This time last year, the oilfield service sector started showing the first signs of hope and optimism after the OPEC/Russia deal to cut crude oil production by 1.8 million bpd lifted prices to levels last seen years earlier. In the first five months of 2017, five oilfield services providers filed for an initial public offering, overtaking exploration and production listings by a wide margin, signaling returning optimism in the sector thanks to improved oil prices. The value of the five listings was also impressive: at $1.36 billion it surpassed the total raised through listings in 2013, when oil was trading at almost $100 a barrel. And yet some of the listings flopped, with the companies trading much lower than their issue price. Now prices are even higher than they were at the beginning of 2017. There is much stronger demand for fracking and maintenance services, and two companies that […]