is largest; Texas has more rigs but a far broader economy to measure against.

WyomingOklahomaLouisiana

U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Statistics of U.S. Businesses (firms by state), NAICS 213111. Concentration shown by location quotient.

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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