Baker Hughes
Encyclopedia
Formation evaluation
In petroleum exploration and development, formation evaluation is used to determine the ability of a borehole to produce petroleum. Essentially, it is the process of "recognizing a commercial well when you drill one"....
, completion, production and reservoir consulting. Baker Hughes operates in over 90 countries worldwide mainly based in countries with a mature petroleum industry as is the case with most oil & gas service companies. Baker Hughes has its headquarters in the America Tower in the American General Center
American General Center
The American General Center is a complex of several office buildings in Neartown Houston, Texas located along Allen Parkway. It is owned by AIG American General....
in Neartown, Houston.
Baker Hughes Incorporated was formed when Baker International
Baker International
Baker International was established 1907 when Reuben C. Baker developed a casing shoe that revolutionized cable tool drilling.In 1987, the company merged with Hughes Tool Company to form Baker Hughes Incorporated....
and Hughes Tool Company
Hughes Tool Company
Hughes Tool Company was established in 1908 as Sharp-Hughes Tool Company when Howard R. Hughes, Sr. patented a roller cutter bit that dramatically improved the rotary drilling process for oil drilling rigs. He partnered with longtime business associate Walter Benona Sharp to manufacture and market...
merged in 1987. Baker Hughes operates worldwide with major offices in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, Dubai
Dubai
Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...
, Research & Maintenance Facility in Celle
Celle
Celle is a town and capital of the district of Celle, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town is situated on the banks of the River Aller, a tributary of the Weser and has a population of about 71,000...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Lafayette
Lafayette, Louisiana
Lafayette is a city in and the parish seat of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, United States, on the Vermilion River. The population was 120,623 at the 2010 census...
, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, Houston, Texas, Pescara
Pescara
Pescara is the capital city of the Province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo region of Italy. As of January 1, 2007 it was the most populated city within Abruzzo at 123,059 residents, 400,000 with the surrounding metropolitan area...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, and Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...
, Malaysia. The company is administered broadly in two Hemispheres; Eastern Hemisphere with five Regions (Europe, Africa, Middle East, Asia Pacific & Russia/Caspian) and Western Hemisphere with four Regions (Canada, US Land, US Gulf & Latin America); each of these Regions is subdivided into Geo Markets.
History
Baker Hughes is the combination of many companies that have developed and introduced technology to serve the petroleum service industry. Their combined history dates back to the early 1900s. During its history, Baker Hughes has acquired and assimilated numerous oilfield pioneers including: Brown Oil Tools, CTCCTC
-Government bodies:* Calcutta Tramways Company* California Commission on Teacher Credentialing* Canadian Tourism Commission* Counter-Terrorism Committee * Counterterrorism Center or CTIC-Educational institutes:* Central Texas College...
, EDECO, and Elder Oil Tools (completions); Milchem and Newpark (drilling fluids); EXLOG (mud logging
Mud logging
Mud logging, also known as hydrocarbon well logging, is the creation of a detailed record of a borehole by examining the bits of rock or sediment brought to the surface by the circulating drilling medium . Mud logging is usually performed by a third-party mud logging company...
); Eastman Christensen and Drilex (directional drilling and diamond drill bits); Teleco (measurement while drilling); Tri-State and Wilson
Wilson
- People :* Wilson * Woodrow Wilson , 28th President of the United States* Wilson Francisco Alves , often only Wilson, Brazilian footballer of Brazil and Vasco da Gama* Harold Wilson, UK Prime Minister 1964-70, 1974-6...
(fishing tools and services); Aquaness, Chemlink
Chemlink
Chemlink is a brand name for wireless video transmission products made by the [Chung-Hsin Electric and Machinery Manufacturing Corporation]http://www.chem.com.tw/ Wireless Communication Division. They focus on a 5.8GHz wireless transmission for audio and video...
and Petrolite (specialty chemicals), Western Atlas
Western Atlas
Western Atlas was formed in 1987 through the merger of Western Geophysical and Dresser Atlas. The resulting company was a joint venture of Litton and Dresser Industries until it was spun off as a publicly traded company in 1994....
