Ritchie Bros. has long history of serving the oil & gas industry, with our first energy equipment auctions held in the 1960s. For the last several years, our oil & gas equipment auctions have been held under the Kruse Energy brand, as we expanded our online selling capabilities with the acquisition of IronPlanet.
Today, Ritchie Bros. offers a complete end-to-end solution, with multiple disposition channels, value-added services, and the insights needed to make more educated decisions about your fleet. Ritchie Bros. has evolved and so has our customer base. Oil & gas companies want the same level of choice as any other consignor—by migrating from Kruse Energy to Ritchie Bros. Energy our customers will be able to leverage the full power of the Ritchie Bros. brand and everything we offer.
With Ritchie Bros. Energy, sellers can take advantage of:
Multiple disposition solutions:
- Live unreserved auctions with online bidding through Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers
- Weekly online events through IronPlanet.com
- Daily marketplace for premier assets through Marketplace-E
- Inspection & appraisal services
- Industry-leading market data & insights – subscribe to our free Market Trends Report
- Global network of permanent locations & facilities
- Unmatched global reach & buyer demand
Buyers will also have more options, including:
- Wider selection of equipment
- More frequent auctions & online events
- Multiple purchasing options & platforms
- Suite of convenient buyer services
- Multiple payment & financing options (incl. credit card payments)
- Full resources of our global customer support team
Different name, same expert service
Our final Kruse Energy event was held online on June 8, with a great selection of drilling surplus, handling tools, electric motors, centrifugal pumps, shop tools, and more.
Our first Ritchie Bros. Energy event will be held in September at Ritchie Bros. Fort Worth, TX auction site. There are five Fort Worth events annually and each will have dedicated “Ritchie Bros. Energy Day(s)”. Bidding will be available online in real time at rbauction.com AND via our mobile application, which wasn’t available with Kruse events.
You will also get the same great service you’ve come to know from Kruse Energy and Ritchie Bros. As it was at Kruse, the Ritchie Bros. Energy team will continue to be led by Kelly Kittson, Director, Strategic Accounts (pictured below).
We sat down with Kelly to ask a few questions about the oil & gas market and what customers can expect from Ritchie Bros. Energy going forward.
We all know fuel costs are at an all-time high. Can you tell us a bit about what’s going on in the oil & gas industry today?
It is an interesting time to be in the oil & gas industry. In North America, we are seeing a bit of a battle on the policy side. We are experiencing record high oil & gas prices, but we are not seeing large investment dollars going into new projects to help reduce the bottleneck and produce more supply.
There has been a lot of uncertainty in this industry, especially in recent years. The government and public focus have been to reduce fossil fuel production and become carbon neutral by 2050. This has created an environment where large energy producers are making fewer capital investments in new projects—there is little predictability and assurances of getting the ROI for a multi-million or multi-billion-dollar project. Instead, most large oil & gas organizations have been conservative, looking at share buy-backs and debt repayment.
Unfortunately, Russia’s war with Ukraine has exacerbated the situation. We already had high oil & gas prices and now we have to replace that supply. You can’t just flip a switch and produce that kind of volume tomorrow. By neglecting large capital investments, like pipelines and new areas of supply in North America, we are now paying for it. This is why the U.S. government has gone to Venezuela and the Middle East for supply and reserves.
There is a lot of opportunity, but also a ton of uncertainty for oil & gas companies today.
What impact has this had on pricing for used energy assets?
The two equipment categories that stand out to me are drill rigs and pipe. We have seen a dramatic price increase for drill pipe recently—up approximately 20-30% in the last quarter. We’ve also seen an uptick in demand for drilling rigs.
Why introduce Ritchie Bros. Energy now? How will this differ from your Kruse Energy brand?
Ultimately, this is about providing more choice for our sellers and buyers.
With Ritchie Bros. Energy our oil & gas consignors will have access to our complete suite of disposition solutions and services, along with the data & analytics that every company is asking for today.
This is also about unearthing more selection for our buyers. We are an important part of the supply chain for many customers. Supply chain issues have been well-publicized and for our customers that means that the parts they need may not be available from the OEM, so they turn to the used market. With Ritchie Bros. Energy we will be leveraging our teams globally to dig through all the nooks and crannies to find more supply for our customers.
What can customers expect from the Fort Worth “Energy Day(s)” and how will these events differ from the Kruse Energy events?
With Ritchie Bros. Energy and our Fort Worth “Energy Day(s)” customers will be a part of much larger events, with more potential bidders than we could ever attract with the Kruse Energy brand. Our Fort Worth auctions regularly surpass US$50+ million in sales and attract thousands of bidders. These events will be marketed to the world, driving stronger prices for consignors and providing more selection to buyers.
We can’t wait until September—contact us today to get your equipment added to the auction!