By Amanda Leon, founder of OilMoney.io. Houston-raised, came up in the Houston marketing team of Vallourec, and has run Unrth, a brand and growth studio for oil and gas and industrial companies, since 2017, with her boots on client locations in Midland and Odessa. Last reviewed October 30, 2026.
We read 198 LinkedIn posts from people who sell into the oil patch, all found the way a buyer or a peer would find them: the #oilfieldsales and #oilandgassales hashtags, and the plain phrase "oilfield sales." After setting aside posts from outside the United States, duplicates, and our own, 129 were left. We kept no more than three posts from any one person, so a few heavy posters couldn't tilt the count. That left 98 posts from 70 people. The short version: 22% were product ads, 21% were about hiring or looking for work, and 2 of 98 told a story from the field. The posts about people drew more reactions than the posts about products.
How We Read It
Three searches on LinkedIn, newest posts first, read in October 2026: #oilfieldsales (107 posts), #oilandgassales (49), and the phrase "oilfield sales" without the hashtag (42).
Each post was read by a person and given one type: a product ad, a hiring post, an opinion or lesson, a field story, and so on.
US posts only. No more than three posts per person. We wrote down no names for the counted posts. Where we credit a post below, we name the person if we could confirm who wrote it.
We also read 20 opinion posts that LinkedIn ranked as most relevant for "oilfield sales" and its close variations. Those feed the sections on what people say and who is hiring, not the percentages.
Limits: LinkedIn decides what its search shows, people who use a hashtag choose to, one person did the coding, and reaction counts are small. Read the reaction numbers as direction, not proof.
What They Post
Across the 98 posts:
22% were product lists or availability ads: what's in the yard, what's ready to ship.
21% were about hiring or looking for work.
12% shared an opinion or a lesson.
9% pitched a tool or service to other sellers.
8% announced a new job or a work anniversary.
6% were about faith or personal life.
The rest were reposts, brand images, shout-outs, and event photos. 2 posts told a story from a location.
So the feed under the oilfield sales hashtags is mostly a classified section with a job board attached. That's useful. People source parts and find work there. It just isn't where anyone learns why they should call you.
What Gets a Reaction
Median reactions per post, by type:
New job or anniversary: 15.5.
Hiring or job hunting: 11.
Faith or personal: 8.5.
Opinion or lesson: 7.
Product or availability ad: 6.5.
A tool pitched to sellers: 3.
Group them and the pattern holds: posts about a person (a new job, a lesson, a story, a shout-out, a faith post) had a median of 9 reactions across 33 posts. Ads, brand images, and tool pitches had 6 across 35. Those are small numbers, and the gap is a direction, not a law. But it matches what we saw when we read two working sellers' full feeds for the year, and both carry a lesson worth borrowing. Nicole Hiracheta, VP of business development at K-Ray Energy Services in Midland, got 101 reactions on a post about professionalism in oilfield sales, while the service posts in the same feed usually drew between 5 and 25. What you stand for travels further than a service list. Daniel Purvis, VP of technical sales at C3 Oilfield Services, got 91 on a post about a finished customer job, and between 1 and 8 on each post of a solid five-part technical series. Lead with the result, then teach.
A Hashtag Run by a Few
Under #oilfieldsales, four people wrote 45% of the US posts we read, and about three in four posts under the tag carried 10 or more hashtags. When a handful of accounts post product lists under a tag every day, the tag stops being a conversation and turns into their billboard. That's another reason the hashtag study can't stand in for the whole trade: most of the people who sell oilfield services well never post under it at all.
What the Opinion Posts Say
The opinion posts were few, but they agree with each other more than you'd expect, and with what the biggest voices in oil and gas sales said this year:
Sales happen peer to peer. David Parker, owner of the consulting firm BRIC Services, wrote in August that after 30 years around oilfield service sales, most sales effort is wasted. Sales get made peer to peer, drilling to drilling and safety to safety, and the only talk that works is how you help the customer's project.