(seismic exploration, well logging), BJ Services Company
BJ Services Company
BJ Services Company was an oil and gas equipment and services company that is now a subsidiary of Baker Hughes.It was founded in 1872 as the Byron Jackson Company by inventor Byron Jackson and at its peak operated in more than 50 countries worldwide....
(pressure pumping).
The Hughes Tool Company
Hughes Tool Company
Hughes Tool Company was established in 1908 as Sharp-Hughes Tool Company when Howard R. Hughes, Sr. patented a roller cutter bit that dramatically improved the rotary drilling process for oil drilling rigs. He partnered with longtime business associate Walter Benona Sharp to manufacture and market...
was founded by Walter Benona Sharp
Walter Benona Sharp
Walter Benona Sharp was an American oil drilling pioneer, innovator and philanthropist.Born in Tipton County, Tennessee, Sharp's mother died when he was eight and his father moved the family to Texas. By the age of twenty Sharp was operating a water well drilling company with his brother...
and Howard R. Hughes, Sr.
Howard R. Hughes, Sr.
Howard Robard Hughes, Sr. was an American entrepreneur, best known as the father of Howard Robard Hughes, Jr., the famous aviation pioneer and film producer. Hughes, Sr. created the fortune that Hughes, Jr. inherited when he turned 18.-Early years:Hughes, Sr...
, father of Howard Hughes
Howard Hughes
Howard Robard Hughes, Jr. was an American business magnate, investor, aviator, engineer, film producer, director, and philanthropist. He was one of the wealthiest people in the world...
, Jr. In 1908, Howard Hughes, Sr. and his partner Walter Sharp, developed the first two-cone drill bit, designed to enable rotary drilling in harder, deeper formations than was possible with earlier fishtail bits. They conducted two secret tests on a drilling rig in Goose Creek, Texas. Each time, Hughes asked the drilling crew to leave the rig floor, pulled the bit from a locked wooden box, and then his associates ran the bit into the hole. The drill pipe twisted off on the first test, but the second was extremely successful. In 1909, the Sharp & Hughes bit was granted a U.S. patent. In the same year, the partners formed the Sharp-Hughes Tool Company in Houston, Texas to manufacture the bit in a rented space measuring 20 by 40 ft (12.2 m). After Walter Sharp died in 1912, Mr. Hughes purchased Sharp's half of the business. The company was renamed Hughes Tool Company in 1915. Through the 1950s and 1960s, Hughes Tool Company remained a private enterprise, owned by Howard Hughes, Jr. Howard Hughes
Howard Hughes
Howard Robard Hughes, Jr. was an American business magnate, investor, aviator, engineer, film producer, director, and philanthropist. He was one of the wealthiest people in the world...
, Jr. formed the Hughes Aircraft Company, which was eventually splintered into various business units and merged into companies of Raytheon
Raytheon
Raytheon Company is a major American defense contractor and industrial corporation with core manufacturing concentrations in weapons and military and commercial electronics. It was previously involved in corporate and special-mission aircraft until early 2007...
, General Motors
General Motors
General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
and Boeing
Boeing
The Boeing Company is an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation, founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Boeing Corporate headquarters has been in Chicago, Illinois since 2001...
. While Mr. Hughes was engaged in his Hollywood and aviation enterprises, managers in Houston, such as Fred Ayers and Maynard Montrose, kept the tool company growing through technical innovation and international expansion. In 1958, the Engineering and Research Laboratory was enlarged to accommodate six laboratory sections that housed specialized instruments, such as a direct reading spectrometer and x-ray diffractometer. In 1959, Hughes introduced self-lubricating, sealed bearing rock bits. After collecting data from thousands of bit runs, Hughes introduced the first comprehensive guides to efficient drilling practices in 1960; 1964 saw the introduction of the X-Line rock bits, combining new cutting structure designs and hydraulic jets.
Baker International was formed by Reuben C. Baker
Reuben C. Baker
Reuben C. Baker established Baker International in 1907 after developing a casing shoe that revolutionized cable tool drilling. In 1903, he introduced the offset bit for cable tool drilling to enable casing wells in hard rock and in 1912 the cement retainer that allowed casing to be cemented in...
