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NASDAQ: PTEN

PATTERSON UTI ENERGY INC

CIK 0000889900 · Drilling Oil & Gas Wells

This Report, along with our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act, are available free of charge through our internet website (www.patenergy.com) as soon as reasonably… About this business →

8-K Filed May 26, 2026 · Period ending May 26, 2026

Patterson-UTI furnishes routine investor presentation slides under Regulation FD

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8-K Filed May 19, 2026 · Period ending May 19, 2026

Patterson-UTI completes $500M debt offering at 6.050%, refinancing 2028 notes at higher rate

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8-K Filed May 6, 2026 · Period ending May 5, 2026

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8-K Filed Apr 28, 2026 · Period ending Apr 24, 2026

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10-Q Filed Apr 28, 2026 · Period ending Mar 31, 2026

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10-K Filed Feb 10, 2026 · Period ending Dec 31, 2025

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10-Q Filed Oct 28, 2025 · Period ending Sep 30, 2025

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10-K Filed Feb 11, 2025 · Period ending Dec 31, 2024

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About PATTERSON UTI ENERGY INC

Source: Item 1 (Business) from the 10-K filed February 10, 2026. Description as filed by the company with the SEC.

Item 1. Business

Available Information

This Report, along with our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act, are available free of charge through our internet website (www.patenergy.com) as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC. The information contained on our website is not part of this Report or other filings that we make with the SEC. The SEC maintains an internet site (www.sec.gov) that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC.

Overview

We are a Houston, Texas-based leading provider of drilling and completion services to oil and natural gas exploration and production companies in the United States and other select countries, including contract drilling services, integrated well completion services and directional drilling services in the United States, and specialized drill bit solutions in the United States, Middle East and many other regions around the world. We operate under three reportable business segments: (i) drilling services, (ii) completion services, and (iii) drilling products.

Drilling Services

Our contract drilling business operates in the continental United States and internationally in Colombia and Ecuador and, from time to time, we pursue contract drilling opportunities in other select markets. We also provide a comprehensive suite of directional drilling services in most major producing onshore oil and natural gas basins in the United States, and we provide services that improve the statistical accuracy of wellbore placement for directional and horizontal wells. We also provide electrical controls and automation to the energy, marine and mining industries, in North America and other select markets.

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Completion Services

Our well completion services business consists of services for hydraulic fracturing, wireline and pumping, completion support, and cementing. It also includes our power solutions natural gas fueling business and our proppant last mile logistics and storage business. Our completion services business operates in several of the most active basins in the continental United States, including the Permian, the Marcellus Shale/Utica, the Eagle Ford, Mid-Continental, Haynesville, and the Bakken/Rockies. The high density of our operations in the basins in which we are most active provides us the opportunity to leverage our fixed costs and to quickly respond with what we believe are highly efficient, integrated solutions that are best suited to address customer requirements.

Drilling Products

We serve the energy and mining markets by manufacturing and distributing drill bits and downhole tools throughout North America and internationally in over 30 countries. Our drilling equipment is used in oil and natural gas exploration and production and in geothermal and mining operations. We have manufacturing and repair facilities located in Fort Worth, Texas, Leduc, Alberta and Saudi Arabia and repair facilities located in Argentina, Colombia and Oman.

Other

Other consists of our oilfield rentals business, prior to its divestiture in April 2025, along with the results of our non-operating ownership interest in oil and natural gas assets located in Texas and New Mexico.

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Recent Developments

Recent Developments in Market Conditions — Quarterly average oil prices and our quarterly average number of rigs operating in the United States for 2023, 2024 and 2025 are as follows:

1st

Quarter

2nd

Quarter

3rd

Quarter

4th

Quarter

2023

Average oil price per Bbl (1)
$75.93 $73.54 $82.25 $78.53

Average rigs operating per day – U.S. (2)
131128120118

2024

Average oil price per Bbl (1)
$77.50 $81.81 $76.43 $70.73

Average rigs operating per day – U.S. (2)
121114107105

2025

Average oil price per Bbl (1)
$71.78 $64.57 $65.78 $59.62

Average rigs operating per day – U.S. (2)
1061049593

(1)The average oil price represents the average monthly West Texas Intermediate (WTI) spot price as reported by the United States Energy Information Administration.