Know the product with your hands. In a May post, Parker wrote that oilfield reps used to come out of wellsite operations and could run what they sold. At the largest service companies, many now have no field experience, so buyers should ask hard questions before trusting a recommendation.
Show it working. Jessie Mena, an oil and gas specialist with field operations and business development experience, told reps selling chemicals, fuel, iron, or tools to post the product working on location, not another selfie.
Answer the phone. Tanhee Galindo, who co-founded the Midland testing lab GeoKimika, wrote that the oilfield runs on last-minute requests. The rule: "If you want the work, answer the call or text."
Skip the hype. A compression account manager wrote against hype in technical sales, and against the follow-up the morning after a quote: say what the product does and show the data.
"Too expensive" usually means "not enough proof." Dana Torossi, who runs a West Texas market entry consultancy, wrote that objections in oil and gas sales are clues about trust, proof, or timing, and that a price objection usually signals a buyer who hasn't seen enough proof.
Who Is Hiring, and What They Want
One post in five was about a job. Of the 10 US hiring posts in the relevance search, 7 asked for a rep who already has operator relationships: a West Texas network, an established operator book, someone who knows the production side. Three offered pay that was commission-based or included commission. Only one recruiter post we read named a number: $140,000 to $170,000 base for a corporate sales role at a Houston directional drilling company, posted October 12, 2026. The message is plain enough. Companies hire the network. If your relationships live only in your phone, the next employer can't see them, and neither can the operator who hasn't met you yet.
The Missing Post: Stories From the Field
Only 2 of the 98 posts told a story from a location. Those two had the highest median of any type (17.5 reactions), though two posts prove nothing on their own. What I can tell you is what happens when people do post their work. Across our clients, from owner-operators to a company with eight manufacturing facilities around the world, the feedback sounds the same. Their customers know when a new flange comes out and when someone will be in their part of the world. Even when they aren't ready to buy, they pass the name along: "Oh, you need this. I know someone who does that. He talks about it all the time." That's the post the feed is missing, and it's the one that gets you called.
What It Means for Your Week
Post the job, not the inventory. One finished job, told plainly, does more than a week of availability lists. What should I post on LinkedIn as an oilfield sales rep? has a list to start from.
Drop the hashtag wall. Ten hashtags tell a reader you're an ad. A clear first line and a real photo from location tell him you were there.
Make your network visible. Employers hire relationships, and buyers check you out before they call. Start with whether your LinkedIn profile really matters.
Keep the post yours. If you worry about stepping on your company's page, read building a personal brand without clashing with your company. Getting known by name before the call-out is what The Warm Walk-In™ is built for.
We Will Read It Again
We plan to run this same read again in April 2027 and show what changed. Want the short version in your inbox? The Tailgate is one letter a month from the patch, and it carries the numbers from each update. Sign up at the bottom of any page. If you'd rather see what a buyer sees when he looks you up, get your Bison Walk-Around.
Sources and As-Of Dates
LinkedIn content search, newest first, for #oilfieldsales, #oilandgassales, and "oilfield sales", read October 30, 2026. Posts dated from late 2024 through October 2026, most from 2026.
LinkedIn content search, most relevant, for "oilfield sales" and related phrases, read October 30, 2026: 20 opinion posts and the hiring posts.
Credited posts: David Parker, May 20 and August 3, 2026; Jessie Mena, April 2026; Tanhee Galindo, May 2026; Dana Torossi, November 12, 2025. Checked October 30, 2026.
Full LinkedIn activity feeds of Nicole Hiracheta and Daniel Purvis, October 30, 2025 to October 30, 2026, read October 30, 2026 for the reaction comparison.
Our coding sheet, with every post's type and reaction count and no names, is available on request.
The Warm Walk-In™ is an original method created by Amanda Leon and owned by The Valours Creative Innovation LLC.
