photo: Weatherford International plc 

Weatherford International plc and Nabors Industries Ltd. have announced the signing of a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to form an alliance focused on delivering enhanced drilling solutions to the oil and gas land market in the lower 48 states of the United States.

The MOU states that Weatherford will bring well construction expertise, managed pressure drilling (MPD) solutions, directional drilling capabilities and drilling hardware, as well as associated software applications and engineering personnel. Nabors will bring its fleet of MPD-ready® SmartRigs™ and land-optimised measurement while drilling (MWD) systems, together with its performance drilling software applications, automated rig equipment and proprietary control systems.

By leveraging the technical expertise and engineering capabilities of the two companies, the MOU will accelerate commercialisation of a full portfolio of drilling technology tools and solutions. The integrated technology offering will provide enhanced value to operators through improved operational performance, more accurate wellbore placement and lower drilling costs – all of which are essential to efficient and cost-effective oil and gas operations.

“We are very excited about the opportunity to strengthen our capabilities in the largest land market by jointly leading the creation of innovative integrated drilling solutions with Nabors,” says Krishna Shivram, chief executive officer for Weatherford. “The early entry into this emerging market will create a strong, new sales channel for our company, while allowing us to secure market participation in a new service model increasingly demanded by our clients. This transformative collaboration will enable Weatherford to deliver our industry-leading managed pressure drilling systems, advanced logging while drilling (LWD) and rotary steerable system (RSS) capabilities, as part of an integrated drilling offering that will leverage onto the most capable land rig fleet in the US market. We are fully committed to enhancing and integrating the drilling process to jointly deliver a new drilling concept for the future, a vision we share with Nabors. The future of automated drilling is here and we aim to play a significant role in this market evolution.”

“We are pleased to jointly present to the market a broader scope of activities, while accelerating the introduction of a unique offering that, we believe, can more efficiently and cost effectively be delivered to operators through our new SmartRig™ platform,” says Anthony Petrello, chief executive officer for Nabors. “By accessing Weatherford’s proven track record in managed pressure drilling, we can accelerate to market the capabilities of our new MPD-ready® SmartRigs™. Weatherford’s capability in the LWD and RSS arena will expand our service offering and complement our new, leading edge MWD suite of Accusteer™ tools. By integrating these and other automated tools and services into Nabors’ new Rigtelligent™ operating system, we expect to drive improved, consistent and reliable execution for our customers. We expect our alliance to result in a powerful value proposition that will accelerate market penetration, enhance both of our companies’ returns and drive further growth in a key market.”

Tags: Nabors Industries Ltd., Weatherford International plc