(2)A rig is considered to be operating if it is earning revenue pursuant to a contract on a given day.

Our revenues, profitability and cash flows are highly dependent upon prevailing prices for oil and natural gas, expectations about future prices, and our customers’ ability to access, and willingness to deploy, capital to fund their operating and capital expenditures. Commodity prices have historically been volatile, but were relatively range-bound from the end of 2022 through the first quarter of 2025. The current demand for equipment and services remains impacted by macro conditions, including commodity prices, geopolitical environment, changes to international tariffs and trade policies, inflationary pressures, economic conditions in the United States and elsewhere, as well as customer consolidation and focus by exploration and production companies and service companies on capital returns. During the second quarter of 2025, global economic conditions deteriorated, in part, because of enacted and proposed trade policies and tariffs by the United States and other governments, as well as uncertainty regarding potential future changes to global trade policies and tariffs. Additionally, during the second quarter of 2025, OPEC+ countries began phasing out voluntary crude oil production cuts, leading to an increase in global supply. These developments, combined with rising geopolitical tensions- particularly in the Middle East- heightened uncertainty in global energy markets, which contributed to a decline in our share price, lowered average crude oil futures prices and increased uncertainty regarding the future economic environment in which we operate. During the second half of 2025, global economic conditions and the global energy market remained uncertain, with ongoing effects from trade policy uncertainty, the phase-out of voluntary crude oil production cuts by OPEC+ countries, and downward pressure on crude oil futures prices. While the full effects are yet to be determined, prolonged trade tensions and sustained lower crude oil futures prices could adversely affect our future outlook on activity and profitability. Oil prices averaged $59.62 per barrel in the fourth quarter of 2025 and closed at $61.60 per barrel on February 2, 2026. Natural gas prices (based on the Henry Hub Spot Market Price) averaged $3.73 per MMBtu in the fourth quarter of 2025 and closed at $4.40 per MMBtu on February 2, 2026.

In our drilling services segment, our average active rig count in the United States for the fourth quarter of 2025 was 93 rigs. This was a decrease from our average active rig count for the third quarter of 2025 of 95 rigs. Our active rig count in the United States at December 31, 2025 of 93 rigs was less than the rig count of 105 rigs at December 31, 2024, reflecting the industry-wide activity declines due, in part, to expectations regarding future crude oil prices, increased drilling efficiencies and market consolidation. We expect our rig count in the United States will be in the low-to-mid 90s in the first quarter of 2026. Term contracts help support our operating rig count. Based on contracts in place in the United States as of February 4, 2026, we expect an average of 49 rigs operating under term contracts during the first quarter of 2026 and an average of 27 rigs operating under term contracts during 2026.

In our completion services segment, activity and pricing for the fourth quarter of 2025 were steady compared to the previous quarter. We expect activity to decline slightly in the first quarter due to impacts from first quarter winter weather.

In our drilling products segment, U.S. and Canadian activity remains strong. International revenue was down slightly in the fourth quarter of 2025 compared to the third quarter of 2025 due to lower-than-expected sales in the Middle East, although we delivered revenue growth in several key markets, including Latin America and Asia-Pacific. We expect slightly lower U.S. revenue in the first quarter in this segment due to lower activity, which we expect will be offset by an increase in activity and revenue from our International business.

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Our 2026 capital expenditure forecast is expected to be approximately $500 million on a gross basis and less than $500 million, net of asset sales.

Industry Segments

Our revenues, operating income and loss and identifiable assets are primarily attributable to three industry segments:

•drilling services,

•completion services, and

•drilling products.

