drilling co... lost 25% past few months - that's small. wonder which one is this...

i had looked at transocean (rig), lost 2/3 of price since 6 months ago.

personally, i won't go after drillers' stock now as they are at the end of the chain, i.e. when oil cos. and gomens cut back on e&p capex, and they have said so already, drilling rigs big n small get no work or low value contracts. will take some time for the capex cycle to return when crude price is "correct". how long... who knows? with shale oil operators, opec, non-opec, china consumption... so many factors...

if u can hold, might as well. if zero cost, n u wish to spend the money, can sell also!

if u hold, u can track the performance regularly. not just yr stock but a few others incl etf's like xle and oih to see where the industry is going. i also think slb (schlumberger) is a good indicator as they are top-notch and reacts quickly, faster than oil majors.

not sure if i helped!

just had a look at ensco... yes, 25% down last 2-3 months, 50% down over 12 months - so, same like all drillers as expected.

it will be futile to try to gauge oil price in next 6, 12, 36 months. to do that is like trying to be a demi-god as u can see n so many reports, news, forums...

but... what we do know is the decline and damage has been done, capex will be cut, so unlikely u get a full n fast recovery - at least for drillers.

having been in a position similar to yrs back in 1986, i understand what the oil patch is like right now. my "personal advice" to you would be: if u r confident u can hold on to your job for the next 2 yrs, keep it. if not, better sell it n get the cash now. becos when it gets rough, many jobs get lost, it can get a lot worse n messy with mergers n acquisitions, as u already know.
side talk... from website, ensco... nice drillships, semis n jackups!  are they drilling in malaysian waters or elsewhere in asiapac? r those manual slips n tongs still in use or replaced by automated roughnecks?

my oh my... after 30 yrs, the iron roughneck still hasn't taken over... jobs still exist for roughnecks n derrickmen, i guess!

As a trader, i will cut it and bite d bullet if it goes up again.