, who developed a Casing shoe
Casing shoe
In oil drilling and borehole mining, a casing shoe or guide shoe is a bull-nose shaped device which is attached to the bottom of the casing string. A casing hanger, which allows the casing to be suspended from the wellhead, is attached to the top of the casing....
, that revolutionized cable tool drilling. In July 1907, R.C. Baker, a 34 year-old inventor and entrepreneur in Coalinga, California
Coalinga, California
Coalinga is a city in Fresno County, California. The population was 13,380 at the 2010 census, up from 11,668 at the 2000 census. It is the site of both Pleasant Valley State Prison and Coalinga State Hospital. Coalinga is located southwest of Fresno, at an elevation of 673 feet .-Early...
, was granted a U.S. patent for a casing shoe that enabled drillers to efficiently run casing and cement it in oil wells. This innovation launched the business that would become Baker Oil Tools and Baker Hughes Incorporated. Mr. Baker had arrived in the California oilfield in 1895 with 95 cents in his pocket and dreams of making his fortune in the Los Angeles oil boom. Subsequently, he hauled oil for drillers with a team of horses and became a drilling contractor and an oil wildcatter before achieving success as an innovator in oilfield equipment. In 1928, Baker Casing Shoe Company changed is name to Baker Oil Tools, Inc., to reflect its product line of completion, cementing and fishing equipment.
In early 1956, during one of the most successful periods in the company's history, Reuben C. Baker retired as President of Baker Oil Tools. A few weeks later, he died after a brief illness at the age of 85 and was succeeded by his long-time associate Ted Sutter. Although he only had three years of formal education, Mr. Baker had been granted 150 patents. In 1965, Mr. Sutter was succeeded by E.H. "Hubie" Clark, who would become the first Baker Hughes chairman of the board in 1987; during its 80-year history before the Baker Hughes merger, Baker had only three chief executives.
On August 31, 2009, the company announced an intention to purchase BJ Services Company
BJ Services Company
BJ Services Company was an oil and gas equipment and services company that is now a subsidiary of Baker Hughes.It was founded in 1872 as the Byron Jackson Company by inventor Byron Jackson and at its peak operated in more than 50 countries worldwide....
in a $5.5 billion stock and cash deal. Greenhill & Co.
Greenhill & Co.
Greenhill & Co., Inc. is a leading independent investment bank focused on providing financial advice on significant mergers, acquisitions, restructurings, financings and capital raisings to corporations, partnerships, institutions and governments. The firm made $298.6m in sales in 2009, with a...
advised on the transaction. On April 28, 2010, it was announced that Baker Hughes' acquisition of BJ Services had been finalized with some conditions.
PetroSkills Alliance
In 2008 Baker Hughes joined the PetroSkills AlliancePetroSkills Alliance
-Overview:PetroSkills Alliance is an alliance between Oil and Gas Companies with Oil and Gas Consultant International to provide petroleum training....
. Member companies came together to create detailed skill and Competency Maps, which act as a guide for the 200+ short courses, taught to industry professionals in over 40 locations worldwide. Competency Maps are an analysis tool and software application that allows users to assess their skills base to identify gaps in their training, areas needing improvement or mastered skill areas within upstream, downstream, and HSE petroleum subject disciplines.
Drilling and Evaluation Group
- Hughes ChristensenHughes ChristensenHughes Christensen, is one of the worlds largest oil and gas drilling and evaluation service companies primarily responsible for the production of drill bits. It was formed from the merger of Hughes Tool Company and Christensen Diamond Products. In 1987, Baker International acquired and merged with...
- Hughes Christensen provides Tricone and PDC drill bits, ream-while-drilling tools and drilling optimization services. - Baker Atlas - Baker Atlas provides wireline-conveyed well logging, data analysis and perforating services for formation evaluation, production and reservoir management.
- Baker Hughes Drilling Fluids - Baker Hughes Drilling Fluids provides fluids systems and services that help optimize the drilling and completion processes, maximize hydrocarbon production and manage drilling waste. It is also involved in remediation of the well. Making Baker Hughes Drilling Fluids, somewhat, a part of completion and production.
