Despite oil prices nestled in the $50s for the last few weeks, it’s not enough to stop the cratering of the oilfield services sector this year, some analysts forecast. Editor’s Note: This is the first in a series of stories examining the oilfield services outlook for 2017. Lingering weakness in customer demand, overcapacity and a high net burden continue to punish the oilfield service (OFS) sector. Consequently, OFS will lag behind their upstream clients by at least one year, according to a Moody’s Investors Service research. Despite an increase in the rig count, it remains 65 percent lower than late 2014, said Sajjad Alam, assistant vice president for corporate finance at Moody’s. That won’t be enough to resuscitate the sector by the end of the year. “’Weak customer demand’ is relative,” Alam said. “Everything was under 20 feet of water, and although things are under five or 10 feet […]