Market fluctuations are driving OCTG (Oil Country Tubular Goods) companies to diversify. By Paul Wiseman The Oil Patch roller coaster is real for the entire sector; but for companies that rely on steel as a raw material, global politics adds a whole new layer of variables. Such is the case for oil country tubular […]
Pipe: It Touches Everything
By Paul Wiseman “Instead of being focused on the drilling side, we’re very much focused on the production side,” says Ron Underwood, president and founder of R&D Pipe. The company is based near Houston, selling pipe throughout the Gulf Coast as well as in the Permian Basin. The flood of drilling rigs in the […]
Adaptation, Diversification & Hunting
Oilfield service companies come in all shapes and sizes. While competition is most certainly fierce, it may also be fair to say that no two service companies are exactly alike. They are far-ranging in size, in scope, and in their offerings. Separate from active drilling operations, but practically indispensible to the practice of drilling, service […]
Pipeliners: A Breed Apart
They were known as “the gypsies of the oil patch.” by Bobby Weaver Pipeliners are the most gypsy-like of all oilfield workers. When there is a need for their services they appear like a cloud of locusts and when that need passes they are gone like a puff of smoke. It has been that […]
Pipe: Keeping Pace With an Industry
The simplest implement in the oilfield–a joint of pipe–is not so simple any more, but that’s good for all involved. Edwin Drake started the ball rolling when he designed a method of drilling for oil that used an iron pipe. Since those early days of the oil industry in 1859 when his iron drive pipe […]
The Life Cycle of Pipe
By Jesse Mullins Seemingly the simplest component of the oil and gas industry’s vast array of hardware, pipe is subject to intense scrutiny and is a product that will “make the rounds” more than most. Can any industry be more dependent on pipe than the oil and gas industry? Pipe defines, perhaps more than any […]