- INTEQBaker Hughes INTEQBaker Hughes INTEQ is among the world's leading oilfield drilling and evaluation service companies. INTEQ was formed from the legacy companies of Eastman Christensen, Teleco MWD, Milchem and EXLOG, which were acquired by Baker Hughes Incorporated in the late 1980s...
- INTEQ provides directional drilling, measurement-while-drilling (MWD), logging-while-drilling (LWD) and wellsite information services.
Completion and Production Group
- Baker Oil Tools (BOT) - Baker Oil Tools leads the world in completion, workover and fishing solutions that help exploration and production companies maximize value from their hydrocarbon-bearing assets.
- Baker Petrolite - Baker Petrolite provides chemical technology solutionSolutionIn chemistry, a solution is a homogeneous mixture composed of only one phase. In such a mixture, a solute is dissolved in another substance, known as a solvent. The solvent does the dissolving.- Types of solutions :...
s for hydrocarbon production, transportation and processing, and also delivers pipeline integrity services. - Centrilift - Centrilift provides artificial lift systems, including electric submersible pumps (ESP) and progressive cavity pump systems, as well as specific engineering, project management and well monitoring services.
- BJ Services CompanyBJ Services CompanyBJ Services Company was an oil and gas equipment and services company that is now a subsidiary of Baker Hughes.It was founded in 1872 as the Byron Jackson Company by inventor Byron Jackson and at its peak operated in more than 50 countries worldwide....
- BJ Services provides pressure pumping services used in the completion of new oil and natural gas wells and in remedial work on existing wells, as well as oilfield services including completion tools, completion fluids, casing and tubular services, and production chemical services.
Completions
- Brown Oil Tools
- CTC
- EDECO
- Elder Oil Tools
- BJ Services
In 1929, Cicero C. Brown organized Brown Oil Tools in Houston, and patented the first liner hanger in 1937. Liner hangers enable drillers to lengthen their casing strings without having the liner pipe extend all the way to the surface. This saves capital cost and reduces weight borne by offshore platforms. Hughes Tool Company acquired Brown Oil Tools in 1978. In 1970, Baker Oil Tools acquired Lynes, Inc., which produced liner hangers and other completion equipment. In 1978, Baker Oil Tools introduced the Bakerline casing liner hanger. In 1985, the FlexLock Liner Hanger was introduced, extending the performance range and functionality of liner hanger systems. In 1987, the Brown liner hanger technology was merged into Baker Oil Tools. In 1992, BOT introduced the ZXP Liner Hanger Packer, with expandable metal seals, which set the stage for development of expandable screens, casing systems and liner hangers. Today, Baker Oil Tools is the industry leader in liner hanger technology, and liner hanger systems are BOT's largest product line.
In 1994, Baker Oil Tools introduced multilateral completion systems, which enabled operators to install completion tools and perform selective intervention work in multiple horizontal sections from a common main wellbore.
Well monitoring
- ProductionQuest
ProductionQuest forms part of the recently created Baker Hughes Production Optimization group. Headquartered in Houston, Texas with its major operating facilities in Aberdeen, Scotland & Broussard Louisiana, The Baker Hughes ProductionQuest organization is able to support global operations using local, in country, Baker Hughes infrastructures.
The Baker Hughes Production Optimization Group claims to have experience of installing monitoring systems throughout the world since 1990. As well as Integrated operations
Integrated operations
In the Petroleum industry, Integrated operations refers to new work processes and ways of doing oil and gas exploration and production, which has been facilitated by new information and communication technology. Multi-discipline collaboration in plant operation is one example...
(IO), there is a Chemical Automation group, recently expanded into the Eastern Hemisphere from Europe to Asia Pacific.
SENTRYNET products automate chemical and production management at remote oil and gas production facilities, including unmanned platforms, remote well locations and pipelines.
Drilling fluids
- MilchemMilchemMilchem Inc. was formed in 1963 to market drilling fluids and oilfieds chemicals.In 1971, Milchem joined Baker International....
