About RPC

RPC, Inc. and its subsidiaries (RPC) provide a broad range of specialized oilfield services and equipment primarily to independent and major oil and gas companies engaged in the exploration, production and development of oil and gas properties throughout the United States, including the southwest, mid-continent, Gulf of Mexico, Rocky Mountain and Appalachian regions, and in selected international markets. RPC acts as a holding company for the following legal entity groupings: Cudd Energy Services, Cudd Pressure Control, Thru Tubing Solutions and Patterson Services. RPC is further organized into Technical Services and Support Services, which are its operating segments. Business Segments RPC manages its business as either services offered on the well site with equipment and personnel (Technical Services), or services and equipment offered off the well site (Support Services). In 2023, the company estimated that 74% of its revenues were related to drilling and production activities for oil, while 26% of revenues were related to drilling and production activities for natural gas. During 2023, approximately five percent of RPC’s consolidated revenues were generated from offshore operations in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. Technical Services include RPC’s oil and gas services that utilize people and equipment to perform value-added completion, production and maintenance services directly to a customer’s well. This operating segment primarily consists of pressure pumping, downhole tools, coiled tubing, snubbing, nitrogen, well control, wireline and fishing. Customers include major multi-national and independent oil and gas producers and selected nationally owned oil companies. The services offered under Technical Services are high capital and personnel intensive businesses. The common drivers of operational and financial success of these services include diligent equipment maintenance, strong logistical processes, and appropriately trained personnel who function well in a team environment. Technical Services are provided in all of RPC’s principal geographical markets. Support Services include all of the services that provide (i) equipment offered off the well site without RPC personnel and (ii) services that are provided in the support of customer operations off the well site, such as classroom and computer training. The equipment and services offered include rental tools, drill pipe and related tools, pipe handling, pipe inspection and storage services, and oilfield training services. Customers primarily include domestic operations of independent oil and gas producers and major multi-nationals and selected nationally owned oil companies. Support Services are provided in all of RPC’s principal geographical markets. A brief description of the primary services conducted within each of the operating segments follows: Technical Services Pressure Pumping Pressure pumping services’ revenues are provided to customers throughout Texas, and the mid-continent regions of the United States. The company primarily provides these services to customers to enhance the initial production of hydrocarbons in formations that have low permeability. Pressure pumping services involve using complex, truck or skid-mounted equipment designed and constructed for each specific pumping service offered. The mobility of this equipment permits pressure pumping services to be performed in varying geographic areas. Principal materials utilized in pressure pumping operations include fracturing proppants, acid and bulk chemical additives. Generally, these items are available from several suppliers, and the company utilizes more than one supplier for each item. Pressure pumping services offered include: Fracturing — Fracturing services are performed to stimulate production of oil and natural gas by increasing the permeability of a formation. Fracturing is particularly important in shale formations, which have low permeability, and unconventional completion, because the formation containing hydrocarbons is not concentrated in one area and requires multiple fracturing operations. The fracturing process consists of pumping fluids and sometimes nitrogen into a cased well at sufficient pressure to fracture the formation at desired locations and depths. Sand, ceramics, or synthetic materials, which are often coated with a material to increase their resistance to crushing, are pumped into the fracture. When the pressure is released at the surface, the fluid returns to the well surface, but the proppant remains in the fracture, thus keeping it open to allow oil and natural gas to flow through the fracture into the production tubing and ultimately to the well surface. In some cases, fracturing is performed in formations with a high amount of carbonate rock by an acid solution pumped under pressure without a proppant or with small amounts of proppant. Acidizing — Acidizing services are also performed to stimulate production of oil and natural gas, but they are used in wells that have undergone formation damage due to the buildup of various materials that block the formation. Acidizing entails pumping large volumes of specially formulated acids into reservoirs to dissolve barriers and enlarge crevices in the formation, thereby eliminating obstacles to the flow of oil and natural gas. Acidizing services can also enhance production in limestone formations. Acid is also frequently used in the beginning of a fracturing operation. Downhole Tools. Thru Tubing Solutions’ (TTS) downhole tools division accounted for 25% of revenues in 2023. TTS provides services and proprietary downhole motors, fishing tools and other specialized downhole tools and processes to operators and service companies in drilling and production operations, including casing perforation and bridge plug drilling at the completion stage of an oil or gas well. The services that TTS provides are often proprietary solutions developed by the company, for which the company maintains an active intellectual property and patent program. Coiled Tubing. Coiled tubing services involve the injection of coiled tubing into wells to perform various applications and functions for use principally to facilitate the completion of unconventional wells, and to a lesser extent, in well-servicing operations of existing wells. Coiled tubing is a flexible steel pipe thousands of feet in length which is wound or coiled around a large reel and conveyed into a wellbore to conduct a variety of downhole tasks. Coiled tubing is attractive because its flexibility allows it to be steered through wellbores that are other than vertical, while also being strong enough to convey tools or motors at the end of the coiled tubing string. Since it is hollow, it can convey fluid which powers a motor or may be needed to clean out a wellbore. The uses for coiled tubing in directional and horizontal wells have been enhanced by improved fabrication techniques and larger-diameter coiled tubing which allows coiled tubing units to be used effectively over greater distances, thus allowing