Patterson Uti Energy Inc (PTEN) SEC Filing 10-K Annual Report for the fiscal year ending Friday, December 31, 2021

Exhibit 99.1

Contact: Mike Drickamer

Vice President, Investor Relations

(281) 765-7170

Patterson-UTI Energy Reports Financial Results for the Three Months and Year Ended December 31, 2021 and Increases Dividend on Improved Cash Flow Outlook

HOUSTON, Texas – February 10, 2022 – PATTERSON-UTI ENERGY, INC.

For the year ended December 31, 2021, the Company reported a net loss of $655 million, or $3.36 per share, compared to a net loss of $804 million, or $4.27 per share, for the year ended December 31, 2020. Revenues for the year ended December 31, 2021 were $1.4 billion, compared to $1.1 billion for 2020.

Andy Hendricks, Patterson-UTI’s Chief Executive Officer, stated, “Continued improvement in revenues and adjusted EBITDA illustrates how well Patterson-UTI is positioned to benefit from the ongoing strengthening in the market. We are in a great position to take advantage of this growth due to our high-quality drilling and pressure pumping fleets. Going forward, we expect drilling and completion activity, pricing, and the resulting cash flow will continue to increase in 2022. As such, I am pleased to announce we are increasing our quarterly shareholder dividend to $0.04 per share.”

Mr. Hendricks continued, “In contract drilling, our average rig count in the United States for the fourth quarter increased by 26 rigs, including 13 from our acquisition of Pioneer Energy Services. We expect continued strong growth in drilling activity and project our average first quarter rig count in the United States to increase by an additional 10 rigs to 116.

“Average rig revenue per day in the United States increased $580 to $22,030 for the fourth quarter from $21,450 for the third quarter due to an increase in rig dayrates and other ancillary sources of revenue such as technology and drill pipe. Average rig operating cost per day in the United States for the fourth quarter was $16,580, up $1,430 from the third quarter due to increased labor costs, higher rig reactivation costs, and general oilfield cost inflation.

“During the fourth quarter, we retired drilling rigs and other drilling equipment. The retired rigs include all of the SCR-powered rigs in our U.S. rig fleet. We believe our resulting rig fleet in the United States of 184 marketed rigs is in a leading position to meet our customers’ needs for safe and efficient operations.

“In Colombia, for the fourth quarter, contract drilling revenues of $15.8 million and adjusted gross margin of $5.3 million exceeded our expectation. We are pleased to expand our geographic footprint into Colombia, and we remain optimistic about further growth opportunities in this region.

“As of December 31, 2021, Patterson-UTI had term contracts for drilling rigs in the United States providing for future dayrate drilling revenue of approximately $325 million. Based on contracts currently in place in the United States, we expect an average of 51 rigs operating under term contracts during the first quarter, and an average of 39 rigs operating under term contracts during 2022.

“In pressure pumping, our fourth quarter financial results exceeded our expectation, as we achieved higher pricing and maintained a high level of efficiency. Pressure pumping revenues increased to $183 million in the fourth quarter from $153 million in the third quarter. Adjusted gross margin increased to $20.9 million in the fourth quarter from $17.9 million in the third quarter. We reactivated our 11th spread late in the fourth quarter and expect to reactivate our 12th spread late in the first quarter.

“During the fourth quarter, we retired approximately 200,000 horsepower of tier 2 diesel frac equipment. Our current pressure pumping fleet includes approximately 1.1 million frac horsepower. Following the reactivation of our 12th spread in the first quarter, seven of our active spreads will be dual fuel capable, including two spreads that are tier 4, dual-fuel capable.

“In directional drilling, fourth quarter revenues increased 11% sequentially to $35.2 million due to higher activity levels and a favorable job mix. Fourth quarter adjusted gross margin of $1.0 million was impacted by a $4.0 million non-cash write-off of inventory. This inventory is no longer useful, as we transition to our next generation of in-house engineered mud motors and measurement while drilling (MWD) tools. These tools improve the quality of subsurface data acquisition, overall reliability and drilling performance. This new technology helped us gain market share during 2021.”