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BIG RIG OF THE ROCKIES
Pete Martin Drilling Co. After over 30 years of service this drilling company is still showing the industry that they are here to stay.
CORPORATE PROFILE | OIL & GAS
Big Rig of the Rockies
by Rebecca Rodriguez
The Pete Martin name and rat logo are widely recognized throughout the Rockies by oil and gas companies looking for quality drilling. In fact, Pete Martin Drilling LLC is so well known and respected, the company has worked with more then 100 oil and gas companies during the past ten years – some as big as Shell and Exxon Mobil. “We have a distinct logo and the Pete Martin name has been in the Rockies for over thirty years. It has spread through word of mouth that we do great quality work,” said Chris Martin, Pete Martin’s son and newly appointed president of the company. Past company president, Pete Martin, retired in April when his company was sold to Sunland Capital LLC based in Houston, Texas. It was decided to keep Pete Martin as part of the company name due to his name recognition and association with excel 2 Energy Leaders Today Spring 2010
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lence in the industry. “The Martin family has a long history and it’s because of his (Pete Martin’s) reputation that we will gain more customers,” Chris Martin said. Pete Martin started the company in 1999 and by 2009 grew it from one rig to 10 rigs, drilling conductor, rat, and mouse holes. It also grew from two employees to about 55 employees and 80 pieces of equipment. The company has divisions in Vernal, Utah, Rifle, Colo., and Pinedale, Wyo. But Martin has his sights set on expanding quickly, expanding farther into Wyoming and into the Williston Basin in North Dakota within the next two years. Martin explained that part of this goal is to get an additional five rigs running every day. Getting his staff up from 30 employees to around 50 should enable manning all the equipment. He expects to reach his goal by the middle of next year. The state of the drilling industry is picking up from 2009, but is no where near the lucrative time of 2007-08, he said. Chris Martin watches his customers carefully for signs of improvement. “The big oil and gas companies with the fallout of 2009 just haven’t gotten back
online yet. We’re waiting for them, but it’s steadily increasing every month.” The company’s customers include Shell, Exxon Mobil, Encana, Anadarko, El Paso, Oxy, Noble, XTO, and Chevron, to name a few. The company has done all of Exxon Mobile’s work in the Colorado area for the past five years. “We have kept them as a core customer because of our quality of work,” Chris Martin said. A typical job for Exxon entails any where from five to 10 wells per pad, drilling and setting 120’ of 16” conductors and 70’ mouse holes. The company is capable of drilling from 15” to 168” diameter holes and to depths of 200’. There are enough workers and rigs that a customer’s needs can be responded to within a day’s notice. Moving quickly is something the company takes seriously. It owns a helicopter and employs a full-time pilot to fly crews out to locations. Instead of a three hour drive each way, crews enjoy a one hour flight. “The guys can maximize their time on location and go back home to spend time with their families and be refreshed and ready to go the next morning,” Chris Martin said.
The helicopter is also useful in flying out a mechanic and a part when needed. Chris Martin said he is excited that the company’s new owners will open up options for the company to grow faster. Acquiring competing companies or companies that provide complimentary services are options. The new owners bring a lot of capital to the table and have connections in new markets that will help the company expand, he said. “They have the drive to grow us fast and large by adding equipment or buying competitors. They’ve got the drive and money to make those deals happen,” Chris Martin said. In five years, Chris Martin sees the company doubling in size to 20 rigs and doubling its geographical region as well, forging paths into Texas, Oklahoma, and even Pennsylvania. This would mean opening up more regional offices. “We’re already one of the largest rathole companies in the nation and we’re looking to get bigger and better,” Chris Martin said. Martin graduated from the University of Kansas and went on to serve in the Marine Corp. as an officer in Afghanistan and Iraq. In 2005, after his time in the military, his father convinced him to come to Vernal, Utah
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to learn the company business. Martin said it was never his intention to enter into the oil and gas drilling business, but that he has enjoyed it and is now excited about the prospects new ownership has to offer. Pete Martin Drilling has an outstanding safety program and a full-time safety manager. The company shuts down for three days each year and trains every employee on relevant issues, including some topics introduced by customers. Some of the customer’s safety representatives are invited to give seminars. Anadarko has a program called “Safeland” where the company shuts down for a whole day in order to attend classes. And Shell has a yearly “Yellow Book Training” that every employee attends. Also during the company’s three days of safety training, 24 classes take place and instructors are brought in from the local university in Vernal as well as safety contractors. The company’s safety manager holds weekly meetings with crews and also visits them weekly on site. He has a checklist and evaluates each employee on behaviorbased observations, such as pulling up at a location and ascertaining who’s wearing the appropriate safety equipment. “We have an impeccable safety record,” Chris Martin said. Safety and performance bonuses are offered by the company based on job and safety performance. Each employee has a dollar amount attributed to them based on the amount of time at the company and the position they hold. A driller working at the company for seven years could earn a bonus of about $10,000 and an employee working at the company for a few months could earn a bonus of about $500. Employees are graded on 12 different areas, including safety performance, driver’s logs, and how clean the equipment is. If a citation is given for a deficiency, an amount is deducted from the bonus. All employees have to hold class A CDL licenses. It is not necessary that they have oil field experience, but it is preferred that they have experience driving trucks and that they have a clean driving record. Background checks are also performed. The company employs three mechanics to maintain all of the equipment, including the Soilmec brand rigs imported from Italy. The mechanics were actually flown out to Italy to attend a course on maintenance of the rigs. It is this type of dedication to excellence that has made Pete Martin Drilling so successful. And now under new ownership, the company seems poised to grow to new heights while drilling to new depths. ELT 6 Energy Leaders Today Spring 2010
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