Ask not for whom the bell tolls, service providers.

After all, it’s hard to shake a feeling of impending doom these days as sell side oil service analysts deliver a steady eulogy of downgrades to land drillers and pressure pumpers with onshore ties to North America.

The funereal dirge grew more somber in the last week as further evidence of falling rig rates, a slow Canadian summer (as presaged at Hart’s DUG Canada Conference in Calgary in June), and self-reported pre-announcements across all land-related service sectors reached critical mass.

The ...