Onshore exploration and production (E&P) in the Lower 48 has plateaued for the moment amid multiple constraints, while the international and offshore segments are gathering steam, according to NOV Inc. CEO Clay Williams.

Williams hosted a conference call on Tuesday (Feb. 7) to discuss the Houston-based oilfield services company’s fourth-quarter and full-year 2022 earnings. 

“After rising sharply in the first part of the year, the U.S. rig count [has] now found a near-term ceiling, a touch below 800 rigs, constrained by – among other things – the availability of labor,” Williams said. “North American E&Ps are citing service availability as the biggest risk to achievement of their production targets, but our oilfield service customers tell us that crew availability is the...