WorldWide Drilling Resource

Drilling Industry Ups and Downs Part 2 by John Christ J.C.’s Drilling Consultant Now, the water well industry is made up of usually fam- ily-owned businesses. There are a considerable amount of larger corporations. When the economy downfall happened in 2008, smaller con- tractors had to change their business plan. They had to travel farther than they ever did before. They had to figure out how to do larger diameter holes with the equipment they already had. Since the private water well business is mostly mom-and-pop places, there was no buying up of competition. We were losing drilling contractors left and right. I’m not saying only the best survived. There were the low price people, which traded dollars - they just never figured out how to stay in business. They always said they made it on volume. If you are not making a profit on every job you do, doesn’t it equal going out of business faster? We also saw a lot of younger family members not wanting to follow their father’s business. Drilling is a hard, dirty job. Sometimes it’s also a thankless job. Whatever the reason, we had less of a pool of people to choose from. Then there is horizontal directional drilling (HDD) and other construction appli- cations. Again, you have a mix of large corporations and mom-and-pop operations. In the utility application in the early 2000s, if you had any credit whatsoever, you could be an HDD drilling professional. They were pulling in communication, cable television, water and sewer, gas service lines, pipeline, etc. Then the dot com busi- ness took a turn for the worst. There were HDD drill rigs stacked up in every part of the country. For darn near two years, a rig manufacturer was lucky to sell a new one. Now, with gas prices down, the pipeline business is down. So to recap, what has hurt these drilling disciplines is change. Change in the economy has been a big one. Really, it’s not the biggest one. Technology! Are drilling professionals better? Have drilling techniques gotten better? How about smartphones? I used to say, “If it wasn’t for my smart- phone, I would be stupid.” This technology has had the worst effect on the drilling industry. Probably every industry. It has made everyone smarter. Don’t know how to do something? Don’t know how to get somewhere? Don’t know whatever, just google it. Choose your favorite search engine. I am here to tell you experience is better than any search engine result. It has taken the younger people out of going to seminars. They don’t have to go to conventions because they can search it up when they need to know, instead of learning something today which may help them from getting into trouble in the first place. What does trouble mean? It means lost time and money to fix the problem. Relying on your smartphone less and learning from industry experts will save you in the long run. So, learn what you can, as much as you can, and support your local/national associations! The statements and comments in this article are based on information and references believed to be true and factual. If you have any questions or comments, please forward them to me in care of WWDR . John John Christ may be contacted via e-mail to michele@ worldwidedrillingresource.com 4< * '3* "& > > > > ,'< ? /2+ '6* /3+6 /3+6 ')1/3- " " !8=2+ /7843 4* 4* ')1/3- !+8 5)7 !8'3*'6* $'2:+ 9((+6 6':+2 $'2:+ 9((+6 !+'87 9((+6 $'2:+ 37+687 #6+8.'3+ $'2:+ 37+687 $'2:+ !56/3- ! ! $'2:+ 4:+6 '71+8 ? !;/:+2 ')1/3- ? !+6/+7 ? !+6/+7 ? !+6/+7 ? !+6/+7 ? !+6/+7 ? !+6/+7 < /3+6 < /3+6 < /3+6 < /3+6 < /3+6 6/)+7 !9(0+)8 "4 .'3-+ %/8.498 48/)+ ! < < < < < &% ! "" * "(%$ ))) (" $( ' & $ %# # " (" $( $ ( " !" !! ! &% ! % ! (" $( & $ $ $ " ! $ $ ! ! $ ! $ # $ $ $ 19 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® APRIL 2016