Drilling Services Operations

General — We provide our contract drilling services to oil and natural gas operators in the United States, Colombia and Ecuador. As of December 31, 2025, we had 152 marketed land-based drilling rigs based in the following regions:

RegionNumber of Rigs

West Texas70

Appalachia21

Oklahoma15

Rockies18

South Texas11

East Texas (1)
9

Colombia7

Ecuador1

Total152

(1)In January 2026, we signed a multi-year agreement to lease two rigs to DLS Archer Ltd. S.A. to support Archer’s operations in Argentina’s Vaca Muerta formation.

All of these drilling rigs are electric rigs. An electric rig converts the power from its diesel or natural gas engines into electricity to power the rig. The U.S. land rig industry has in recent years referred to certain high specification rigs as “super-spec” rigs, which we consider to be at least a 1,500 horsepower, AC-powered rig that has at least a 750,000-pound hookload, a 7,500-psi circulating system, and is pad-capable. Due to evolving customer preferences, we refer to certain premium rigs as “Tier-1, super-spec” rigs, which we consider as being a super-spec rig that also has a third mud pump and raised drawworks that allows for more clearance underneath the rig floor. As of December 31, 2025, we had 137 Tier-1, super-spec rigs marketed.

We also have a substantial inventory of drill pipe and drilling rig components, which may be used in the activation of additional drilling rigs or as upgrades or replacement parts for marketed rigs.

Drilling rigs are typically equipped with engines, drawworks, top drives, masts, pumps to circulate the drilling fluid, blowout preventers, drill pipe and other related equipment. Over time, components on a drilling rig are replaced or rebuilt. We invest significant funds each year as part of a program to modify, upgrade and maintain our drilling rigs. We have addressed our customers’ needs for drilling horizontal wells in shale and other unconventional resource plays by improving the capabilities of our drilling fleet. Over the years, we have made performance and safety improvements to our rig fleet. Our APEX® rigs are AC-powered electric rigs with high pressure mud systems, walking systems and increased hookload capacity. During fiscal years 2025, 2024 and 2023, we spent approximately $237 million, $265 million, and $335 million, respectively, on capital expenditures in our drilling services operations.

Depth and complexity of the well, drill site conditions and the number of wells to be drilled on a pad are the principal factors in determining the specifications of the rig selected for a particular job.

Our contract drilling operations depend on the availability of drill pipe, replacement parts and other related rig equipment, fuel and other materials and qualified personnel. Some of these have been in short supply from time to time.

We perform repair and/or upgrade work to our drilling rig equipment at our yard facilities located in Texas, Oklahoma, Wyoming, Colorado, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and internationally in Colombia.

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Drilling Contracts — Most of our drilling contracts are with established customers on a competitive bid or negotiated basis. Our bid for each job depends upon location, equipment to be used, estimated risks involved, estimated duration of the job, availability of drilling rigs and other factors particular to each proposed contract. Our drilling contracts are generally either on a well-to-well basis or a term basis. Well-to-well contracts are generally short-term in nature and cover the drilling of a single well or a series of wells. Term contracts are entered into for a specified period of time (we define term contracts as contracts with a duration of six months or more) or for a specified number of wells.

Our drilling contracts obligate us to provide and operate a drilling rig and to pay certain operating expenses, including wages of our drilling personnel and necessary maintenance expenses. Most drilling contracts are subject to termination by the customer on short notice and may or may not contain provisions for an early termination payment to us in the event that the contract is terminated by the customer.

Our drilling contracts provide for payment on a daywork basis, pursuant to which we provide the drilling rig and crew to the customer. The customer provides the program for the drilling of the well. Our compensation is based on a contracted rate per day during the period the drilling rig is utilized. We often receive a lower rate when the drilling rig is moving or when drilling operations are interrupted or restricted by adverse weather conditions or other conditions beyond our control. Daywork contracts typically provide separately for mobilization of the drilling rig.