- Newpark
- Aquaness
In 1931, Max B. Miller devised a drilling mud using a white clay as a weighting material. To market the new mud, he formed The Milwhite Company in Texas. In the mid-1930s, the company mined barites in conjunction with the Magnet Cove Barium Corporation (later called Magcobar). After a hiatus during World War II, the company resumed grinding operations using barite from a mine in Missouri and conducted mud sales through independent distributors. After 1956 Milwhite Mud Sales Company built its own sales network. In 1963 the company acquired the Aquaness chemical company, and in 1964 the combination became Milchem Incorporated. In 1971, Baker Oil Tools acquired Milchem. In 1985, Baker International acquired the drilling fluids division of Newpark Resources and merged it with Milchem's mud division to form Milpark. Meanwhile, in 1942, Oil Base Drilling Company was founded by George Miller, and made its first application of oil base mud. The company was acquired by Hughes Tool Company in 1979, and renamed Hughes Drilling Fluids in 1982. In 1987, when Baker Hughes was formed, Hughes Drilling Fluids was merged into Milpark, and in 1993, Milpark became a product line within Baker Hughes INTEQ. Baker Hughes Drilling Fluids was established as a stand-alone division in 2004.
Mud logging
- EXLOG
In 1952, in Sacramento, California a group of Stanford University engineering and geology graduates founded Exploration Logging Company (EXLOG) to provide geologic mud logging services from mobile logging units using technical innovations in hot-wire gas detection. Vern Jones was the company's first president. EXLOG would become a world leader in surface logging, rig instrumentation and data acquisition. Baker International acquired EXLOG in 1972, and invested in its expansion. By the 1982, the company had more than 200 logging units and 1,000 geologists on staff. Its broad expertise in geological services would eventually become the Surface Logging Service product line of Baker Hughes INTEQ.
Directional Drilling & Diamond Drill Bits
- Eastman Christensen
- Drilex
In 1929, H. John Eastman introduced "controlled directional drilling" in Huntington Beach, California, using whipstocks and magnetic survey instruments to deflect the drill pipe from shore-based rigs to reach oil deposits offshore. In 1934, Mr. Eastman gained notoriety, and respect for directional drilling techniques, when he drilled the world's first relief well
Relief well
A relief well is a well drilled to intersect an oil or gas well that has experienced a blowout. Specialized liquid, such as heavy drilling mud followed by cement, can then be pumped down the relief well in order to stop the flow from the reservoir in the damaged well.The first use of a relief well...
to control a blowout in Conroe, Texas
Conroe, Texas
Conroe is a suburban city 40 miles north of Houston in the gulf coastal plains/piney woods region of southeast Texas.It is the seat of Montgomery County and falls within the metropolitan area.As of the 2000 U.S...
, that had been on fire for more than a year. INTEQ carries on the leadership in directional drilling established by the original Eastman Oilwell Survey Company.
In 1957, Christensen Diamond Products opened its manufacturing plant in Celle, Germany. The facility built diamond core heads and drilling bits and soon began producing stabilizers, drilling jars and other equipment. In 1977, the Celle engineering and manufacturing team introduced the Navi-Drill line of downhole drilling motors, which has led the drilling industry in performance and reliability for three decades. Other innovations developed in Celle include the industry's first steerable motor system, and the AutoTrak Rotary Closed Loop System. In 2007, the Celle Technology Center became Baker Hughes' leading research and engineering facility in the Eastern Hemisphere.
Measurement while Drilling
- Teleco
Teleco Oilfield Services Inc was founded in 1972 and introduced the world's first MWD tool http://www.slb.com/media/services/resources/oilfieldreview/ors99/sum99/manage.pdf in 1978. Schlumberger introduced the LWD service in 1980.
The legacy MWD company Teleco Oilfield Services Inc. was integrated into a new division, to be known as Eastman Teleco in 1992. The division then merged the directional drilling products and services once marketed by the Eastman Christensen division with Teleco's measurement-while-drilling (MWD) services. In January 1992, Baker Hughes agreed to purchase Teleco from Sonat Inc. for $200 million cash, preferred stock and royalty from future sales of Teleco's "triple combo" sensors.