them to function in more of the completion activities taking place in the U.S. domestic market. Cementing. Cementing services are used at the completion stage of an oil or natural gas well to seal the wellbore after the casing string has been run. The process of cementing includes developing a cement slurry formulated for a well’s unique characteristics, pumping the cement through the wellbore and into the space between the well casing and well bore, and allowing it to harden. In addition to completion uses, cementing can also be used to seal a lost circulation zone in an existing well, and to plug a well at the end of its life cycle. Effective July 1, 2023, the company acquired Spinnaker, a leading provider of oilfield cementing services in the Permian and Mid-Continent basins. The company’s cementing revenues increased during 2023 primarily due to the acquisition of Spinnaker. Snubbing. Snubbing (also referred to as hydraulic workover services) involves using a hydraulic workover rig that permits an operator to repair damaged casing, production tubing and downhole production equipment in a high-pressure environment. Increasingly, snubbing units are used for unconventional completions at the outer reaches of long wellbores which cannot be serviced by coiled tubing because coiled tubing has a more limited range than pipe conveyed by a snubbing unit. A snubbing unit makes it possible to remove and replace downhole equipment while maintaining pressure on the well. Nitrogen. For the company’s oilfield customers, nitrogen can be used to clean drilling and production pipe and displace fluids in various drilling applications. It also can be used to create a fire-retardant environment in hazardous blowout situations and as a fracturing medium for the company’s fracturing service. In addition, nitrogen can be complementary to the company’s snubbing and coiled tubing services, because it is a non-corrosive medium and is frequently injected into a well using coiled tubing. Nitrogen is complementary to the company’s pressure pumping service as well, because foam-based nitrogen stimulation is appropriate in certain sensitive formations in which the fluids used in fracturing or acidizing would damage a customer's well. For non-oilfield industrial users, nitrogen can be used to purge pipelines and create a non-combustible environment. RPC purchases its nitrogen in liquid form from several suppliers and believes that these sources of supply are adequate. Well Control. Cudd Pressure Control specializes in responding to and controlling oil and gas well emergencies, including blowouts and well fires, domestically and internationally. In connection with these services, Cudd Pressure Control, along with Patterson Services, has the capacity to supply the equipment, expertise and personnel necessary to restore affected oil and gas wells to production. During the past several years, the company has responded to numerous well control situations in the domestic U.S. oilfield and in various international locations. The company’s professional firefighting staff has many years of aggregate industry experience in responding to well fires and blowouts. Since these events ordinarily arise from equipment failures or human error, it is impossible to predict accurately the timing or scope of this work. Additionally, less critical events frequently occur in connection with the drilling of new wells in high-pressure reservoirs. In these situations, the company is called upon to supervise and assist in the well control effort so that drilling operations can resume as promptly as safety permits. Wireline Services. Wireline is classified into two types of services: slick or braided line and electric line. In both, a spooled wire is unwound and lowered into a well, conveying various types of tools or equipment. Slick or braided line services use a non-conductive line primarily for jarring objects into or out of a well, as in fishing or plug-setting operations. Electric line services lower an electrical conductor line into a well allowing the use of electrically-operated tools, such as perforators, bridge plugs and logging tools. Wireline services can be an integral part of the plug and abandonment process near the end of the life cycle of a well. Support Services Rental Tools. The company rents specialized equipment for use with onshore and offshore oil and gas well completion, drilling and workover activities. The company offers a broad range of rental tools, including drill pipe and associated handling tools, blowout preventers and a variety of tool assemblages that provide well control. The drilling and subsequent operation of oil and gas wells generally require a variety of equipment. The equipment needed is in large part determined by the geological features of the production zone and the size of the well itself. As a result, operators and drilling contractors often find it more economical to supplement their tool and tubular assets with rental items instead of owning a complete set of assets. The company’s facilities are strategically located to serve the major staging points for oil and gas activities. Oilfield Pipe Inspection Services, Pipe Management and Pipe Storage. Pipe inspection services include Full Body Electromagnetic and Phased Array Ultrasonic inspection of pipe used in oil and gas wells. These services are provided at both the company’s inspection facilities and at independent tubular mills in accordance with negotiated sales and/or service contracts. The company’s customers are major oil companies and steel mills, for which the company provides in-house inspection services, inventory management and process control of tubing, casing and drill pipe. The company’s locations in Channelview, Texas and Morgan City, Louisiana are equipped with large capacity cranes, specially designed forklifts and a computerized inventory system to serve a variety of storage and handling requirements. Well Control School. Well Control School provides industry and government accredited training for the oil and gas industry both in the United States and in limited international locations. Well Control School provides training in various formats, including conventional classroom training, interactive computer training, including training delivered over the internet, and mobile simulator training. Growth Strategies In the third quarter of 2023, the company successfully completed the acquisition of Spinnaker Oilwell Services, thereby expanding the company’s cementing service line. Customers Demand for RPC’s services and equipment depends primarily upon the number of oil and natural gas wells being drilled, the depth and drilling conditions of such wells, the number of well completions and the level of production enhancement activity worldwide. RPC’s principal customers consist of major and independent oil and natural gas producing companies. Sales are generated by RPC’s sales force and through referrals from existing customers. History RPC, Inc., a Delaware corporation, was founded in 1984. The company was incorporated in 1984.