In recent years, we have increased our usage of performance-based contracts. Performance-based contracts are contracts pursuant to which we are compensated partly based upon our performance against a mutually agreed upon set of predetermined targets. These types of contracts typically have a lower base dayrate, but give us the opportunity to receive additional compensation by meeting or exceeding certain performance targets agreed to by our customers.

Contract Drilling Activity — Information regarding our contract drilling activity for the last three years follows:

Year Ended December 31,

202520242023

Average rigs operating per day – U.S. (1)
100 112124

Number of wells drilled during the year – U.S.2,090 2,3762,530

Number of operating days – U.S.36,371 40,89945,270

(1)A rig is considered to be operating if it is earning revenue pursuant to a contract on a given day.

Rig Fleet Evaluation — On a periodic basis, we evaluate our fleet of drilling rigs for marketability based on the condition of inactive rigs, expenditures that would be necessary to bring inactive rigs to working condition and the expected demand for drilling services by rig type. The components comprising rigs that will no longer be marketed are evaluated, and those components with continuing utility to our other marketed rigs are transferred to other rigs or to our yards to be used as spare equipment. The remaining components of these rigs are retired. During the third quarter of 2024, we identified 42 legacy, non-Tier-1 super-spec drilling rigs and related equipment to be abandoned. Based on the strong customer preference across the industry for Tier-1 super-spec drilling rigs, in addition to efficiency gains and technology advancements that have reduced the total number of rigs needed for the U.S. drilling market, we believe the 42 rigs that were abandoned had limited commercial opportunity. Accordingly, we recorded a charge of $114 million related to this abandonment during the third quarter of 2024. No similar charges were incurred in 2023 or 2025.

Drilling Technology — We continue to enhance the technology offerings that can be used with our drilling operations. Our proprietary operating system for APEX® drilling rigs, Cortex®, can allow for the deployment of custom applications for rig performance, control and optimization. For instance, our GenAssist® application can employ smart engine logic turning engines on and off to reduce fuel consumption and emissions. Our Cortex® Key edge server can connect to various systems at the well site, streaming large data sets and providing a single, high-speed data aggregation source. Our EcoCell® lithium battery hybrid energy management system is capable of utilizing stored energy to help reduce fuel consumption and emissions.

Directional Drilling — We generally utilize our own proprietary downhole motors and equipment to provide a comprehensive suite of directional drilling services, including directional drilling, measurement-while-drilling (“MWD”) and supply and rental of downhole performance motors, such as our Mpact® drilling motors, and MWD equipment, such as our Mpower™ MWD systems. We also own rotary steerable systems, which we provide to customers. Our customers primarily consist of oil and natural gas operators in the United States.

Wellbore Placement Optimization Services — We provide software and services used to improve the accuracy of directional and horizontal wellbores, wellbore quality, and on-bottom ROP (rate of penetration). Our MWD Survey FDIR (fault detection, isolation and recovery) service is a data analytics technology to analyze MWD survey data in real-time and more accurately identify the

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position of a well. Our HiFi Nav™ offering enhances FDIR by targeting improved vertical placement of the directional well within the reservoir. Our HiFi Guidance™ service utilizes trajectory optimization to determine optimal steering recommendations and placement within the reservoir, targeting minimal sliding, faster ROP, and a higher percentage of the wellbore placed in the desired drilling window. We provide these services to customers with onshore and offshore operations.

Other Drilling Services — We provide electrical controls and automation to the energy, marine and mining industries in North America and other select markets.

Completion Services Operations

Our completion services business consists of services for hydraulic fracturing, wireline and pumping, completion support, and cementing. It also includes our power solutions natural gas fueling business and our proppant last mile logistics and storage business. Our completion services business operates in several of the most active basins in the continental United States including the Permian, the Marcellus Shale/Utica, the Eagle Ford, Mid-Continental, Haynesville, and the Bakken/Rockies. The high density of our operations in the basins in which we are most active provides us the opportunity to leverage our fixed costs and to quickly respond with what we believe are highly efficient, integrated solutions that are best suited to address customer requirements. Our completion services are designed in partnership with our customers to enhance both initial production rates and estimated ultimate recovery from new and existing wells.