Before the acquisition, Teleco was recognized as the world's leader in MWD, with an estimated $140 million in revenues, of which about $120 million were from MWD alone. Eastman Teleco was then combined with others to form INTEQ in 1993.
Simultaneously, Baker Hughes sought to strengthen its directional drilling capabilities. Soon after the creation of INTEQ, the company introduced the NaviGator reservoir navigation system, combining the Navi-Drill steerable drilling motor and quantitative resistivity MWD measurements near the bit. The system was specifically designed to use geosteering
Geosteering
In the process of drilling a borehole, geosteering is the act of adjusting the borehole position on the fly to reach one or more geological targets...
techniques for precise well placement within the reservoir.
Specialty Chemicals
- Petrolite - 1997
William Barnickel's Tret-O-Lite business in 1920 had outgrown his initial manufacturing plant, so he built a new one in Webster Groves, Missouri
Webster Groves, Missouri
Webster Groves is an inner-ring suburb of St. Louis, located in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The population was 22,995 at the 2010 census. The city is named after New England politician Daniel Webster....
. The ingenious new facility had six times the capacity of the old plant and was built on a hillside so that raw materials were unloaded from a railroad line on the top of the hill, and the chemicals flowed through the plant using the force of gravity. Finished product was loaded on rail cars at the bottom of the hill. In 1922, the company sold 10,815 drums of Tret-O-Lite demulsifier, representing a recovery of 50 Moilbbl of oil from produced oil/water emulsion. In 1923, Mr. Barnickel died at age of 45, of a perforated ulcer, and John S. Lehmann succeeded him as Tret-O-Lite president.
Meanwhile, Frederick Cottrell and James Speed were developing electrostatic methods for separating oil from water. In 1911, Allen C. Wright formed the Petroleum Rectifying Company of California (PETRECO), which built electric dehydrating plants—based on Contrell's and Speed's inventions—to serve California oilfields. By 1922, Petreco had 417 treaters in operation, but was running into competition from Barnickel and his chemical process. In 1930, as the worldwide Depression began, the two competing companies—PETRECO and Tret-O-Lite—merged to form Petrolite
Wireline Logging & Perforating, & Geophysical Exploration
- Acutec
- BirdwellBirdwell (clothing)Birdwell is an American surf clothing company, headquartered in California, makers of Birdwell Beach Britches. Founded by Carrie Birdwell Mann in 1961, the company manufactures and sells customized heavy-duty swimsuits, which are sold internationally...
- Canadian Perforator
- Dialog - a Wedge Division
- Dresser AtlasDresser AtlasDresser Atlas is a provider of oil field and factory automation services, formed in 1968 through the merger of PGAC and Lane Wells Company. In 1987, the company merged with Western Geophysical to form Western Atlas, and in 1998, Western Atlas was acquired by Baker Hughes, and, since then, was named...
- Du-Al Well Services
- Elgen Corporation
- Heartland Kingfisher
- Lane Wells
- NL McCullogh
- Pacific Oil Tool, Ltd.
- PGAC - Pan Geo Atlas Corporation
- PML
- RIS
- SIE
- Western AtlasWestern AtlasWestern Atlas was formed in 1987 through the merger of Western Geophysical and Dresser Atlas. The resulting company was a joint venture of Litton and Dresser Industries until it was spun off as a publicly traded company in 1994....
- 1998
(previously formed by the merger of Dresser Atlas & Western Geophysical)
- WSI
- Z&S Geoscience, Ltd.
In 1932, Bill Lane and Walt Wells invented bullet gun perforating and formed the Lane-Wells Company in Vernon, California. They performed their first job on Union Oil's La Merced #17 well in Los Angeles. The company that would become Western Atlas (later Baker Atlas) grew quickly and added other wireline services, including the gamma ray log in 1939 and the neutron log in 1941, which were developed by Well Surveys Inc., an affiliated company. In 1948, a Lane-Wells crew performed the company's 100,000th job on La Merced #17, the site of the first perforating run.
