Energy Point Research has released its Q3 customer satisfaction findings. While drilling contractors continue play a major role in today’s complex well environment, related service companies also contribute to the individual success of a well and help to define ultimate profitability for the operating company. Energy Point’s independent uncovers several interesting points along the lines of five separate offerings including drilling fluids, fishing, cementing, directional drilling, and measurement-while-drilling (MWD). Overall, the survey shows that most of these services are regarded highly by their customers. While the results for “drilling-related services” are mostly positive, the survey does show some disparity among its very components. At the bottom of the group are directional drilling and MWD. The recent survey shows recent rapid growth in these two sectors due to the increased need for greater productivity and the ability to pinpoint smaller, commercially viable reservoirs. Primarily the unconventional resources, especially in the US have driven these needs and the rapid growth in both directional drilling and MWD services has had a negative effect on service quality. Energy Point also concludes that directional drilling and MWD services, because they are drillstring-related rely too heavily on third-parties and external factors such as drilling contractors, rigs, and bottom-hole assemblies (BHAs). For these services to achieve optimal performance, a number of inputs must properly align. Although, it’s not all bad news as suppliers continue to enhance their operations and integrate their products with third-party offerings to improve field performance. The highest ratings from Energy Point’s survey include suppliers with limited exposure to directional drilling and MWD. M-I SWACO—a first-rated company since 2006—is listed as one of the more dominant suppliers of drilling and completion fluids. Pressure pumping service company BJ Services rated second. The report adds that integrated players such as Schlumberger, Baker Hughes, and Weatherford face specific challenges as they rank near the average overall. In terms of the five segments studied, drilling fluids and fishing services scored the highest customer satisfaction ratings overall. Energy Point’s report was conducted from a pool of around 12,000 customer evaluations of oilfield product and service suppliers. For more information on this and other reports, visit www.energypointresearch.com.