Hydraulic Fracturing — Hydraulic fracturing services are performed to enhance production of oil and natural gas from formations with low permeability and restricted flow of hydrocarbons. The process of hydraulic fracturing involves pumping a highly viscous, pressurized fracturing fluid, typically a mixture of water, chemicals and proppant, into a well casing or tubing in order to fracture underground mineral formations. These fractures release trapped hydrocarbon particles and free a channel for the oil or natural gas to flow freely to the wellbore for collection. Fracturing fluid mixtures include proppant that becomes lodged in the cracks created by the hydraulic fracturing process, “propping” them open to facilitate the flow of hydrocarbons upward through the well. To address customer demand for lower-emission and more cost efficient operations, we continue to expand our portfolio of natural gas-powered solutions, including electric, direct drive, and dual fuel pumps, to replace legacy diesel completion services equipment. We are also advancing our Vertex™ fully automated, closed-loop completions process, a component of our proprietary digital completions management platform, eos™, which offers our customers the opportunity for greater operational efficiency, lower costs, and improved performance, while laying the foundation for integrating AI-driven reservoir technologies.

Completion Support Services — Our Power Solutions business is an integrated natural gas treatment and delivery solution, which focuses on gas sourcing, compression, transport, decompression, treatment and related services for oilfield service operations. We believe this integration solution assists our customers by reducing emissions at the wellsite and throughout their operations. We also own sand hauling, wellsite storage, and last mile logistics assets, which are used to provide services relating to the delivery and storage of proppant at the wellsite.

Wireline and Pumping Services — Our wireline services involve the use of a truck equipped with a spool of wireline that is unwound and lowered into oil and natural gas wells to convey specialized tools or equipment for well completion, well intervention, pipe recovery and reservoir evaluation purposes. We offer our wireline services in conjunction with our hydraulic fracturing services in “plug-and-perf” well completion to maximize efficiency for our customers. “Plug-and-perf” is a multi-stage well completion technique for cased-hole wells that consists of pumping a plug and perforating guns to a specified depth. Once the plug is set, the zone is perforated and the tools are removed from the well, a ball is pumped down to isolate the zones below the plug and the hydraulic fracturing treatment is applied. In addition, we offer wireline and pumping services that are not integrated with our fracturing services. We are one of the leading providers of perforating, pumpdown, pipe recovery, pressure pumping, and wellsite make-up and pressure testing services. We are highly experienced in safely servicing deep, high-pressure, high-temperature wells in some of the most active onshore basins in the United States. Our in-house manufacturing capabilities allow us to manage costs and lead times with regard to hardware and perforating guns, switches and accessories, providing us with a competitive advantage and enabling higher returns.

Cementing — Our cementing services incorporate custom engineered mixing and blending equipment that is designed to deliver precision and accuracy in providing annulus isolation and hydraulic seal, while protecting freshwater zones from our customers’ zone of interest. Our cement division has the expertise to cement shallow to complex high temperature, high pressure wells. We also offer engineering software and technical guidance for remedial cementing applications and acidizing to optimize the performance of our customers’ wells. We are one of the largest providers of specialty cementing services in the United States. Our operations are supported by multiple full-service laboratory facilities with advanced capabilities.

Completion Service Contracts — Our completion services operations are conducted pursuant to a work order for a specific job or pursuant to a contract generally for a specified period of time, which may include minimum revenue, usage or stage requirements. We are compensated based on a combination of charges for equipment, personnel, materials, mobilization and other items.

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Equipment — We have well completion equipment used in providing hydraulic fracturing services as well as cementing and acid pumping services. We periodically evaluate our completion services assets for marketability based on the condition of inactive equipment, expenditures that would be necessary to bring the equipment to working condition and the expected demand for such equipment. The components of equipment that will no longer be marketed are evaluated, and those components with continuing utility will be used as parts to support active equipment. The remaining components of this equipment are retired.

