Axis and Brigade merge to form largest US well servicing company
Two well servicing companies have announced a combination that will create the nation's largest well servicing company.
Axis Energy Services and Brigade Energy Services will merge into a new organization named Axis Energy Services and headquartered in Dallas. The new entity will have over 1,700 employees, over 200 active and marketable workover rigs and a support equipment operation that includes 50 cement pump trucks, 26 wireline trucks, 15 snubbing units, nearly 200 pumps and a fleet of blowout preventers and pipe handlers.
"This makes us the largest service company in the U.S.," Ryan Phillips, Axis chief executive officer, told the Reporter-Telegram. "There's a need for that amid exploration and production consolidation. These major E&P companies want to align themselves with major service companies. We align nicely with the majors."
Phillips said he expects the headcount for the new organization will grow through the remainder of this year and into next year.
Axis has six different facilities in the Permian Basin, stretching from Hobbs, New Mexico, east to Snyder, Big Lake, Andrews, Kermit and three locations in Odessa. Phillips said the company gained its Snyder location in the merger, expanding its ability to serve the Midland Basin and Delaware Basin while Hobbs lets it serve the northern Delaware.
He said the company's business is evenly split - a third completions, a third production and a third plugging and abandonment - which he said is growing. On the completion side, he said the company is running more rigs than ever even though the rig count and frac fleet counts are down.
"Everything is becoming more efficient," he commented. "The trend continues for efficiency."
In his experience, Phillips said fewer drilling rigs still means more footage drilled as E&P companies decides the best return for their investments is reworking a well that has been offline and placing it back on production.
Aligning with the major producers has helped with recruitment and retention because employees believe that gives them greater job security, he said.
Axis is active in the nation's major oil fields - the Haynesville, Eagle Ford, Utica/Marcellus, Bakken and broader Rockies - but Phillips estimates the Permian comprises over 40% of the company's total footprint.
Just before the merger, Axis had successfully rolled out its fully electric well service rig. The EPIC (Electric-Powered Intervention & Completion) rig is currently working on wells operated by Occidental.
This story was originally published October 5, 2024, 11:48 AM.