In 1963, Baker Atlas predecessor Lane-Wells introduced the Neutron Lifetime Log service, providing the ability to detect oil through well casing, and initiating the line of Baker Atlas pulsed-neutron logging tools for cased hole logging and reservoir monitoring. It took another five years for competitors to introduce a comparable service. Beginning in 1948, Well Surveys Inc. physicist Arthur Youmans led the team of engineers and scientists to develop this technology. The highly complex instrument included a miniaturized particle generator and sensors to detect and analyze sub-atomic particles. Mr. Youmans went on to become Vice President of Research and Engineering for Dresser Atlas.
In 1968, Lane-Wells and the Pan Geo Atlas Corporation (PGAC) merged to form Dresser Atlas, a name chosen to “position” the company as more than a perforating provider and as part parent company of Dresser Industries. A competitor with Lane-Wells but possessing deeper expertise and an international reputation in open hole logging, PGAC was the perfect merger partner to form an integrated wireline services company. Since its inception, Lane-Wells had generated most of its income from perforating services, but log interpretation had narrowed down producing zones, resulting in fewer perforations and less revenue. During the oil slump of the 1999, Western Atlas was acquired by Baker Hughes and the wireline division was created within the company rebranded as Baker Atlas. Western Geophysical was meanwhile allied with GecoPrakla of Schlumberger and later combined into a separate business entity called WesternGeco.
Joint Venture
In 2000, Baker Hughes and SchlumbergerSchlumberger
Schlumberger Limited is the world's largest oilfield services company. Schlumberger employs over 110,000 people of more than 140 nationalities working in approximately 80 countries...
formed a joint venture
Joint venture
A joint venture is a business agreement in which parties agree to develop, for a finite time, a new entity and new assets by contributing equity. They exercise control over the enterprise and consequently share revenues, expenses and assets...
called WesternGeco
WesternGeco
WesternGeco is a geophysical services company. It is headquartered in the Schlumberger House on the property of London Gatwick Airport in Crawley, West Sussex, in Greater London.-Background:...
. The Joint venture was signed for a period of five years in November 2000.
WesternGeco was formed by the merger of Baker Hughes's Western Geophysical and Schlumberger's Geco-Prakla which were the two leading seismic interpretation companies of the time. Due to diminishing exploration markets, new marginal oil fields, and low barrel prices the worldwide business of seismic exploration was surviving on just the corporate strength of the two big service companies. The only new technology that was being introduced at the time was the 4-dimensional seismic survey monitoring.
In 2006, Baker Hughes announced in a press release that it was selling its 30% share of the WesternGeco
WesternGeco
WesternGeco is a geophysical services company. It is headquartered in the Schlumberger House on the property of London Gatwick Airport in Crawley, West Sussex, in Greater London.-Background:...
joint venture
Joint venture
A joint venture is a business agreement in which parties agree to develop, for a finite time, a new entity and new assets by contributing equity. They exercise control over the enterprise and consequently share revenues, expenses and assets...
to Schlumberger
Schlumberger
Schlumberger Limited is the world's largest oilfield services company. Schlumberger employs over 110,000 people of more than 140 nationalities working in approximately 80 countries...
for $2.4 billion in cash. Baker Hughes used the services of Goldman, Sachs & Co.
Goldman Sachs
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is an American multinational bulge bracket investment banking and securities firm that engages in global investment banking, securities, investment management, and other financial services primarily with institutional clients...
who advised them on the sale.
Criminal Charges
In April, 2007, Baker Hughes pled guilty in U.S. federal court to violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices ActForeign Corrupt Practices Act
The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 is a United States federal law known primarily for two of its main provisions, one that addresses accounting transparency requirements under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and another concerning bribery of foreign officials.- Provisions and scope...
(FCPA), including bribing oil-related industry officials in Russia, Uzbekistan, Angola, Indonesia, and Nigeria., Under the settlement, a unit of the Houston-based company pleaded guilty to violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) for payments made between 2001 and 2003 to a commercial agent retained in 2000 in connection with a project in Kazakhstan. After bribes were paid, Baker Hughes was awarded an oil-services contract in a Karachaganak, Kazakhstan field that generated $219 million in revenues from 2001 to 2006.