Materials — Our completion services operations require the use of acids, chemicals, proppants, fluid supplies and other materials, any of which can be in short supply, including severe shortages, from time to time, and can be subject to significant price volatility. We purchase these materials from various suppliers. These purchases are made in the spot market or pursuant to other arrangements that may or may not cover all of our required supply. These supply arrangements sometimes require us to purchase the supply or pay liquidated damages if we do not purchase the material. Given the limited number of suppliers of certain of our materials, we may not always be able to make alternative arrangements if we are unable to reach an agreement with a supplier for delivery of any particular material or should one of our suppliers, including trucking companies, fail to timely deliver our materials.

Drilling Products Operations

Our Ulterra business has manufacturing and distribution sites of drilling equipment in North America and internationally, which are geographically positioned to serve the energy and mining markets in over 30 countries. Ulterra’s drilling equipment is used in oil and natural gas exploration and production and in geothermal and mining operations. Ulterra has manufacturing and repair facilities located in Fort Worth, Texas, Leduc, Alberta and Saudi Arabia and repair facilities located in Argentina, Colombia and Oman.

Ulterra’s primary business is the design, manufacture, sale and rental of matrix and steel-bodied polycrystalline diamond compact (“PDC”) drill bits and other downhole tools. PDC drill bits and drilling tools are typically rented, except in select international markets where they are sold. Used bits and tools may be repaired and refurbished for the subsequent customer. Ulterra has an industry-leading position in the North American PDC drill bit market.

We periodically evaluate our drill bits for marketability based on the condition of inactive equipment, expenditures that would be necessary to bring the equipment to working condition and the expected demand for such equipment. The components of equipment that will no longer be marketed are evaluated, and those components with continuing utility will be used as parts to support active equipment. The remaining components of this equipment are retired. We had no impairment related to the marketability of our equipment during 2025.

Integrated Service Offerings

In recent years, we have worked to increase customer usage of our integrated services offerings, which combine one or more of our portfolio of drilling services, drilling products, and completion services into coordinated solutions designed to improve operational alignment, efficiency, and overall performance for customers.

Other Operations

Our oilfield rentals business, prior to its divestiture in April 2025, had a fleet of premium rental tools and equipment and provided specialized services for land-based oil and natural gas drilling, completion and workover activities in many of the major producing oil and natural gas basins in the United States. In addition, we own and invest, as a non-operating working interest owner, in oil and natural gas assets that are primarily located in Texas and New Mexico.

Research, Engineering and Technology

We employ research, engineering and technology teams across our businesses, who work on initiatives to enhance our existing product and service offerings and develop new products and services to meet customer demands.

Contracts

We believe that our contracts for drilling services, completion services, drilling products and other services and products generally provide for indemnification rights and obligations that are customary for the markets in which we conduct those operations. However, each contract contains the actual terms setting forth our rights and obligations and those of the customer or supplier, any of which rights and obligations may deviate from what is customary due to particular industry conditions, customer or supplier requirements, applicable law or other factors.

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Customers

Our customer base includes major, independent and other oil and natural gas operators. With respect to our consolidated operating revenues in 2025, we received approximately 57% from our ten largest customers and approximately 39% from our five largest customers. During 2025, one customer accounted for approximately $597 million, or approximately 12%, of our consolidated operating revenues. The loss of, or reduction in business from, one or more of our larger customers could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations.

Backlog

We maintain a backlog of commitments for contract drilling services under term contracts, which we define as contracts with a duration of six months or more. Our contract drilling backlog in the United States as of December 31, 2025 and 2024 was approximately $291 million and $426 million, respectively. Approximately 9% of our contract drilling backlog in the United States at December 31, 2025 is reasonably expected to remain after 2026. See Note 3 of Notes to consolidated financial statements in Item 8 of this Report and “