Patterson-UTI Energy, formed through the merger of Patterson Energy and UTI, is the largest provider of contract drilling services in the US with 2006 revenues of $2.55B.^[1] The Texas based company provides onshore contract drilling services to major independent oil and natural gas providers. It owns 325 land rigs and operates mainly in Texas, New Mexico, Utah, Oklahoma, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Louisiana and Western Canada.^[2]

In recent years, PTEN has also managed to increase it's fleet size relatively inexpensively, mainly by acquiring other companies in the business. This has been a major driver of the firm's profitability. However, the US drilling industry has been consolidating over the last few years, and increased competition has driven up the price of oil rigs.

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